Not much to say

 

Tonight at the Palestra was fairly uneventful -- I guess that's a good thing.

Penn did what it had to do, which was come out and play adequate ball. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was inspired, but they certainly gave 100 percent effort even with a 10-point lead -- see Mark Zoller scrambling on the floor for one loose ball after another.

The final, 60-41, was a tad lower than I would have expected, but then I also figured Princeton could do better than 31 percent from the field, and maybe try for, say, one offensive rebound. Penn can now look two full games down on the Tigers in the Ivy chase.

Here are the "you know Penn is doing well" stats: Nine steals (four from Ibrahim Jaaber); plus-10 rebound margin; plus-six turnover margin; 84 percent (21-of-25) foul shooting; 36 points from big men (Pete Carril himself would have been proud of some of Penn's backdoor cuts).

And the "against a better team we wouldn't have won" figures: 41.9 percent shooting (What is it about zone defenses that seem to throw off Penn's system?); 30 percent three-point shooting (although most of those weren't ill-advised shots); too many open looks for Princeton from beyond the arc -- Penn got lucky the Tigers only hit 4-of-15.

Cheers to Steve Danley for a fine offensive night, something he's been lacking of late.

Jeers to Princeton for not selling its ticket allotment. Where are the Tigers' fans, if they exist?

Congrats to those of you who took Penn minus-15. The Quakers are now 6-1 against the spread in Ivy League games.

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