M. Hoops prepares for trip to Penn State

The Penn men's basketball team is getting ready for the Nittany Lions and cavernous Bryce Jordan Arena. Something besides the weather has brought chills to Philadelphia's Big 5 men's basketball teams this December. That something is Penn State, a Pennsylvania team obviously not from the City of Brotherly Love. On December 1, Philly felt its first cold front. Temple, the No. 10 team in the nation at that time, fell one point short of victory to the Lions, 65-64. Four days later, Penn State anticipated its second Big 5 struggle. But perennial power Villanova proved to be a cakewalk, as the Lions dealt the Wildcats a 70-53 defeat -- the team's first win over 'Nova in seven tries. On December 12 Philadelphia has one last hope: the Penn Quakers. "[Philadelphia pride] is not the first and foremost thing in our minds," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "And yet we are from Philadelphia and part of a rich basketball tradition, so we would certainly like to do well. "But I can't imagine that Villanova and Temple thought, 'we have to do it for Philadelphia'." · Saturday's matchup marks the Quakers' first road trip of the season. Like their first two games against Kansas and Temple, the team will play amidst thousands of roaring fans. This time there is one difference, according to junior guard Matt Langel: "[the] crowd is not in our favor." There is little doubt that the 15,000 screaming fans at the Bryce Jordan Center will not be steadfast Penn supporters. The Quakers won't be able to look up and hear chants of "cheesesteaks" or "underrated" coming from the stands like they do in the Palestra. "It helps when we can get our fans into the game, just like it is going to help [Penn State] on Saturday," Dunphy said. With down-to-the-wire performances against Kansas and Temple, Penn brought its fans into the game. Those fans -- including Jeff Hatch, the 6'8", 250-pound, football defensive tackle who carries the 170-pound Quaker mascot on his shoulders to rally support -- will be the ones the Quakers will miss on the road. "It will be a great test for our guys to see how we handle a different crowd," Dunphy said. · Penn big man Geoff Owens will match up against Calvin Booth, one of the top players in the Big 10 conference. After averaging a double-double for the second straight week, the 6'11", 228-pound Booth took home Big 10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors for the first time. A native of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Booth was Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1997-98. The Nittany Lions' pivot man proved he was more than just a defensive threat in games against George Mason and Lehigh, in which he shot 50 percent from the field and 79 percent from the charity stripe. He also stole the ball twice, had two assists and blocked four shots. The four blocks moved Booth into third place on the Big 10's all-time list. "[Booth] is a very, very good shot blocker, but Geoff will do just fine," Dunphy said. "It will be one of those bigger tests [for Owens]." Owens, who did not play last season due to a medical condition, blocked 40 shots as a freshman -- the third-best single-season total in Penn history. While Owens has never had trouble blocking shots, his overall game is becoming increasingly more complete. He scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Lehigh, outperforming Booth, who scored 14 points and pulled down nine boards in Penn State's 74-48 win over the Engineers on November 23. Although Owens pushed Lehigh around, he knows he will be playing under different circumstances on Saturday. "Lehigh was my best game offensively and all around," Owens said. "I got a lot of easy looks ? they weren't that strong inside. "I know [at Penn State] I won't get a lot of easy looks. I know I'm going to have to earn all of the points I get down low. I have to get 10 or 12 points and 10 or 12 rebounds to help us win the game." · Booth is far from being the Nittany Lions' only bright spot. His supporting cast justifies the team's 5-1 record -- with their only loss coming against Big 10 competitor Ohio State. A key member of the Penn State squad, sixth-year senior Dan Earl, was a former Penn recruit and a high school opponent of Langel. After losing two years to injuries, Earl joins the lineup once again. While back and knee injuries forced Earl to sit, he passed the time watching his younger brother Brian, Princeton's starting point guard. "I grew up with the Earl brothers. Dan and Brian are different players," Langel said. "Dan is a lot older, he knows the game real well, he's a real strong player," Earl's knowledge of the game came into play after Villanova held him to zero field goals in the first half. Earl came back with a vengeance in the second half, though, putting 10 points on the board. Joining Earl in double figures were Booth (21 points), Joe Crispin (14 points) and forward Titus Ivory (10 points). "[Penn State] has nice balance," Dunphy said. "They're not 5-1 for no reason."