1994-95 IVY LEAGUE M. HOOPS STANDINGS: Tigers no match for Penn this time.

"Hey Steve," the timeworn Pete Carril called out to freshman forward Steve Goodrich before letting him leave the post-game press conference. "Can you name five state capitals in the United States that start with the letter 'A'?" "Can't do it coach," Goodrich brushed the question aside. "I can't help you out there." And so for the final time Saturday evening, a Tigers player was rendered clueless. For the 40 minutes that counted, of course, it was Penn's defense that left the young Princeton players hunting for answers. The Quakers' defense grabbed this game by the throat and then shook the life out of it. Penn built a 31-10 advantage in the first 14 minutes and coasted to a 69-50 win. The Quakers won this game by combining two often incompatible ingredients: defensive intensity and defensive intelligence. Time and time again the Quakers clogged the passing lanes, swiped the ball and jet-streamed down the court for dazzling baskets. And forget about Princeton's celebrated back-door cuts. The Quakers slammed, dead-bolted and chained the back door shut. The Quakers also nullified the shot that makes all men tall, the three pointer. Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney stalked the Tigers guards the width of the court, holding Princeton's starting backcourt of Sydney Johnson and Chris Long scoreless in the first half. How suffocating was the Penn defense? Well, the Tigers' first three-pointer of the game, with 10:43 left in the second half, sliced the Penn lead to 23. And even on that possession the Tigers had to work hard. Ira Bowman hounded him as he brought the ball back to midcourt, bringing the crowd to its feet. After giving up the ball, Osier used a staggered screen to get open for a split second on the left wing. As soon as he got the ball back, he let it fly. The result was one of only two Princeton three-pointers on the evening. When the clock finally dripped down to zero, not a single fan made a move toward the court. The nets were not clipped down. There was no need to do anything. It was business as usual. The Quakers expected to win, and they did. Of course, they didn't expect to win so handily. After all, this was Princeton, a mousetrap waiting for its prey. But Princeton was, well, not exactly Princeton. They had more turnovers (20) than baskets (19). Compounding the fact Princeton was rusty from not having played a Division I opponent in 18 days due to final exams, the Penn defense left the Tigers little margin for error. "Our defensive intensity was perfect," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We are not used to a team that plays us that hard," Goodrich said. "So that is part of it. But we didn't take care of the ball. We were not strong enough with the ball. We didn't play with enough guts." The Quakers meanwhile showed guts and heart and even a little showmanship. Bowman electrified the crowd three times with breakaways, and on a fourth occasion he put the ball behind his back only to miss a layup. Tim Krug also got in the act, engaging in a little chest-thumping with Penn football star Terrance Stokes after a vicious dunk. The dunk punctuated a 25-4 Penn run that broke a 6-6 tie and effectively put the game out of reach. But even with the inspired play, Dunphy was not willing to pardon the showboating. Twenty-two seconds after the chest-thumping, Krug was benched. "It won't happen again," Krug said with a silly self-conscious grin sewn on his face. "You can quote me on that." This rivalry, of course, brings out those kinds of emotions. Saturday night's contest, however, was as lopsided as most of Penn's other 32 consecutive Ivy wins. So forgive Krug for a little Freudian slip. "The Princeton game is a one-shot thing. It is not the back-to-back Ivy League victories (I mean games, I mean back-to-back Ivy League games) where we have one day to prepare." Yet Princeton also had time to prepare. And still they were fogged the whole game. Carril kept his team in their locker room for half an hour afterwards. When he faced the press, though, he was spewing praise and one-liners instead of venom. "That is one of the best teams that I have seen in the Ivy League in quite a while," Carril said. Carril answered his own trivia question: Austin (TX), Atlanta (GA) Annapolis (MD) Albany (NY) and Augusta (ME). The answers to this game, though, he could not answer so easily.