AT COURTSIDE: Penn's inside game saves the day

PRINCETON, N.J. -- One look at the box score for Saturday's game will tell you that this was not a typical game for the Penn basketball team. The Quakers, who have recently lived and died with their three-point shooting, attempted a mere three shots from three-point land, compared with an average of 29 in each of the three previous contests. Penn instead relied heavily on its inside game to win the ballyhooed showdown with the Tigers. It was apparent from the start that Princeton was well aware of the Quakers' propensity to release the spherical orange projectile from long range. Fortunately for Penn, Princeton's focus on defending the perimeter opened things up inside for the Quaker frontcourt. By halftime, nine of the Quakers' 13 field goals had come from within the paint. Along with another consistent showing by senior captain Barry Pierce, all of Penn's big men -- Shawn Trice, Eric Moore, Tim Krug and Andy Baratta -- were able to take advantage of the opportunities inside. "It's always a thought of ours to try to work from the inside out, but we do what the defense dictates," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "In the first half, they weren't allowing us to get any threes off and we were fairly successful inside." In particular, Krug scored 10 points in just 13 minutes, including six during a 9-0 run early in the second half that gave the Quakers a 21-point lead, their biggest of the night. After Princeton answered with a 16-1 run of its own, Moore silenced the Tiger faithful with a huge basket and an equally important rebound. Late in the second half, a Pierce offensive rebound and subsequent dunk all but sealed Princeton's fate. However, what worked for the frontcourt didn't seem to work at all for the backcourt tandem of Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney, certainly the best backcourt in the Ivy League and considered by some to be among the best in the nation. Although they combined for 23 points, 12 came from free throws. Maloney attempted only four shots during the entire game, while Allen was a bit off for the night, shooting only 2 for 7. Thus, the frontcourt was called on to pick up the slack. "Basically, it's just a matter of milking the cow," Allen said. "Whatever's going for you, you just keep on tapping it. When we were out in Seattle [for the US West Cellular Tournament], our inside game pretty much won the tournament for us. I'm just glad somebody stepped up and made some shots." To Princeton's credit, Allen and Maloney simply could not get many open shots. The Tigers rarely allowed an uncontested trey, a shot that in recent games against La Salle and Temple has accounted for 45 and 55 percent of Penn's total points, respectively. The two guards totalled five assists as the night clearly belonged to the Quaker frontcourt. Even Princeton coach Pete Carril admitted his mistake. "Allen is a very good player," Carril said. "We held Allen and Maloney in check but some others got out of the bag. We let them get out of control."