Margin for error? Not so much

Here's a riddle for you: What do you get when a possible lottery pick guard teams up with a pair of uber-athletes, a 6-foot-10 Lithuanian paint-clogger and an all-Big 12 defensive first-teamer?

Not a lot of leeway.

Penn faces quite a conundrum as it prepares to take on heavily favored Texas A&M; in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow, but Quakers fans shouldn't give up on their team just yet.

Sure, prodigious point guard Acie Law is as good as anyone in the nation, and the Aggies' next two scoring options, forward/center Joseph Jones and swingman Josh Carter, would be the two best athletes in the Ivy League.

And maybe center Antanas Kavaliauskas is just a more-skilled, Eastern European version of Brian Cusworth, and guard Dominique Kirk has made a habit of stopping the best in the country on defense.

But A&M; is versatile, not invincible.

The Aggies don't have a discernible kryptonite, but when all the pieces of the puzzle haven't been there, they have lost to inferior teams, including two two-point defeats at the hands of unranked Texas Tech and a recent upset by Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament.

In the losses to the Red Raiders, A&M; was outshot 16-7 from beyond the arc, posting a clip of just 22.6 percent, compared to 51.6 overall for Texas Tech.

The Quakers don't have a dangerous three-point specialist like Tim Begley anymore. But because their entire starting five has been known to hit open looks from deep, an on night could keep things interesting as it did against Texas last year.

According to Fordham coach Dereck Whittenburg, whose squad fell at the hands of the Aggies in December after beating the Quakers, Mark Zoller and Penn's other big men may have to get out of the paint and get involved in this perimeter attack.

"Penn has more skilled forwards, so if they can really be patient and spread [A&M;'s big men] out, they'll have a chance," Whittenburg said. "I think that's the key, to get their big guys away from the basket and make them play perimeter defense."

But even before tip-off, all eyes will be on Law.

Penn guard Ibrahim Jaaber has always been considered as good an on-the-ball defender as you can find, but the Ivy League steal artist will have his hands full on every possession if he is indeed called upon to cover Law, who made the all-Big 12 first team behind his 18.2 points and 5.3 assists per game.

"[Law is] one of the best guards in the country, so he's very dangerous," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "He can do a lot of things well."

Jaaber will have to contain Law and keep him from penetrating at will. Because the Aggies have so many weapons, the moment the Quakers have to resort to help defend against him, the game could break open.

With Law leading the break, it might be tempting for Penn, which has relied on outrunning its opponents in conference play, to run with A&M.; But that might be a formula for disaster.

"When you get into these games against high-major teams you have to keep them out of transition, you have to keep them out of the lane and not allow second-chance opportunities," Miller said. "Offensively we have to be able to control the game a little bit and not let it get away from us."

If nothing else, the senior-laden Quakers will know what they are getting into come game time. If ever there was a time to solve the first-round riddle, it's now.

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