GAME NOTES: Big 5 play gets underway for a pair of Philadelphia schools, as the Penn Quakers pay a visit to the Temple Owls on Tuesday night.

Penn is still searching for its first win after stumbling out of the gate with three straight losses, all of which have taken place at home. Delaware State (77-75 OT), Rider (73-57) and Lafayette (83-77) have all taken the Quakers to task, and the squad is simply hoping to receive a spark as it looks ahead to the start of Ivy League play, which gets underway at Princeton on Jan. 10, 2015.

Temple is an even 2-2 on the young season, as it began with a pair of wins over American (40-37) and Louisiana Tech (82-75), before suffering back-to- back defeats to Duke (74-54) and UNLV (57-50). The Owls will host LIU Brooklyn in their next outing, as they continue to prep for their American Athletic Conference slate, which for them begins at defending national champion UConn on New Year's Eve.

Temple leads the all-time series with Penn, 46-22, and the Owls have won the last seven meetings.

Mike Auger came off the bench to score 18 points, and he was one of four players to reach double figures, but still Penn lost to visiting Lafayette this past Saturday. Tony Hicks logged a double-double consisting of 14 points and 13 assists, the Quakers credited with 21 helpers on their 32 total baskets. The team as a whole shot 50 percent from the field, but the Leopards were even better at 55.3 percent, which included a 9-of-16 showing from 3- point range.

Hicks is the only player averaging double digits in scoring for Penn at the moment, as his 18.7 ppg has come despite the fact that he is knocking down only 40.8 percent of his field goal attempts. A factor in other areas as well, Hicks has handed out 17 assists while coming up with six steals, both team- highs. As a collective unit, the Quakers are putting up 69.7 ppg while permitting 77.7 ppg. The team has struggled from beyond the arc (.292), whereas its opponents have feasted (.500).

Despite 21 points and seven rebounds from Will Cummings, the Owls came out on the short end of a defensive battle with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels over the weekend. Quenton DeCosey was the only other Temple player to reach double figures with 11 points, and the team as a whole converted a mere 24.1 percent of its total shots, missing the mark on 17 of its 21 3-point attempts in the process. The Owls scored twice as many points as the Rebels at the foul line (18-9) and were guilty of only seven turnovers, but again, poor shooting was the problem.

Temple's offensive deficiencies are what has cost the team in the early going, as it is only netting 56.5 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of .319 overall and .219 from distance. The team's defensive effort has been solid, as foes are scoring 60.8 ppg in hitting 37.9 percent of their total shots, which includes a 29.4 percent mark from 3-point land. Cummings paces the squad with 16.5 ppg, but he too is shooting rather poorly while committing a team-high 15 turnovers. DeCosey is the only other double-digit scorer at the moment, checking in at 10.8 ppg despite his owns troubles shooting the ball.

Neither of these teams elicits much fear in the other in terms of offensive prowess, so expect a relatively low-scoring affair. The Owls have the better athletes, and get the edge playing at home.