Cagers Challenge Ivy Leader Penn TonightQuakers Boast Tenth-Rated Team And Balanced Offensive Potential

When the Crimson basketball squad played Penn in Philadelphia four weeks ago, the Quakers were the 18th-ranked team in the nation. Tonight, at 8 p.m. Harvard faces them again in the IAB, but now they are ranked tenth.

Since clobbering the Crimson 103-71, Penn has knocked off its Philadelphia rivals-Temple, St. Joseph's, and LaSalle-for the Big Five title, edged Cornell, topped Columbia, 57-52, for the Ivy League lead, and upped its record to 17-1, Its only less was to Purdue, 88-85, at Christmas.

The Quakers boast the most balanced scoring and rebounding of any team in the Ivy League. Tall sophomore forward Bob Morse paces the squad with 16.4 points per game and a 55 per cent shooting average from the floor. The only starter who isn't averaging 14 points a game is center Jim Wolf, who paces the team with 10 rebounds per contest.

No All-Ivies

"It's conceivable that they couldn't have anyone on the All-Ivy team because they are so well-balanced." said Harvard coach Bob Harrison. "And to beat them we'll probably have to execute our offense and defense almost perfectly." he added.

Harrieon plans to use a man-to-man defense against Penn, but the Crimson will have a difficult time matching the Quakers on a man-for-man basis.

Penn has the tallest front line in the Ivy Leagne with 6'3 Corky Calhoun at forward. 6'8 "Merse at the other forward, and 6'8" center Wolf. If Harvard is going to play even with the Quakers on the boards, it will need outstanding performances from 6'5" forward Ernie Hardy and 6'7" sophomore center Brien Newmark.

In the last game with Penn. Newmark was suffering from mononucleosis. He has now recovered for the most part, and the Crimson can expect a stronger performance from him than it had a month ago. Hardy, on the other hand, had his best game this winter against the Quakers, and superb play from him again would increase. Harvard's changes of pulling an ??at.

Two Fine Guards

In the backcourt Penn has two of the best guards in the Ivies Stove Bilsky and Dave Wohl Defensive pressure from each of them helped the Quakers force 30 Crimson turnovers in last month's contest If Bilsky and Wohl are successful again. Harvard's guards junior Dale Dover and sophomore Matt Paz?k may have trouble directing the team's fast breaks.

The Crimson which has been plagued for most of the season with sporadic play, will undoubtedly have to combine its best offensive performance with a superlative defensive showing to win its second Ivy contest.

Looking Past Crimson

Harvard's chances of winning may be in Penns looking past the Crimson to its game with Dartmouth in Hanover on Saturday night. If the Quackers are not 'up' for Harvard, the Crimson might be able to edge them as Cornell almost did last weekend when Penn was thinking about last Monday's game with Columbia.

But the Quakers came from behind and defeated the Big Reds 64-60, and should Harvard put Penn in the same predicament, the Crimson will have to keep more pressure on the Quakers than Cornell did to manage an upset.

Harvard's freshman team plays Tufts' freshman squad at ??:30 tonight at Medford.