Slowing down Elegar won't be a one-man job

After last season, Drexel lost a lot of key players - leading assist-man Bashir Mason, leading three-point shooter Dominick Mejia and leading shot-blocker and rebounder Chaz Crawford - but the Dragons still have their leading scorer, Frank Elegar.

The 6-foot-9 forward was a monster inside last year, shooting 53 percent from the floor (only attempting twos) scoring 16 points per game and adding 6.7 rebounds.

But Elegar started slow in 2006, and while no one had a great game that night at the Palestra, he particularly struggled in the loss to Penn.

Elegar went 3 for 8 for eight points, six rebounds and a whopping eight turnovers. Mark Zoller and Stephen Danley did a nice job down low against the Drexel's giants, but a big question coming into tonight's game is will this Penn team be able to stop Elegar?

"It's always a team effort when it comes to stopping a plaer of his ability," Glen Miller said. "You're not going to stop him with one guy, and I think that's true with any team that has one player with his skill level and his ability and his talent. It will be a team effort for sure."

What to look for tonight against Drexel:

I remember at last year's game many people I knew expected the Dragons to come into the Paestra and beat the Ivy champs, but they were wrong, as Penn won by 19. This Drexel team isn't the same as last year, but it is pretty good, and has to be the favorite coming in. With Elegar, junior guards Tramayne Hawthorne (7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.75 assists per game, as well as 41 percent from three off the bench) and Scott Rodgers (eight points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.78 assists per game) are back. The Quakers of course can pull it off, but Drexel has the mix of size, speed and experience that makes it a formidable opponent.

Here are few things to expect:

If I had to guess, other than Grandieri, Penn's leading scorer tonight will be Darren Smith. He's likely not going to be putting up 20, but he's got a nice three-ball and he seems to have improved his drive. Kevin Egee would be my second guess for the top scorer.

The battle for the starting frontcourt spots will be interesting, between mainly Brennan Votel, Cam Lewis, Justin Reilly and Andreas Schreiber. By what we saw last year, Votel may have the edge, but all these guys have talent, and will get to prove themselves early-on this season.

It will be interesting to see if Tyler Bernardini can knock down some shots in the pressure of his first game, but clearly the freshman to watch is Harrison Gaines. He may not start, but he should get loads of time running the offense. Miller called him the only true point guard on the team, and we'll get a first look at him tonight.