For Tyler Bernardini, Valentine's Day was heavy on the basketball and light on the roses.
"Just working on my jump shot," the freshman guard said when asked if he had plans. "Just trying to 'ball."
Of late, Bernardini has been prevented from doing just that.
He has missed Penn's last three contests with a concussion suffered Feb. 4, depriving the Quakers of their leading scorer and Bernardini of 90-plus minutes of Ivy League playing time.
But he has been cleared by the medical staff to play this weekend, and his contributions could prove critical when Penn faces fourth-place Yale (9-11, 3-3 Ivy) tomorrow night at the Palestra.
The Quakers (8-14, 3-2) have had some trouble scoring without Bernardini, and he said that the sense of urgency around the team is palpable.
With Cornell leading at 6-0 and a good bet to post double-digit wins, the Quakers understand that they cannot really afford to drop any more games.
The Bulldogs have caused trouble for Penn in recent years, and they appear to offer a stiff test again.
In contrast to Brown - the second-worst offensive-rebounding team in the Ivies - Yale is winning games with its frontcourt. Forwards Ross Morin and Travis Pinick and center Matt Kyle have all taken on larger roles for the Bulldogs this year.
Morin leads the team in rebounding, although he missed last weekend's games due to injury. He will likely play against Penn.
Yale coach James Jones said that at this point in the year his team enters each game with clearer objectives.
"We know exactly what we want to do," he said.
But Yale's lineup is still fluid. Last weekend against Harvard, Jones chose not to start veteran swingman Caleb Holmes, instead tapping the smaller sophomore Alex Zampier.
Zampier, who has started just three games this year but leads the Ivy League in steals, will likely start against Penn as well.
"They've played well in certain spots this year," Jones said of the Quakers.
"When they play at their best they're very good at what they do."
Senior point guard Eric Flato, a first-team All-Ivy selection last year, is Yale's most durable player and leading scorer, despite shooting a relatively unimpressive 39 percent.
The bulk of his attempts - over 60 percent - come from beyond the three-point arc, a potential danger for a Penn team that has struggled to contain the three.
But the Quakers held Princeton to a 3-for-12 effort from deep in Tuesday's win, and afterward Miller singled out players like junior guard Aron Cohen for playing tenacious defense.
It was a display that Bernardini enjoyed watching, even from the bench.
Starting tonight and again tomorrow against Yale, he'll get two more chances to earn his coach's praise himself.
