Penn coach Chuck Daly will probably rely heavily on the Quakers' "sixth man," the Pennsylvania Palestra, when the Crimson journeys to Philadelphia for tonight's basketball contest.

Without Daly's sixth cog, reigning-Ivy-Champ Penn nose-dived out of the national rankings in the last two weeks with three defeats in tournament and league play.

Most stunning of the three losses for the 7-3 Quakers was a 50-49 shocker delivered by Princeton last Saturday at Jadwin Gym.

The icy-handed Penn shooters fell behind from the start, and were not able to remove the lid from the basket until late in the second half. By that time the Tigers had already rolled up what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

But when the Quakers amass their 9000 plus fans and disperse them through the ancient stands of the Palestra, the hands thaw to the chants, and Penn becomes the school you have to beat to win the Ivy title.

In order to chill Penn properly, the Crimson defense will have to guard against Penn's media player--6 ft. 8 in center Ron Haigler. On a team that has already spilled egg on the face of most of the prognosticators, Haigler has been the only commodity living up to its touting.

Averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game, the pre-season All-American selection is a definite threat--when Penn's guards can get the ball to him.

Unto Themselves

And that seems to be Penn's basic problem. Both Haigler and John Engles, a regular 16 points contributor maintain a 50 points-plus shooting percentage. But the guards, Bob Bigelow and John Beecroft, both excellent shooters themselves, have been playing like separate entities.

If the Quakers can bring the ball within 25 feet of the basket, the opposition is in danger--but in the last three games that hasn't been a problem as the Quakers haven't been getting inside.

Rounding out the Quaker squad is Mark Lonetto, a 6 ft. 4 in. forward, who as a sophomore has been hitting for about an eight point average. Lonetto joins the rest of the judges on Penn's bench when Daly literally throws in six feet and eleven inches worth of Henry Johnson. The tree-like Johnson frequently lowers his boughs on rival players, and averages more fouls than points in his well-meaning play under the boards.

Immediately preceding the Quaker-Tiger match-up, in the Rainbow classic, Penn displayed foul problems, both personal and technical, in losing to Ohio State and Tulsa. The Quaker's 100-88 victory over Florida in the classic was the only compensation for their 6000 mile trek.

Bengal Lancer

Chief nemesis of the Quakers when they unwaringly stepped into the bengals' den last week was 6 ft. 3 in. senior Tim van Blommesteyn. The forward-guard, who chalked up 14 points and preyed on clumsy Quaker ball-handling for eight steals, will be the key man in the Tiger attack when Harvard runs up against Princeton tomorrow night at Jadwin.

Blommesteyn, guards Armand Hill and Mickey Steuerer and forward Barnes Hauptfuhrer are the standouts on Pete Caril's 5-4 squad this year. With wins over Fordham, Navy, Villanova and Davidson besides the Quaker conquest, the Tigers have shown a balanced scoring attack and a spartan defense. By holding Penn to 49 points, Princeton's frugal defensive unit shaved off some 30 points from the Quakers' normal point output.

Nothing Special

Before departing for Philadelphia, Harvard coach Tom Sanders indicated that he had nothing special planned for the Quakers. But he said the Crimson would be working on solidifying its porous defense. Harvard will regain the services of Arnie Needleman, who averaged close to 18 points a game before an ankle injury sidelined him in a losing cause against Oral Roberts two weeks ago.

The Crimson comes off of a three game road trip that saw it take last in the Oral Roberts Invitational in Tulsa, Oklahoma with losses to Oral Roberts and San Diego State. Harvard dropped its third straight in Dayton.