Lavoy Allen

Five years ago, some folks in Philadelphia chuckled when Andrew Jones decided to play at Penn State. These days, those same people are praising the West Philadelphia native for being on the Nittany Lions' first NCAA tournament team since 2001. "Obviously, the first thing people think of is [Joe Paterno] and the history of the football team" at Penn State, Jones said. "But we have been working really hard, trying to get this basketball program to where it should be and where it needs to be. " The 6-foot-10, 245-pound Jones realizes that some of the folks who laughed when he chose a then-struggling Penn State squad probably will root against him Thursday.

After a season that began with lofty expectations that they never came close to realizing, the 76ers are headed to the lottery along with the other irrelevant NBA teams. Here is one man's look at the players the Sixers may or may not bring to training camp in October. Who should stay and who should go? Lavoy Allen. A new contract and extended minutes didn't translate into better productivity from the former Temple star in his second season. He is owed $3.1 million next season and could be playing to remain in the league.

Give the 76ers coaches credit: The starting lineup was broken and it appears they may have taken the proper steps to fix it. Following the team's eighth loss in 10 games, coach Doug Collins stood in a hallway of the BMO Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Jan. 22 and bemoaned yet another lethargic start. There was no recovering from a beginning that saw the 76ers make just two of their first 16 field goal tries. Collins has come to refer to playing with this type of self-imposed handicap as "playing uphill.

SACRAMENTO - There were plenty of Sixers players and staff with long faces roaming around the locker room, and many NCAA Tournament brackets were in pieces on the floor, torn up in frustration by those who now have little shot of winning their pools. It was more personal than that, though, for some. Lavoy Allen and assistant coach Aaron McKie were both suffering through Temple's close loss to Indiana on Sunday, as was Temple alum and equipment manager Scott Rego. Usually boisterous Jeremy Pargo was silenced by the fact that his top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs were ousted on Saturday by Wichita State.

There will be no official announcement from Temple, but don't look for freshman guard Ramone Moore on the court this season. Unless something unexpected happens to the Owls' backcourt, Moore said he would redshirt. He can practice with the team and have four seasons of eligibility left if he doesn't play. "I felt that I needed to work on my academics first and be stronger physically - to get better as a player," Moore said yesterday at Temple's media day. This is no surprise, because the backcourt, led by senior Mark Tyndale and junior Dionte Christmas, is Temple's one well-stocked area.

Missed assignments - in the classroom and on the court - proved costly in Temple's 77-66 loss to Dayton yesterday afternoon at UD Arena. With freshman forward Lavoy Allen benched for missing a study assignment, the Owls missed too many defensive assignments and fell into a big hole against the recently wobbly Flyers. Senior guard Brian Roberts scored 23 points as the Atlantic Ten's early-season surprise won for just the third time in its last nine games. Dayton improved to 17-7 and 5-6 in the conference.

Villanova is in the middle of one of the most amazing runs in the history of the Big Five, having gone 21-1 in its last 22 City Series games and with a chance to sweep through its four opponents for the fourth time in five seasons. But before the third-ranked Wildcats (9-0) can enjoy what they've accomplished, they must go to the Liacouras Center today for their Big Five finale and defeat Temple, which has developed into one of the best defensive outfits in the country. In their last game, the Owls outscored Miami of Ohio, 25-0, during one stretch en route to a 64-42 road victory Tuesday night.

Having already faced basketball teams from the Colonial Athletic Association, the Big East, and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Temple welcomed Ball State of the Mid-American Conference to the Liacouras Center last night for a nonleague game. It turned out to be a no-fuss evening for the Owls, who put a 66-46 victory in the books in front of 3,597 fans. Temple improved to 3-1 and handed Ball State its first loss of the season after two victories. Leading by 10 points at intermission, Temple scored the first six points of the second half and made it the rest of the way without any worries.

Micheal Eric called Temple's victory at Central Michigan a momentum setter. "Being able to close out games is a huge thing," the Owls center said of using a game-ending, 17-4 run to beat the Chippewas, 65-53, Wednesday night. "I think this will [create] huge momentum for us. " We will find out one way or the other Sunday night. That's when Temple (4-2) will face Maryland (6-2) of the Atlantic Coast Conference in an 8 p.m. BB&T Classic matchup at the Verizon Center in Washington.

Last summer, 6-foot-9 Lavoy Allen of Pennsbury High realized he could take his skills to a higher level. He was playing in a summer-league game at Loyola Marymount University in Southern California. The opposing big man was headed for North Carolina State. "I played pretty well," Allen said yesterday. How well? "Pretty much unstoppable," he said. From that day, Allen knew he had options. He could pursue a chance to play at a place like Kentucky or Georgia - coaches from both schools were in the Loyola Marymount gym - or he could find the right fit, a school where he could play right away, and wouldn't be recruited over, where maybe he could be a star.