Quakers ready to rock the Red

After two weekends on the road to kickoff Ivy play, the Quakers return home this weekend hoping to electrify a dwindling fan base.

But if the Palestra is packed tonight, Penn’s recent last-minute victories may have nothing to do with it.

For the first time since 1998, Penn’s faithful will gather to watch a nationally ranked Ivy team when the No. 22 Big Red take the hardwood tonight. The Quakers will then take on a solid Columbia squad tomorrow.

The last Ivy team to earn a national ranking was Princeton 12 years ago, when it swept the conference schedule on its way to finishing No. 8 in the AP poll.

Cornell, meanwhile, is beginning a climb of its own after breaking into the top 25 of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll on Feb. 1.

In order to sustain their ranking among the nation’s elite, the Big Red will need to stay perfect tonight against the Quakers (3-15, 2-2 Ivy).

And with the way that the Big Red (20-3, 6-0) have started the conference schedule, there’s no reason to believe they won’t.

But Cornell’s national ranking isn’t the only storyline of tonight’s matchup.

The Big Red are led by Steve Donahue, a former assistant from the Fran Dunphy era. His stint at Penn spanned Jerome Allen’s playing days.

Allen will certainly have his work cut out for him if he hopes to pull out a win against his former mentor.

Not one Ivy team has had an answer for the deep and balanced Cornell attack, which is led by seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote. Even with the primary unit resting for most of Cornell’s game against Brown last Saturday, the Bears could barely manage to keep up.

For the Quakers, the depth of this year’s Cornell squad may be too much to overcome. With Andreas Schreiber and Mike Howlett injured the Penn frontcourt is already undermanned. In addition, Junior forward Jack Eggleston has played all 160 minutes in the team’s first four Ivy League contests.

To keep this contest close, Penn’s defense will need to contain the Big Red shooters. As a team, Cornell scores 37.5 percent of its points from behind the three-point line — a mark that stands 12th best in the nation.

On the offensive end, the Quakers are going to need to continue their recent improvement. Penn has now had a lesser-or-equal number of turnovers compared to its opponent in four of its last six contests, and has shot an impressive 87 percent from the line over its last three.

After facing Cornell, the Quakers will have less than 24 hours to rest before taking on a Columbia team led by Ivy League high scorer Noruwa Agho.

The Lions (8-12, 2-4) experienced a slow start to league play. With two games against Cornell and one against Harvard to start the conference schedule, the Lions quickly fell to 0-3.

But over the last three games, Agho has come alive, averaging more than 24 points per game and leading the Lions to wins over Brown and Dartmouth. In a losing effort against Yale last Saturday, he still dropped 30 points on 15-for-18 shooting from the charity stripe.

Additionally, Agho has been lethal from distance, shooting 51.6 percent from range this year. His versatility could pose all sorts of problems for a Penn defense that has been victimized by elite guards all season.

But if the Quakers can somehow contain the Big Red shooters tonight, slow down Columbia’s Agho Saturday and keep both games close in early minutes this weekend, it will be a sign that Penn is indeed turning its season around.

A win over a ranked team will surely encourage students to fill the Palestra seats once again.

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