When Columbia arrived in Philadelphia on Friday to take on Penn, there was certainly some potential for a classic Ivy League battle.
It was supposed to be an intriguing matchup between a mature, peaking team and one that could turn out to be the League's next big thing. It should have been a hard-fought battle of the bigs.
Most importantly, it should have been a close contest.
It was none of the above.
Instead the Lions were outclassed in every aspect of the game, falling 73-54 to the Quakers at the Palestra.
And for once the central figure wasn't senior guard Ibrahim Jaaber or senior forward Mark Zoller. Sure, Jaaber scored 15 points and dished out seven assists and Zoller grabbed six rebounds in addition to his 14 points, but it was Brian Grandieri who stole the show. His 17 points on 8-for-8 from the field cast him in a different light than the happy-to-hustle role player he is known as.
"He's ridiculous," Columbia coach Joe Jones said, laughing. "He makes all those tough shots, man. Who makes those shots?"
Grandieri absolutely shredded Jones's zone defense with his characteristic baseline runners and nose for the ball. The junior contributed to an out-of-this-world shooting performance by Penn in the second half, in which the Quakers shot 73.7 percent and went 12-12 inside the three-point arc.
While Grandieri is prone to stat-sheet-filling performances, he has never so thoroughly torn up an opponent with a hot scoring hand.
"I've had a game like this, but not where I haven't missed a shot," Grandieri said. "It's kind of unique."
As much as Penn relied on a secondary player stepping up, the win might have been more a matter of the Lions' stars underachieving.
6-foot-8 John Baumann and 6-9 Ben Nwachukwu, usually the top scoring options, were held to just zero and five points, respectively.
Baumann's futility was due in part to his foul trouble, but the defensive effort of Zoller and senior center Stephen Danley contained his inside-outside repertoire. And though he managed to grab eight rebounds and score five points, the gargantuan Nwachukwu wasn't able to get anything going offensively.
"Both Mark and Steve did a terrific job fronting the post tonight right from the get-go, so we had good ball pressure, so we didn't have to double," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "But when the ball went in there, we doubled and it was effective."
With the better half of the league schedule behind them, the Quakers have fully embraced a new mantra. Win games with solid defense and play that is fundamental, if not as spectacular.
Miller made sure to point out in the post-game press conference that he had noticed an uptick in effort in the past few games. And on Friday, Penn seemed to embody the qualities that the workmanlike Grandieri exemplifies.
The unassuming third option and the face of the 2007-08 squad may be hesitant to play up the game, but teammates are more than willing to sing his praises.
"Brian's going to have those games for you where he can't miss," Zoller said. "He does all the dirty work. He's Mr. Everything."
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