GAME ANALYSIS: Jordan outshines Tigers' Earl

Quakers point guard Michael Jordan rose above Princeton's Brian Earl when it counted most. PRINCETON, N.J. -- It was Senior Night at Princeton last night and the Tigers were saying goodbye to one of the best players to put on a Princeton jersey in recent memory. As point guard Brian Earl was being introduced to the fans at Jadwin Gymnasium for the final time, the Princeton band blasted the theme song from Superman. Several hours later, though, a defeated Earl was slumped down on the Princeton bench, while it was the Penn Quakers who felt like the supermen -- especially the one wearing No. 23 for the Red and Blue. In a showdown between the two leading candidates for Ivy League Player of the Year, Michael Jordan showed that the Ivy's best player is in fact the guy who runs the point for the Ivy's best team. The last time these players met, Earl led the charge for the Tigers as they pulled off one of the most improbable comeback victories in college basketball history. Last night, Jordan made sure that Earl would not get a chance for an encore. "I was talking to coach [Gil Jackson] a lot after that game and he was telling me how Earl was the main reason why they won that game," Jordan said. "I took that personally, especially when I was reading the DP and it said that Princeton pulled out a miracle win behind Earl? who scorched M.J. I took that kind of personally. "My teammates helped me a lot. It was a total team effort to take him out of the game." Last night, Earl seemed a far cry from the game-breaking clutch player who wore No. 10 for the Tigers on February 9 at the Palestra. Simply looking at his numbers proves that. In the first meeting between these two teams, Earl was the catalyst behind the comeback, scoring 20 points -- five above his average of 15.2 -- and hitting 4-of-6 behind the arc. By comparison, he shot just 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point territory to finish last night with seven points. The numbers don't lie. But this was about more than just numbers. Penn led by three points at the break, but no one expected the Tigers to roll over in the second half. "Obviously, coming off what happened in the first game where we got tentative in the second half, we said, 'Let's not be like that anymore,'" Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. A huge part of not letting that happen was stopping Earl. Princeton's most seasoned veteran, Earl is both the Tigers' statistical and emotional leader. But last night, in the biggest game of his final season, Earl -- Princeton's fifth all-time leading scorer -- turned in an unremarkable performance. "I didn't come through as well as I would have liked and the way they guard us makes it doubly difficult for us to try to get off shots and get something going," Earl said. Much of the credit for the defense on Earl goes to Jordan, who held the Tigers floor general to only 1-of-3 shooting in the second half. But every Quaker on the court contributed to the defensive effort. "It seemed like Michael was very attentive to me tonight," Earl said. "He was all over me, and if I cut, I got knocked around a couple times. [Paul] Romanczuk took me out one time. Every time I cut, it was not only Michael hitting me but two or three other guys." The tight team defense prevented Earl from creating plays when penetrating. And with Jordan and Matt Langel getting in his face on the perimeter, Earl -- who recently broke Matt Maloney's league record for career three-pointers -- had very few open looks from the outside. Jordan had no such trouble. While he was a defensive monster on Earl, he was also able to contribute on the offensive end of the court. Despite only shooting 4-of-13, Jordan -- unlike Earl -- hit the big shots when his team needed them. Jordan's two threes were the biggest shots of the game. As time ran out in the first half, Jordan pulled up from the top of the key and buried a trey over Earl. Jordan then picked up right where he left off, nailing another three less than two minutes into the second half to spark a run that gave the Quakers control of the game. They never let up until the buzzer sounded with a 73-48 score on the board. After the game, Earl bore little resemblance to the Superman that the Princeton band had ordained him. An elated Jordan, with the cut Jadwin net hanging around his neck, had assumed that position. The roles had been reversed from February 9; Jordan can now look back on last night with pride. Because this time, it was Earl who "got scorched" by M.J. And it was Michael Jordan who made the final case for Player of the Year.

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