There are times when Penn's Ibrahim Jaaber can dominate with his offense. That's obviously a very good thing.

And there are games when, for whatever circumstances, the senior guard can't put the ball in the basket. But even then, he still does a bunch of things to make his team go. Which is even better.

There's a reason he's the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year.

Take last night at the Palestra. Jaaber had five points on 1-for-7 shooting. He didn't bother taking a shot in the second half. Didn't matter. Because he finished with 10 assists, a career high, six steals and five rebounds. And he had only two turnovers, in 38 minutes.

More to the point, the Quakers (4-2) won their fourth straight, 80-66, over a Monmouth club that is favored to repeat in the Northeast Conference. They led by eight at the half and never let the Hawks (2-5) get it to single digits in the closing 14 minutes.

When Mark Zoller is your so-called second option, you know you've got potential. He had a career-best 29 points to go with a game-high 11 boards. He made his first eight shots, and went 12-for-16 from the field. He hurt the Hawks inside and out. That's his game.

And behind door No. 3 is Brian Grandieri, who shot 9-for-15 to tie his career high of 19 points.

The Quakers also got 10 points and six boards from Steve Danley, and nine points and four assists (plus as many turnovers) from Tommy McMahon.

At some point, first-year coach Glen Miller will have to get at least a little more from his young bench, which was merely, well, OK. But for the time being, whatever his guys are giving him seems to be working. Sure, it's early. And this team was supposed to be good. But when Jaaber is limited to a handful and you still win going away, that can't be a bad sign.

"It's great," said Miller, who will coach his first Big 5 game when Villanova comes to West Philly on Saturday. "We're trying to develop more guys into the rotation. It's a very unselfish team. When you look at what Ibby did, he doesn't care how he gets it done.

"We had 26 assists [on 34 buckets]. And the execution is still coming around. We'd like to play nine or 10 guys on a regular basis. That's evolving."

Mike Kach, who should help, has been out with a stress fracture in his foot. He played 5 minutes, his first time of the season. Another positive development.

The Quakers shot 50 percent from the floor, against what can be a very frustrating matchup zone. And it would have been better, had they not missed way too many layups. It happens.

Anyway, a two-touchdown margin is a two-touchdown margin.

"I think tonight it was just the chemistry of the game," Jaaber said. "Mark hit some shots early, and was playing really well in the second half. He was getting a lot of easy looks. If it's there, you keep going with it...

"Brian did a lot of the same things last year. He's just getting more opportunities now."

He figures to get more.

Monmouth, which was without 7-foot shot blocker John Bunch, got 23 points from Marques Alston. Four others had from eight to 10. The Hawks shot 52 percent in the first 20 minutes, 42 percent thereafter. They were 50 percent from the arc in the first half, 22 percent in the second. They shot 11 more free throws, but didn't convert enough to make a dent. Penn had 52 more points in the paint.

"I think we're getting out on the break a little more," Zoller said. "A scorer's mentality is once you get a couple of easy looks, the more comfortable you get with your shot. That had something to do with it. And having a third guy like Brian [emerge] is huge for us.

"Any time you have a player of Ibby's caliber, it opens things up for everyone else out there. I think he's looking to pass a little more this year. And that says a lot about him."