What: Penn (2-3) at Lafayette (0-5)
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
TV/Radio: None/WFIL 560 AM
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By ADAM BOOTH
Philahoops Staff
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The Penn Quakers will take a trip up I-476, as they play the Lafayette Leopards in a non-conference clash.
The Quakers are coming off their first home victory of the season, as they put away the Niagara Purple Eagles Tuesday night at the Palestra.
The Quakers will look to make it two in the row for the first time this season as they begin the first of five road games in the next 6 games for Jerome Allen’s team.
-Hicks Emerging: Niagara’s Antoine Mason came into Tuesday’s game against Penn as the nation’s leading scorer, averaging just over 31 points a game. He left that night as the nation’s leading scorer tallying exactly 31 points in an 85-66 loss.
Mason, however, wasn’t the leading scorer on the evening. That was a designation that went to Penn sophomore Tony Hicks.
Hicks put in 33 points and was virtually unstoppable all game long. He leads the team averaging 19 points a game and there is a strong chance that number increases as the season goes on. He is scoring at this consistency all while shooting 48% from the field.
Not just settling for jumps shots, Hicks ability to penetrate is giving teams nightmares.
Hicks is also getting to the line double the amount than he was last year getting just under 6 attempts per game. Lafayette will have to shut down the Illinois native if they want to win this game.
-Meet the Leopards: Lafayette had a great year program wise in 2012-13. The team came a win away from making it to their first NCAA tournament since 2000, and raised the expectations in Easton for the year to come.
The Leopards were returning many of their key players, including junior forward, Seth Hinrichs and Dan Trist who both haven’t disappointed offensively. Hinrichs is averaging 21 points in the early season and Trist is averaging 15 for his efforts.
A lot was expected out of sophomore Bryce Scott, who is also performing well for Lafayette. His 15 points a game has helped this team establish a nice inside-outside game with Scott and the 2 big men.
Unfortunately for Lafayette, this hasn’t translated into wins just yet.
To their credit, minus the contest against Villanova to begin the year, Lafayette has fought to the wire in their games, losing twice in overtime.
Their 0-5 record is deceptive, since this is a far cry away from an 0-5 talented team.
-Prediction: The frontcourt matchup should be fun to watch. Darien Nelson-Herny and Fran Dougherty will give Trist and Hinrichs their biggest test of the young season.
Nelson-Henry is also coming off of a rough game against Niagara, and will be looking to establish himself in this contest.
Bottom line, if Lafayette cannot stop Hicks, this will be a long night in Easton.
Penn, 83-78
-Sound Off: Is Hicks’ dominate play good for the Quakers as a team?
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-Adam Booth covers Penn for Philahoops. Follow him on twitter @ThatsAdamBooth
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