PRINCETON, N.J. — A child that was born the last time Penn men’s basketball beat Princeton would be in the second grade now.
On Monday, Penn (7-7, 0-1 Ivy) fell to Princeton (5-11, 1-0 Ivy) 78-76 in the team’s conference opener, marking the Quakers 14th-straight loss to the Tigers in seven years – the longest losing streak either team has sustained in the historic rivalry.
After Penn went to the locker room with an eight-point lead, Princeton started the second half perfect — converting 16-straight field goals en route to a 14-point lead. Still, Penn came battling back and the game came down to the final whistle. A missed three-point heave by sophomore point guard AJ Levine sealed it for the Quakers.
For the third time this season, I’m back to evaluate a couple of overreactions from Penn’s conference loss to Princeton:
Penn mismanaged the end of the game
Verdict: Not an overreaction
I have two issues with how Penn handled the concluding moments of Saturday’s game.
After a 13-2 run and an offensive rebound, Penn found themselves with the ball down 77-74 with 16 seconds to go. Penn coach Fran McCaffery drew up a two-point attempt for senior guard and forward Ethan Roberts.
The senior backed down his defender and converted a layup to cut Princeton’s lead to one. The Quakers fouled and sent Princeton to shoot free throws.
Some may claim that Penn should have attempted a three-pointer, but I have no issue with going for a quick two in that situation. Quick, though, is the key word. Roberts’ layup and the ensuing foul took nine seconds off the clock, leaving Penn with just six seconds and no timeouts.
In that situation, the play either needs to be an inbound to a cutting player or a quick drive into the paint. A backdown lay-in takes too much time, and the draining shot clock did come back to bite Penn.
Princeton guard Dalen Davis went 1-of-2 from the line. The Quakers now trailed by two, and had to run the length of the court in six seconds. After getting past half-court, a Princeton switch led to Roberts passing out of the final shot. Levine’s hurried three-attempt clanked off the back of the rim as time expired.
In that situation, Penn needed Roberts to put his head down and fight to the rim. There was not enough time for a Plan B, and it was evident that Levine was not ready to receive the ball, McCaffery agreed.
“I thought [Roberts] should’ve kept going; he passed it,” he said. “That’s hard, because now you’re putting your teammate in a position where there’s two seconds to go in the game and he’s at 26 feet.”
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Freshman forward/center Dalton Scantlebury rests on a bench on Jan. 5.
Overreaction: Penn losing the all-time series lead to Princeton matters
Verdict: Not an overaction
It’s important to address the 123-year-old elephant in the room.
After winning the first-ever matchup between Penn and Princeton in 1903, the Quakers had never given up the all-time series lead to their oldest rival until last night. After 123 years, 253 games, and the current Princeton 14-game winning streak, the Tigers now hold a 127-126 lead in the series.
Both Princeton coach Mitch Henderson and McCaffery brushed off the historic shift in the rivalry.
“You can’t worry about what happened six years ago [or] what happened when [former Princeton coach] Pete Carril was coaching, we all know what it was like," McCaffery said. "We played a game tonight.”
I don’t expect McCaffery to care about historic statistics sportswriters tell him after a loss. He should be focused on the present — after all, that’s what he’s paid to do. But that does not mean that Penn losing the all-time series lead to Princeton is wholly irrelevant.
No longer leading Princeton all-time is greatly emblematic of the downward spiral Penn has suffered this millennium. Losing the series lead on the back of a 14-game losing streak displays the decay of a once-great program and what was its premier showdown. Today, “Penn versus Princeton” feels more like a biannual beatdown than a rivalry.
The Palestra’s walls act as a time capsule.
As spectators make their way around the arena, they are bombarded with reminders of Penn’s storied past and the many greats who have taken the Cathedral's court. One of these reminders is a faux scoreboard displaying the all-time series record between Penn and Princeton — once a mark of pride for Penn faithful.
Now, the Tigers will hold the lead on that scoreboard for the first time ever. That matters.
CONOR SMITH is a College senior from Mount Royal, N.J. studying communication. He formerly served as deputy DP Sports editor. All comments should be directed to dpsports@thedp.com.
