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Men's basketball falls to UNC by 15 points during their season opener at Chapel Hill, NC. Penn UNC Credit: Rebeca Martinez

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Here is the story. Glen Miller took Penn to visit North Carolina, the creme de la creme of college hoops, and got within 10 points with under four minutes to play. Not too shabby.

"Well, I mean, we're never pleased with a loss. And we made a lot of mental mistakes out there . "

Miller is stingy; you almost have to pry a compliment from his mouth. But he offered several on Saturday with his left arm, which he kept sweeping like a third-base coach, maniacally urging his team into the teeth of the Carolina defense. (Faster! You can run with 'em!)

It was a credit to his confidence in a new offense and a freshman point guard. And for about 17 minutes, it worked.

"I mean, we were a little bit too perimeter-oriented. We didn't get the ball inside enough. We had no high-low game, and it's a high-low motion offense!"

See what I mean about stingy? Don't listen to him. Don't listen, period. Just look at the man's jacket.

Miller always sheds the top half of his suit the instant he gets mad enough to want freedom of motion. Last year, with a young and underachieving team, those moments came early and often. On Saturday, it took 13 minutes and six seconds of play, or 27 offensive possessions, and he was only angry because of a bogus "player control" foul. Penn was only down by three.

Miller had to admit: Those first 27 possessions were pretty good. His newbie assistant, John Gallagher, didn't bother with a poker face. He spent those opening minutes leaning his arm against the scorers' table, yelling and pumping his fist after made threes, like he was watching the game at Cav's. (Think of a younger Miller, after a few drinks.)

Look at the box score, too. Sixteen turnovers, a 15-point loss, 33 percent from the new, deeper three-point line. Nothing to put on the mantle, surely, but vastly better than anything Penn mustered against UNC in '06 or '07.

* * *

Still, a season opener at the Dean Dome is nothing but amateur meteorology. You can't say anything definite; all you can do is peer at the sky and ask "So, how's it look?"

There were rays of sunshine, but were they really as bright as they seemed, or was the Tar Heel just not on the gas pedal? What can we make of Jack Eggleston's 12 rebounds against a Tyler Hansbrough-less Carolina frontcourt?

We won't know for sure until at least tomorrow, when Penn visits Drexel's Daskalakis Athletic Center for a 10 a.m. tip-off, the rare road game which will not follow a bus ride to the arena.

"I'm no prima donna. I can walk a few blocks," said Tyler Bernardini, chuffed with his second-straight 26-point effort against Carolina.

"We walk over there to play pickup all the time, so it won't be any different. We'll smoke 'em, just like normal."

So, how's it look? If that quip's any measure, pretty good.

Sebastien Angel is a senior Political Science major from Worcester, Mass., and is former Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is angelsd@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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