AT COURTSIDE: Cool Moxley heats up against Tigers

Before the Penn men's basketball team tipped off against Princeton last night, Quakers senior guard Donald Moxley sprawled in the stands watching the women's game. He seemed completely relaxed, as if he was unaware of the importance of the task his team had ahead. Win the game and force a playoff for the NCAA tournament bid. Lose the game and Moxley's Penn basketball career would come to a disappointing end. Moxley did not show any signs of stress when the game started. And, like the first time these two teams met, Princeton head coach Pete Carril was left muttering about Moxley. Last time, Princeton attempted to keep Moxley from driving to the basket. Instead, Moxley camped out behind the three-point line. The 6-foot-3 guard had 19 points in the first contest, setting a career-high he would shatter later in the season. "I read what the defense is giving me," Moxley said. "Last game they were giving me the outside shot, and I took it. In this game they were up on me a little bit so I figured I could get around them. I just tried that, and it seemed to work." Moxley had 16 points in the contest last night, despite not hitting a three-point shot. Moxley, swingman Ira Bowman and guard Garett Kreitz provided most of Penn's offensive output as the Quakers turned in a much more balanced performance than Princeton did. The Quakers' trio of guards combined for 41 points to 49 for the Tigers' entire squad. Despite Carril's advance knowledge of Moxley's potential, it was Bowman who had been the Tigers' biggest pregame concern. "If we were to put the blanket on Bowman, Moxley, who's a guard, is being guarded by forwards," Carril said. "It makes it a little rough. So you put a forward on Moxley, and he's going to blow by him, as he did tonight, as he did up at Princeton." The Tigers matched up both forward Chris Doyal and guard Brian Earl against Moxley at different times in the contest, but nothing seemed to slow him down. "From the beginning, Garett and Don really came out and set the tone with their defensive pressure on the ball," Bowman said. "Don made some early baskets and was really into it, slicing to the basket. That really sent a message." The Quakers managed to out-defend the highly-touted Princeton defenders -- who lead the nation in scoring defense. Only two Tigers scored in double-figures. Center Steve Goodrich was a dominating presence inside, contributing two-thirds of the Princeton offense by himself. The 6-foot-7 center had 26 points, but only two rebounds. Doyal assumed most of the rebounding duties, racking up 11 boards, mostly on the defensive end. Backup guard Mitch Henderson added another 10 points. Aside from those contributions, Princeton was near-silent. "Our defense was pretty darn good in the beginning of the game," Carril said. "Then somebody doesn't box out on the foul shot, and they score a basket. Somebody doesn't box out on a missed shot, and they score a basket. Second shot here, turnover there and before you know it, our defense doesn't look so good." The Princeton defense looked downright awful in stretches, particularly late in the game. The Tigers admitted to being tired out by Penn's quickness, particularly the transition game. Princeton tried to keep up with the Quakers, but failed. "The manner in which they beat us was the same manner in which they beat us the first time," Carril said. "That's bad."

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