One more for the Show

Penn looks to capture title and NCAA berth Penn and Princeton have together won 23 of the last 25 Ivy League men's basketball championships. Tonight the Quakers will attempt to keep that dominance alive as they try to wrap up their second consecutive league title against -- who else? -- the Tigers. The Penn-Princeton rivalry has traditionally been one of the most hotly contested in the country. This year is no different, and the No. 25 Quakers (21-2, 11-0 Ivy League) and Tigers (16-7, 9-2) will battle it out tonight at 7 p.m. at the Palestra (WOGL 1210-AM, WXPN 88.5-FM). Penn's shot to clinch the Ancient Eight crown is not lost on its New Jersey counterparts. "That's in the back of our minds," Princeton freshman guard Sydney Johnson said. "An upset like this would add so much to our season?and it's a chance to redeem ourselves for the last contest." The outcome of that first Quaker-Tiger matchup this season was not to the Tigers' liking. Penn captured that game 66-55, a key step on the road to its current national ranking. Johnson, an Ivy Rookie of the Year candidate, was the one Princeton player to step up with a strong performance back on January 29, pouring in 17 points against the Quakers. This time around, Johnson can expect a much stiffer test from Penn's defense. "Whether Matt [Maloney] or Jerome [Allen] is guarding him, we're going to pressure him all over the floor," junior guard Scott Kegler said. "We're going to make him handle the ball and try to wear him down." Should Penn succeed in containing Johnson, the Tigers can turn to a number of others for output in their slow-moving, ball-control offense. Senior forward Chris Mooney, for example, leads Princeton with 11.8 points per game. But the Tigers' biggest offensive threat of late is Rick Hielscher. After winning Ivy Rookie of the Year honors in the 1991-92 campaign, the junior center struggled through the next season and a half. In the past several weeks, however, Hielscher has come on with a vengeance. Coming off two consecutive Ivy Player of the Week awards, Hielscher tops Princeton at 15.6 points per Ivy contest. "Rick Hielscher's probably the only guy who could say why he's more confident with his game now," Quaker coach Fran Dunphy said. "But the fact remains that he is, and we've got a tough job ahead of us." The man called upon to stop Hielscher will be Penn junior center Eric Moore. In the earlier matchup, Moore held his Tiger counterpart to a singularly-unimpressive zero points and one rebound. Although aware of Hielscher's recent surge, Moore is not overly worried. "It's not really a particular concern of mine," Moore said. "I just go out and play my same game. Obviously he's been playing better and that's good for [Princeton], but we'll see how well he plays against us." At the same time, Tiger coach Pete Carril is not necessarily expecting dominance from his unpredictable pivotman. "Rick's going to have to play a sound defensive game and a sound offensive game," Carril said. "He needs to react well to the pressure he's going to get from Penn and from the crowd." The crowd, as Carril suggests, may be another factor tonight. Much is made of home-court advantage in the Ivy League, and no arena is better suited to that role than a packed Palestra. With the 8,700 tickets long gone, the Quakers' homecourt will certainly fit that billing. And as last year's 64-46 Penn victory at the Palestra demonstrated, Penn fans love nothing more than a big win over Princeton. "It's very hard to win at the Palestra," Carril said. "I've always said through the years that the Penn fans are the best in the league.?They love their basketball." Carril and his Tigers may be facing Penn at just the wrong time. The aforementioned Quaker fans were treated to some of Penn's steadiest basketball of the season last weekend, as Penn crushed Yale and Brown by a combined 52 points. After the previous Saturday's harrowing one-point victory over Harvard, the Yale and Brown results left the Quakers significantly more confident. "We played pretty well this weekend," junior forward Shawn Trice said. "I think we're playing as a unit again. The frustration is gone from the Harvard game." Despite the relatively easy victories, Penn's weekend was not entirely without difficult moments. One scare came in Saturday's Brown game, when senior forward Barry Pierce hit the floor hard and left the game after a visit from the trainer. Pierce's injury was not significant, and he is expected to play his final game in a Quaker uniform at full strength. Pierce, along with fellow forward Andy Baratta, will be honored at Senior Night before the game. "I think you would have to hit Barry with a sledgehammer to keep him out of this game," Dunphy said. Aside from the Ivy championship and intraschool rivalry implications of tonight's game, Pierce and his Quaker teammates may have a few other trends in mind. Penn is aiming for its 27th Ivy League victory in a row, and at the same time hoping to prove itself worthy of its newly-earned AP Top 25 status. A win tonight would also assure the Quakers of another berth in the NCAA tournament -- one of their most important goals this season. At the same time, by clinching its spot as early as possible, Penn would be the first team in the nation to do so. Dunphy, though, in his usual manner, is quick to downplay the importance of such an accomplishment. "There's no extra motivation needed against Princeton," Dunphy said. "It's not even something we talk a great deal about with the team. They know what the deal is. They know Princeton is their number one foe right now." Just getting into the tournament is something Dunphy will not have to worry about at all, should the Quakers come through against their traditional rivals tonight.

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