It would be understandable if the men's basketball team were down-in-the-mouth after its loss to Temple on Tuesday. But all it has to do is harken back to Jan. 21 to get up for tonight.

On that date Rutgers knocked off the Lions, 61-59, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The Lions (16-6, 9-4 in the Atlantic 10) will get the chance to return the favor as they battle Rutgers (12-12, 8-4) at 7:30 tonight in Rec Hall in a battle for second place in the A-10.

Ed Fogell, whose midcourt shot to win the game last time clanked off the front of the rim, said playing the Scarlet Knights after Temple is a plus.

"We realize that we can't relax at all," Fogell said. "We know that Rutgers is a very good team; they beat us once already. So, we're going to be pumped up to beat them at our place now. Since they knocked us off once it's just a little extra incentive."

"I hope Temple does not affect us in a negative fashion," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "I hope the guys will be really ready for Rutgers, I hope our fans will be really ready for Rutgers. They helped to juice us up for Rhode Island and we're really going to need that (tonight)."

Hoping the Temple game will not affect the team will be a tall order. The Lions went in to the locker room on Tuesday night with a 32-28 lead. But Mark Macon and Company played excellent offense and tenacious defense the rest of the way.

"They just played a great second half," Parkhill said. "We didn't cash in on a couple opportunities that were there for us, but on at least two of them they made great plays, great blocks on layups. Macon made some big-time plays down the stretch. They just played great basketball."

The Knights have been playing without All-Atlantic 10 forward Tom Savage for most of the year because he was declared academically ineligible. So, they have leaned on 6'8" forward Keith Hughes. Even though he is shooting less than 44 percent, he is averaging 18.4 points a game.

Parkhill said the Knights are playing better without Savage. He is impressed with freshman forward Donnell Lumpkin (8.4 ppg). Lumpkin scored 16 points the last time the Knights played the Lions and was Rutgers' top scorer.

"They have a lot of good players," Parkhill said. "I think Lumpkin has done a great job in replacing Savage. He's a great shooter and provides the same look. Savage would go out there and shoot the three points and drill them, and they bring Lumpkin in and he does the same thing."

But the key to winning against the Knights is still to stop Hughes.

"He's a good player, he can play inside and out," Fogell said. "He's a threat from anywhere on the court. So we really have to watch where he is all the time."