Hoping to ride the momentum from its first victory Monday against Drexel, the Penn men's basketball team has the daunting challenge of facing No. 3 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., this weekend.
The Quakers (1-1) face the Spartans (1-1) in the first round of the 2003 Coca-Cola Classic and 1979 Final Four Reunion this Saturday. The winner will then play the victor of the Indiana State-DePaul game, while the two losers will face in the tourney's consolation game.
Penn dropped its first game of the season to another nationally-ranked Big Ten program, No. 15 Wisconsin.
"This early season schedule is really tough, but it's such a good experience for us," Penn senior co-captain Jeff Schiffner said. "We have to go in with the mindset, 'we're gonna try to play our game.'
"We are not going to play for a moral victory."
Indeed, while the Quakers are aware of Michigan State's historic and successful basketball program, they are eager to compete against the Spartans.
"We're just really excited to go out there and have an opportunity to play against a team of their caliber," said Penn senior co-captain Adam Chubb, who scored a career-high 19 points against Drexel. "We're gonna find out what we're made of."
Penn has not yet seen film of Michigan State, but the team planned to watch the Spartans' game against No. 5 Kansas last night "to see up close and personal how good Michigan State is," Dunphy said. The Jayhawks defeated the Spartans, 81-74, in Lawrence, Kan.
Nonetheless, the Quakers have seen Michigan State's elite players, such as junior forward Alan Anderson and junior guard Chris Hill, play in years past.
"I've seen Hill on TV many times," Penn senior co-captain Charlie Copp said. "He's a very good shooter and very strong."
"I've obviously heard of [Anderson and Hill] but I don't yet know their individual strengths," Schiffner said.
In its first game against Bucknell, Michigan State struggled offensively but emerged victorious, 64-52.
Anderson, who averaged 10 points last season, shot 1-for-8 and scored just two points, while Hill finished with 12 points and seven assists. Sophomore center Paul Davis led the Spartans with 21 points.
The game would have been closer had Bucknell not shot a miserable 1-for-17 from the free throw line. Indeed, Michigan State was not too sharp in its first game.
"Every team has their nights when they're really good or they're really bad," Chubb said. "It's a good opportunity to show that they are beatable when you put a good game together."
"We definitely can't treat them lightly though."
However, Penn seems more concerned with its own team than that of Michigan State.
"We're just trying to focus on our own game, on our own team and what we have to do -- whether it's playing this defense better or going inside more, whatever we need to do," Chubb said.
