After a first half of the season which saw a star show he's still got it, freshmen fulfill their potential and both a four game winning and losing streak, Brown stands at an even 7-7.
The Bears came into the season minus a lot of the firepower that carried them last season. They lost three seniors, Patrick Powers, Jamie Kilburn and Mike Martin. In the process, they also lost 40 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists per game.
But Brown is far from weak this year. They return the defending Ivy League Player of the Year in Jason Forte, and one of the best recruiting classes in the Ivy League will help replace the departed seniors.
Brown started the season 0-4, with losses to Missouri, Sam Houston State, Rhode Island, and Wright State.
However, the Bears quickly silenced their critics with a four-game winning streak, including a last minute victory against Binghamton and seemingly easy wins against Wagner, Hartford and New Hampshire.
They finished the first half by going 3-3 to take their record to an even 7-7. That stretch included an embarrassing loss in a game they should have won against Canisius and decisive losses to Providence and Holy Cross.
Brown had problems with its home-state rival Providence, which also handily defeated Penn. The Bears lost 79-63 and were, like the Quakers, undermanned and overwhelmed against the bigger Friars.
This year, Bears guard Jason Forte has once again shown why Fran Dunphy describes him as "the toughest guy to defend in the league."
Forte, the brother of former North Carolina star Joseph Forte, has been tearing up opponents.
The younger Forte, who demonstrated his amazing quickness when he torched Penn in two Brown wins against the Red and Blue last year, has been dominant with his soft touch, heady play and daunting quickness.
Forte is a player who can beat teams in almost every way. Defensively, he has 1.3 steals per game -- second on the team -- and his quickness makes him a tough defender to get by.
But it's Forte's offensive prowess that baffles the opposition. He leads the team and the Ivies with 17.4 points per game. He also leads the Bears and is second in the Ivies, to Penn's Tim Begley, with 4.7 assists per game.
But Forte has not been playing alone. Junior forward Luke Ruscoe has stepped up and become Brown's clear second-best player.
Ruscoe, a 6-foot-7 power forward from New Zealand, leads Brown and is eighth in the Ivies with 5.9 rebounds per game and has provided the necessary inside compliment to Forte's outside game, averaging 12.8 points per game.
Ruscoe's points are up by four per game from last year. He has also shown an ability to have huge games. He's scored over 20 three times this season, including a much-needed 21 in Brown's 79-77 victory on Dec. 3 over Binghamton .
A trio of freshmen has helped to ease the loss of the three graduated seniors. Freshman guard Damon Huffman has stepped into the role of Brown's second guard and is third on the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game.
Fellow freshmen Mark MacDonald, a 6-9 forward, and Mark McAndrew, a 6-2 guard, have also come in and contributed right away. The three freshmen are the Bears' top three scorers after Ruscoe and Forte, and their play has helped keep Brown at .500 on the season.
Penn will certainly not overlook a Brown team that beat them twice last year, costing them a shot at the Ivy League title. The Bears are not a favorite to win the Ivies, but with Forte, who is arguably the best player in the Ivy League, they won't be an easy win for anybody.
Their first half, despite some tough losses, showed that Forte is back and better than ever, and the play of the freshmen has answered many questions about whether or not they could cope with their losses and the future of Brown basketball.
Brown is a young, well-coached team, that will only get better as the season plays itself out.
