With 310 victories as Penn men's basketball coach, Fran Dunphy knew the taste of victory in the Palestra.
But two years ago, in his first opportunity to savor success as a visiting head coach, Dunphy and his current team - Big 5 rival Temple -- blew an early 19-point lead and lost to Penn, 76-74, on a trio of Mark Zoller free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining.
Now Dunphy has a second chance to beat his old team in his old gym when the Owls (8-6, 1-1 Big 5) take on the Quakers (3-7, 0-1) at 7 p.m. tonight.
"For me personally, at this point, because I spent so many years at Penn, the place was so good to me, and the people there are still very, very close to me, it's a difficult game to prepare for to be honest . for a lot of different reasons," Dunphy said. "One, I think they're a good basketball team. And two, just the emotions that you're playing for as you go back to the Palestra."
Preparation is easier when you can rely on a prolific scorer like Temple guard Dionte Christmas. The last time the two teams matched up at the Palestra, Christmas lit up the Quakers for a game-high 34 points on a scorching 73.3 percent shooting. Now a senior with 10 career 30-point games on his resume, the All-America candidate and possible first-round draft pick leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring for the third consecutive season with an average of 21 points per game.
"We've played against some good players," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "But I don't know if we're going to play against too many players as good as or better than [Christmas]."
The scary part is, he's still improving.
"I think he's getting better at shot selection," Dunphy said. "And also understanding the momentum of the game."
Despite his scoring prowess, Christmas' character and selflessness drew the most praise from Dunphy and Miller.
"In my interactions with Dionte Christmas, I think he's a really classy, terrific kid," Miller said. "You can tell he's out there for the single goal of winning and not playing for himself. That's impressive to me."
Christmas is not usually the most vocal player on the court, but his soft-spoken nature does not limit his leadership.
"He's a different kind of leader," Dunphy said. "He's a real good guy, and so I think that's what the level of his leadership is."
Penn freshman Rob Belcore will likely draw the difficult defensive assignment of containing Christmas, but it will take a total team effort on both ends of the court for the Quakers to spoil Dunphy's second homecoming.
"You've got to focus on [Christmas] because he can take over a game, but at the same time you can't ignore the other guys because they're all good players," Miller said.
Offensively, the Red and Blue have had the most success when the scoring is distributed throughout the lineup. In their win over Lafayette last week, all five starters reached double digits.
Freshman point guard Zack Rosen bears the responsibility of spreading the ball around, but Miller has challenged him to become a more aggressive scorer as well.
Having won consecutive games for the first time this season, the Quakers' chemistry and confidence is on the upswing. Still, against a team that has both a star like Christmas as well as a size advantage, Miller might look outside the confines of the Palestra for a winning formula.
"We have to go to early morning mass . and see if I can get some help," he said.
