If there was ever any doubt as to who would take big shots for Penn at crucial times during the game, that doubt has faded.
If there was ever any question as to who would lead the Quakers and ensure that they came to play every night, that question has been answered.
Penn senior and captain Tim Begley proved again this past weekend that he is the Quakers' go-to-guy and the on-court leader they seemed to be lacking earlier in the season.
"We wanted to win every game we played so far," Begley said. "Making shots at crucial times changes the game."
Begley played a pivotal role in Penn's three victories over the past week and earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
Against Princeton, the Freehold, N.J., native scored 20 points and grabbed five steals, including a memorable pickpocket of Princeton's Judson Wallace late in the second half.
"Earlier in the year we didn't have guys stepping up," Begley said. "I think we do now."
Against Cornell, when Penn was struggling, Begley was the guy who stepped up. He nailed six of seven three-pointers, scoring a game-high 24 points and leading Penn to a 64-50 victory over the second-place Big Red.
Begley attributed his high shooting percentage to good screens and timely passes from his teammates. It seems he will never take credit for a strong personal performance, but that just comes with the territory of being a senior leader and a mentor to the younger players.
"As a shooter, you're not doing the bulk of the work when you get a jump shot off," he said. "It's the other guys getting you the ball in the right spot and setting a screen to get you open. My teammates did a good job getting me open looks."
Begley may not give credit where credit is due, but the fact is that Penn's leading scorer has quickly become the leading candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year.
More than anything else -- beyond the steals, beyond the scoring, even beyond the three-pointers -- Begley has emerged as the Quakers' mental leader.
"I'll take it upon myself to make sure everybody is ready to go each night," he said. "The guys in our locker room realize the magnitude of each game."
Despite being 7-0 in the Ivy League and two and a half games ahead of Cornell, Penn distinctly remembers the two losses it suffered on the road against Yale and Brown last season.
The Quakers look to avenge those losses this weekend.
"After last year, we realize how big the Brown-Yale weekend is," Begley said. "On the road it's tough, and if you slip up a game or two, next thing you know you're back in the race."
The last thing Penn wants is to lose ground on its opponents. Indeed, the Quakers realize that no lead -- even as large as Penn's current position -- is secure in the Ancient Eight.
"The season is extremely long; I don't know that you'll be crisp every night out," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Prior to this week we were much more crisp, much more ready to go, in terms of running our stuff."
Despite Penn's 10-game winning streak, the Quakers have not played their best basketball in a number of their victories.
Prior to Princeton's meltdown in the final seven minutes of the second half, the Tigers dominated the Quakers. Against Cornell, the Big Red controlled the majority of the first half, and if not for Penn's late first-half rally, the Quakers could have gone into the locker room down by double digits.
Nonetheless, Penn sits comfortably atop the Ivy League standings, undefeated in conference play.
"We just came off of five games in nine days, and at some point, you're not going to run everything like you want to run it," Dunphy said. "But you have to stay believing that the stuff that you've learned is going to be okay."
Indeed, things are more than okay. Penn is the heavy favorite to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament in March.
But Dunphy is quick to point out that the Quakers are still far from where they hope to be.
"We've done a good job so far," he said. "But our job is only halfway done."
BOTH BEGLEY and senior guard Eric Osmundson connected on noteworthy three-pointers Saturday night.
Begley is now in prime position to pass former Quakers guard Matt Maloney as the player to hit the most three-pointers in Penn history.
Maloney played from 1993-95, and hit 244 triples.
Begley put himself in sixthplace on the all-time list last year after making 83 three-pointers on the season. The 83 threes were the third most by a Penn player in one season. This year he has 60 trifectas, and needs eight more to pass Maloney.
In the win over Harvard on Feb. 7, Begley passed 2004 graduate Jeff Schiffner for second place.
Osmundson's three with 1:40 left Saturday night against Cornell was the last score of the game for Penn, and marked the 17th straight game in which the senior hit at least one shot from behind the arc.
