1994-95 IVY LEAGUE: Big Green hopes to foil Dunphy's 100-win bid

Dave Faucher sat in the Palestra interview room a year ago and likened his Penn-Princeton weekend trip to oral surgery: painful, long and a necessary evil. Faucher's Dartmouth men's basketball team lost the games by a combined 50 points. So when he returns to the Palestra with an improved Big Green squad tonight at 7 (WXPN-FM 88.5), the appeal of watching may be somewhat doubtful. The result figures to be like the last 36 Ivy League games in which Penn has played -- a Quakers victory. Harvard visits the Palestra tomorrow at 7 p.m. (WXPN-FM 88.5, WGMP-AM 1210). Penn (15-4, 7-0 Ivy League) has now played all the Ivy teams once this season, outscoring them by an average of 21.1 points per game. Tonight's reason for getting excited? Coach Fran Dunphy takes his second shot at win No. 100 in six seasons with the Quakers. Dunphy, who sports a 99-53 record in his Penn career, may be the least excited person about getting his 100th win. The Penn men's basketball coach shuns personal accomplishments. "It will mean we're 8-0 in the league and that will be certainly significant," Dunphy said. "But unfortunately I can't wear it or eat it." Dartmouth (9-11, 6-2) is in second place and playing well. The Big Green boasts Jamie Halligan, who scored 24 points during Penn's 85-70 win in Hanover, N.H., Jan. 7. Faucher also has Sea Lonergan, last year's rookie of the year, who cut Penn's lead to five points late in the first half of the first meeting with back-to-back three-pointers. Lonergan leads the Ivy League in overall scoring (17.3 ppg) and Ivy scoring (19.3). Penn guard Scott Kegler had a huge game against Dartmouth. He scored a career-high 26 points by hitting seven three-pointers. Kegler is second in the nation in three-point shooting percentage at 52 percent (47 of 91) through Feb. 13. He is shooting 65 percent (17 of 26) in seven Ivy games. Dunphy is familiar with the Big Green. He said he has watched the tape of the first Penn-Dartmouth meeting 10 times since the Temple loss. "Unfortunately, we can't just gear our stuff for Jamie Halligan," Dunphy said. "Lonergan is a good basketball player. We've got to be ready for [Jacob] Capps, who did a good job against us the first time, and [Brian] Gilpin can score. Dunphy said his players will be motivated for the weekend despite a commanding lead in the Ivy standings. Harvard (4-16, 2-6) is struggling, having only Columbia to thank for not being in the Ivy cellar. Penn beat the Crimson soundly, 90-63, in the first meeting in a game that tied the old Ivy League winning streak at 30. Penn set the new record the next night in Hanover, and has dominated ever since. "I'm not worried about what other people are saying about how we're supposed to win by a lot of points," Dunphy said. "If we win both games by a point, and you could ensure me of that, then I'll sleep a whole lot better these next two nights."

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