PRINCETON, N.J. — In a season of new beginnings under first-year coach Fran McCaffery, Penn men’s basketball’s most stubborn streak remained intact.
On Saturday, the Quakers (7-7, 0-1 Ivy) opened Ivy League play with a back-and-forth 78-76 defeat to rival Princeton (5-11, 1-0 Ivy), extending their losing streak in the series to 14 games. After leading by as many as 13 in the first half, Penn fell behind by 14 in the second half after a stretch of 16 consecutive made field goals from the Tigers.
Penn countered with a 13-0 run in the final three minutes of the game to cut the deficit to one possession. Trailing by two with six seconds to go, senior guard Ethan Roberts advanced past half court and passed off to sophomore guard AJ Levine, whose three-point jumper missed at the buzzer.
“They did a good job switching it,” McCaffery said of Princeton’s defense on Roberts during the final play. “I thought [Roberts] should’ve kept going; he passed it. 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. AJ gave it a heck of a shot.”
Princeton’s win also moves the Tigers ahead in the all-time series tally, breaking a 126-126 tie between the two teams. The Quakers have never previously trailed in the history of the rivalry.
The Tigers have finished top four in the Ivy League each of the last four seasons and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 2023. However, the team struggled in non-conference play after an offseason of roster turnover. Former Ivy League first teamers junior guard Xaivian Lee and junior forward Caden Pierce unexpectedly departed Princeton's program prior to this season last year, and their absence showed early — Penn’s defense forced the Tigers to consistently settle for jumpers, and Princeton connected on just two of their first 12 three-point looks.
Penn’s offense, on the other hand, was boosted by the return of Roberts, who missed the team’s last four games with an undisclosed injury. The team’s leading scorer scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half to help Penn build a double-digit advantage.
“It’s gonna help big-time,” McCaffery said of the impact Roberts’ return will have on the team. “He takes the pressure off of TJ [Power] and Michael [Zanoni].”
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As the first half wound down, Princeton made a conscious effort to penetrate the paint more frequently, employing what McCaffery described as “back-down game.” It persisted in the second half, when the Tigers opened with layups on five of their first six made baskets. And that stretch became part of a white-hot shooting streak for Princeton that saw them convert on 16 consecutive field goals across both halves.
In the post-game press conference, McCaffery was asked if he’d ever seen a shooting streak like it in his 44-year coaching career.
“No,” McCaffery said. “Nothing else to say. The answer’s no.”
As Princeton came back down to earth, Penn switched to a press defense that helped turn the tide.
Trailing by 14 with 2:59 to go, the Quakers opened a 13-0 run, forcing four Tiger turnovers and connecting on all nine of their free throws, finishing 19-19 in total from the line. A layup from junior forward TJ Power brought the score to 75-74 with 39 seconds to go.
“I was proud of the guys for that,” McCaffery said. “I thought we executed, for the most part, offensively in that stretch. We did start getting some stops, the press was effective …. We waited too long [to press]. About eight and a half [minutes remaining] we went, probably should’ve gone 17, or at least 12.”
The dramatic finish added a new chapter to Penn’s recent struggles in the once legendary rivalry. But McCaffery says his team is focused on what comes next.
“You can’t worry about what happened six years ago, what happened when Pete Carril was coaching,” McCaffery said. “We played a game tonight, we lost to a good time with a really good coach, and whether we won or lost, we’re going to break the film down and try to get better.”
