M. Hoops tries for 11-game win streak

The Penn men's basketball team plays Dartmouth tonight at the Palestra in a matchup of two teams with no Ivy losses. While Penn fans may be looking past this weekend's men's basketball action in anticipation of the Princeton game on Tuesday, the Quakers are focused squarely on the task at hand. Penn welcomes two pesky Ivy rivals to the Palestra this weekend. The Quakers host Dartmouth tonight at 7 p.m. and Harvard tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Dartmouth (10-8, 6-0 Ivy League) has traditionally been a thorn in the Quakers' sides. After all, it was the Big Green who ended Penn's 48-game Ivy winning streak in 1996. This year's Dartmouth squad currently sits atop the Ivy League standings with a 6-0 record. But the Big Green's perfect record is in jeopardy this weekend. After playing Penn (12-3, 4-0), the Big Green travel to Princeton, which is tied for second in the Ancient Eight with the Quakers. Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher admitted he did not expect such results from his very young squad -- which starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. "I'm pleasantly surprised [by our 6-0 start in Ivy play]," Faucher said. "I knew we had a young group coming in. Obviously we weren't respected in any of the pre-season polls and the team has come together better than I had anticipated. I'm very pleased with where we are." Penn tri-captain Michael Jordan said that the Big Green's relative inexperience will not factor heavily into the game. "It doesn't matter what year you are," Jordan said. "If you can play, you can play." And play Dartmouth can -- at least against its Ivy competition so far. Leading the charge for the Big Green are 6'7'' forward Shaun Gee and 6'3'' guard Greg Buth -- Nos. 1 and 3 in Ivy scoring. "Last year we desperately needed [Gee] to score, as we do this year," Faucher said. "But he's really made the other players better. He's capable of scoring a lot of points, but we have a much more balanced attack because of his unselfishness." Buth, who missed the first part of last season with a knee injury, has come into his own this year, leading the Big Green in field-goal percentage, three-point shooting and free-throw shooting. "One of my strengths has always been shooting and this year I've just been able to get a lot of open shots, and I've been able to knock 'em down," Buth said. But Jordan said Dartmouth's terrible twosome inspires motivation, not fear, in the Quakers. "We hear a lot about their scoring but that's good for us," Jordan said. "We take pride in our defense, and hopefully whoever is guarding them will come out and put the glove on them." Also causing trouble for the Quakers will be Dartmouth's 6'8'', 220-lb. power forward Ian McGinnis, who leads the country in rebounding with 12.3 boards per game. The threat McGinnis poses in the middle could be a trouble spot for the Quakers. In all three of Penn's losses, the Quakers were outrebounded. And in nine of Penn's 12 victories, the Quakers grabbed the edge on the boards. Penn, however, will not employ any specific tactics to stop McGinnis. "There are no specific gimmicks, we'll just play him straight up," Jordan said. "[There has been] a lot of hype, but he has to prove it." After the surprising Dartmouth team travels to Princeton, the Quakers take on Harvard (9-9, 3-3) -- whose performance this year has been, well, typical Harvard. But the Crimson come into tomorrow's game on a relative roll in Ivy play. After a 69-67 loss at Dartmouth dropped Harvard to 1-3 in the conference, the Crimson dished out two spankings, drubbing Yale 76-58 and Brown 80-62. But then again, Yale and Brown have met with a number of drubbings this season, as the two New England schools currently sit in the basement of the Ivy standings. The Crimson -- who return four starters from last year's fourth-place team -- are led by 5'11'' guard Tim Hill, who is scoring 16.2 points per game. "We expect to see the same thing [as in previous years] from Harvard," Jordan said. "They run the same offense. We're just going to play them the same way."

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