The last time they played the Citadel, the Quakers breezed past the Bulldogs, 88-49. But that was back in the spring of 2006, when points -and wins came easily.
Indeed, Penn has taken all four meetings between the schools by a combined score of 362-225.
But now, mired in a three-game skid to start the season for the first time in seven years, Penn is taking no opponent lightly, not even a Citadel squad that has gone 22-62 since New Year's Day 2005.
"I think they're a dangerous team," Quakers coach Glen Miller said yesterday. "They play hard, they play together and they're not going to be an easy team. But our focus is to play extremely hard and see if we can improve."
Miller's remark comes less than 48 hours after captain Brian Grandieri questioned his teammates' efforts.
"If he feels that way, it's his right as a captain to voice his opinion,"
Miller said of his leading scorer. "It's nice if it's kept in the locker room, but what he said is what he said . Hopefully that will have a positive effect on the team going forward."
Miller is still looking for a supporting cast to step up: Grandieri leads the way with 14.3 points per game, although against Loyola he managed just three. He was banged up against Howard and is officially day-to-day, but Miller said that he has practiced without problems and will start tonight.
Nine other Quakers have started - none more than twice - but sophomore Andreas Schreiber has been the only one to display even a hint of consistency, with 8.3 points per game on 71 percent shooting. The rest of the Quakers have shot a combined 33 percent from the floor.
The Citadel, meanwhile, makes Miller's inexperienced team look like a collection of grizzled veterans. 6-foot-8 senior Demetrius Nelson will start at center, but the other four starters - and 13 of the other 15 other players on Ed Conroy's roster - are freshmen.
According to the Bulldogs' game notes, "it is believed that it is the youngest team in Division I basketball."
Their offensive statistics look impressive on paper, but they are highly inflated by a 131-79 victory over Division III Daniel Webster to open the season.
In their two games since, the Bulldogs netted a combined 89 points against South Carolina and Southern California.
Nevertheless, Miller is concerned about their offensive potential, especially from behind the arc. The four freshman starers have sunk 23 trifectas on 69 attempts.
"They spread you out, they're a hard penetrate-and-pitch team," Miller said. "We're going have to play them off the dribble and keep them out of the lane, and not get sucked in on penetration for open threes."
Yet Penn freshman Tyler Bernardini, one of many Quakers' in Miller's rotation, insisted that The Citadel's strengths and weaknesses were not the primary concern.
"It could be Citadel tomorrow, or North Carolina tomorrow, or we can play the Lakers tomorrow," he said. "We need to figure out something about ourselves."
