Visions of Tournament Dance in Penn's head

Even as conference tournaments across the nation heat up, today's most intriguing storyline can be found in the cozy Palestra.

When Penn (19-8, 10-1 Ivy) hosts Yale (13-12, 9-3) tonight, it will be a de facto championship game - even if Penn has a one-and-a-half-game cushion. For the Elis - who were labeled a third wheel in the Ivy-title-chase preseason and are coming off of a blowout loss to Columbia - it's do or die.

Who says the Ivy League needs a conference playoff?

"At the stage we're at now, this is a huge game, obviously," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "It doesn't come any bigger than this right now."

While the Quakers can still make the NCAA Tournament with a loss if they beat Brown and Princeton in their final two games, for all intents and purposes, it comes down to this. The Quakers win and they're in.

And as Penn has seen, that might not be so easy.

Yale downed the Quakers 77-68 at home earlier this year, marking one of the rare occasions when the Red and Blue have been beaten by superior athleticism.

Leading the charge once again will be forward Casey Hughes, who poured in 15 points in addition to grabbing 13 boards last time out against Penn. Hughes, Yale's most athletic player, shredded the Quakers defense from all angles and found his way to the basket for six offensive rebounds. A menace on defense, the senior swingman also did his best Ibrahim Jaaber impression, swiping four steals.

And alongside lightning-quick point guard and floor leader Eric Flato, who went off for 21 points against Penn a month ago, Hughes and the Elis won't be easy prey for the Quakers' up-tempo offense.

"We're not a ball-control team, we try to get up and down," Yale coach James Jones said. "I think that's good for us, we're better when we're doing that."

While Penn will likely match the Elis fast break for fast break, last time around it was the effort that was Penn's downfall. Outplayed on either end of the floor, the Quakers went through the loss on autopilot.

But this week, they have barely been able to sit still.

"The practices have been real competitive," senior forward Mark Zoller said. "We've been getting after each other a little bit, kind of antsy for that Friday, Saturday to roll around."

Penn's preparation and readiness bodes well for a team that has been plagued by mediocre basketball of late. Last weekend, a two-point escape at Dartmouth may have been one of the low points of the conference season.

But it seems that Penn left its lethargic play back in New Hampshire - Miller has noticed some fire in his players' eyes this week.

"I don't have to prod them and motivate them for a game like this," Miller said. "There's very little I have to do to get them ready for this game."

For what has become the Ancient Eight's main event, the Quakers are going to come out swinging.

"I can't wait to play," Zoller said. "We want to get out there, we're treating it like it's a championship game, since that's what it is at this point."

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