A season of glory

The 1999-2000 Penn men's basketball season began with enthusiasm and ended with accomplishment -- an undefeated 14-0 Ivy League record, a second-straight Ivy crown and a 16-game winning streak that had the Penn faithful mad for March. Armed with a seasoned backcourt that was the envy of rivals and a recruiting class to remember, the Quakers were highly touted early. Ranked first in the preseason Ivy media poll and the consensus favorite to head back to the NCAA Tournament, Penn opened with powerhouses -- and they struggled early on. The Red and Blue lost four of their first five, to Kentucky, Penn State, La Salle and Auburn. There were flashes of excellence, but things were not clicking. After stellar wins over Portland State and California on the left coast, Penn was blown out by Kansas, 105-59. A close loss to Villanova followed, then a home squeaker over Lafayette, a too-close-for-comfort win at Lehigh and a 44-40 loss to Temple, where Penn shot 28.3 percent. Then the Quakers got in gear. First there were wins over Drexel, Columbia and Cornell. Then there was the 68-65 home win over St. Joe's that prevented a winless Big 5 campaign. From there on, this was a different team. They cruised through the Ivies, averaging 70 points per game, while their opponents scored just 52. The Quakers soundly defeated Princeton twice. They won 55-46 at Jadwin in February and 73-52 at the Palestra in March. An early exit from the NCAAs was unwelcome, but it won't sour the memories.