Old vs. New

Former Penn coach Fran Dunphy may be roaming the sidelines across the Schuylkill nowadays, but when he returns to the Palestra tonight with his Temple squad, it's unlikely his former players will have forgotten about him - or his famous mustache.

"You know, he promised to shave that one off for us if we made the Final Four," Penn senior forward Stephen Danley said. "So I'm going to hold him to that."

Dunphy's facial hair doesn't seem to be in jeopardy of seeing a razor any time soon, but his Owls may be in danger of seeing their three-game win streak over the Quakers end.

With Danley and fellow captains Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller in their senior years, this year's Penn team is better equipped to knock off its Big 5 rival than Dunphy's Quakers had been in the past three years.

After having lost the previous three matchups by an average of just over three points, Penn will boast a core that has remained almost wholly intact. Temple, on the other hand, will come to the Palestra with a whole new look - and that isn't a good thing.

Stud guard Mardy Collins is lacing up his sneakers for the New York Knicks this year, and forward Antywane Robinson, who logged 35.7 minutes per game last season, has graduated as well.

To make matters worse, the Temple frontcourt will be without center Wayne Marshall, who is serving a season-long suspension for academic reasons.

Despite these losses, the Owls have some resources that should be enough to make sure Penn doesn't spend too much time glancing over at its former coach on the sidelines.

The trio made up of guards Dionte Christmas and Dustin Salisbery and forward Mark Tyndale - who returned from a suspension of his own midway through the year - has combined for an average of over 50 points per game so far, a fact that Dunphy's replacement is well aware of.

"All three of those guys can create their own shot," head coach Glen Miller said. "They're very good one-on-one players, so you can play good defense and they can still hit tough shots, and they do it consistently."

While the talent of these three players may be enough to produce a victory on any given night, it isn't something they have been doing with any sort of frequency this season.

The Owls entered their Atlantic-10 schedule with a thud, dropping four of their first five as part of a six-of-seven skid coming into tonight.

To keep them mired in that streak, Miller will likely do what he has already done in two Big 5 games - including a 93-92 win over La Salle last week - and tell the Quakers to run.

But despite Temple's superior athleticism, Dunphy might do everything in his power to prevent this one from becoming a track meet.

"I've had a chance to watch it when we played against Brown," Dunphy said of Miller's offense. "I've always thought that Glen's team is difficult to guard.

"We're going to really have to pay attention to where we are defensively."

The speedy Jaaber will be the one asked to lead this attack, but he is also aware of his old coach's aversion to the fast-paced game.

"It's up to me to push the tempo on our end," said Jaaber, who leads the Ivy League in assists. "But if they don't come back and push the tempo, it won't turn into a game like La Salle. And I know from experience that Coach Dunphy . might not force it as much as La Salle did."

This familiarity may be what makes this contest into the Big 5 story of the year, making it about much more than the X's and O's Dunphy and Miller will be drawing up.

But the nostalgia may have to wait until after the game.

"I have all the respect in the world for that staff over there," Danley said. "But when it comes down to it, we gotta play basketball and worry about the rest of that later."

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