Big Green guard cannot be overlooked

There isn't a single team in the Ivy League that can be overlooked right now -- even the Ancient Eight's notorious cellar dwellers are creeping up in the rankings.

The Penn men's basketball team was defeated by Columbia on Feb. 2, but then the Lions lost to Dartmouth last weekend. Cornell eked out a shocking 63-62 win over Harvard last weekend. Yale's sole loss in the Ivies thus far came to Brown on Jan. 19.

At this point, anything can happen and, most likely, it will.

Which is precisely why the Quakers can't afford to take a night off this weekend.

Despite their dismal 2-6 record, the Big Green cannot be overlooked on Saturday night.

Dartmouth's most menacing threat to the Red and Blue comes in the form of its 5-foot-11, 180-pound guard -- Flinder Boyd.

If Penn is targeting any one player on Saturday, it is undoubtedly Boyd. The Los Angeles native served as the Big Green's sparkplug in the first Penn-Dartmouth encounter.

"He does so much for their team," Penn freshman guard Tim Begley said. "Everything revolves around him."

Boyd dropped 24 points --12 of which came from behind the arc -- and shot a stunning 71.4 percent from the field on on Jan. 11. He also added five assists and three rebounds in 38 minutes.

Slicing through the Penn guards, Boyd showed off his skills as an effective offensive playmaker.

"He's probably one of the better penetrators in the whole Ivy league," Begley said. "You have to respect his jumper, and then, at the same time, keep him in front of you."

Despite playing on a team with only two wins in Ancient Eight play, the senior now stands as the fourth leading scorer in the league -- only one spot behind Penn junior forward Ugonna Onyekwe.

"We haven't talked a whole lot about Dartmouth yet, but based on last time's performance, he had a real good game," Penn sophomore guard Jeff Schiffner said. "He's an excellent shooter, and he also takes the ball to the rim real well. He's really hard to guard."

Boyd averages 15.6 points per game on 53.7 percent shooting from the field. Boyd's most impressive statistic may be his accuracy from three-point land, shooting 54.2 percent from behind the arc.

"He has the ability to make shots and also to make plays, which makes him very difficult to defend," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "He's double trouble for us, but hopefully we'll be ready on Saturday."

Boyd was named Ivy League player of the week for Feb. 11 after leading the Big Green to their first victories in league play -- against Cornell and Columbia -- last weekend.

In 79 minutes of play last week, the Big Green's floor general turned the ball over only three times. Boyd has a greater assist to turnover ration than Penn junior point guard Andrew Toole.

The bulk of the responsibility for guarding Boyd will fall Toole's hands, who is preparing for the challenge.

"Flinder's one of the quickest guys in the league," Toole said. "This year if you want to back off he's going to burn you with the three, and if you try and pressure him up he's gonna get by you."

The Quakers, who are in no position to lose another game in league play, need to find a way to counter Boyd's offense prowess. If not, the Ivy League could be putting another upset down in the record books.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.