M. Hoops back in NCAA Tournament after routing Yale

EASTON, Pa. -- Andrew Toole said he transferred to Penn to get to the NCAA Tournament. On Saturday night, he got his wish. "It's unbelievable," Toole said. "I almost had an asthma attack after the final buzzer went off." The Penn men's basketball team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday after defeating Yale, 77-58, in the Ivy League playoff final at Lafayette's Kirby Sports Center. Yale reached the finals by beating Princeton, 76-60, on Thursday at the Palestra. The three teams finished tied atop the Ivy standings at 11-3 to force this unprecedented three-way tournament. The Quakers received the bye in the mini-tournament due to their 3-1 record against Princeton and Yale during the regular season. Penn (25-6) jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back. The Elis (20-10) missed their first five shots of the contest en route to a 29 percent shooting performance overall. "I thought we had good looks at the basket early that didn't go in," Yale coach James Jones said. "[The referees] allowed us to be physical inside, called it fair both ways, and we didn't take advantage of it." Koko Archibong had his best game of the season for the Quakers at just the right time, scoring 21 points and pulling down a career-high16 rebounds -- seven of which came on the offensive glass. In all, the Quakers dominated the inside game, outrebounding the Elis, 39-30, and outscoring them in the paint, 36-20. "I think [Archibong and Ugonna Onyekwe] did a very good job, especially setting the tone tonight," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They just decided they were going to be a force inside." Onyekwe had 16 points and five rebounds on the night on 6 -of-14 shooting. The junior helped lead a Quakers' offense that not only reigned inside, but also shot 54.7 percent, including 7-of-17 from three-point range. After leading, 23-8, midway through the first half, Penn was able to withstand any Yale attempts at a comeback. The Elis could never get any closer than 10 the rest of the way, even with Onyekwe on the bench with a pair of fouls late in the first. Freshman Jan Fikiel was Penn's leading scorer at halftime, scoring eight points on 4 for 4 shooting from the field. The Quakers led, 37-25, at the break. "I felt pretty good [at halftime], because we hadn't played well yet," Jones said. "I thought if we could get a little bit of momentum we'd be OK." But the Elis could not overcome their first-half woes, shooting worse -- a measly 9-for-32 -- in the second half. The Elis had a nightmarish time from the field overall on Saturday. Captain Ime Archibong shot 1-for-8, second-team All Ivy Paul Vitelli went 1-for-6, and freshman guard Edwin Draughan was 1-for-9. Backup center Josh Hill was the only player in double figures with 14. In all, Yale's bench outscored its starters, 30-28. The Quakers will go into the NCAA Tournament on a 10-game winning streak. On Feb. 8, Penn lost to Yale, 83-78, and was stuck at 2-3 -- sixth place in the Ivy League. The Quakers haven't lost since. "I'm proud of our guys, coming back from where we were a couple of weeks ago to finish this thing out strong," Dunphy said. Penn will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show at 6 p.m. on Sunday on CBS. It will be the Red and Blue's 20th appearance in the Big Dance, and their first since 1999-2000.

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