FINAL: Penn 62, Princeton 55

Greetings from Jadwin Gynmaisum at Princeton University, where Penn and Princeton get ready to write another chapter of this age-old basketball rivarly. Penn leads the series 121-97, though the Tigers have the edge at home, 55-52. Both teams are coming off of very different weekends -- Penn earned a weekend sweep at Brown and Yale, while its travel partner, Princeton, dropped their first two league games of the season to the same teams. Stay tuned throughout the night for live updates, or tune in to ESPNU for live television coverage of the game. -- Andrew Todres

FINAL: Penn 62, Princeton 55

That's all from The Buzz this evening. Read more about why this was a classic Penn-Princeton tussle in tomorrow's DP.

0:27, OT: Penn 60, Princeton 55

Gaines hit two free throws. Warm up the bus.

0:38, OT: Penn 59, Princeton 53

Princeton's Douglas Davis made a huge mistake by committing an offensive foul trying to take a hand-off from a teammate. Penn got the ball back and Davis was forced to foul Jack Eggleston, who stretched the lead to six with two free throws. That might just do it.

1:47, OT: Penn 57, Princeton 53

Gaines hit two free throws, then Mavraides brought the defecit back to one by burning through the Penn defense in transition for a layup. But they Rosen, who is looking like Penn's man of the hour, buried a long three to make it a two-possession lead. Penn has two time-outs left, and the Tigers just used their last one. The Quakers come back on to the floor with Bernardini, Lewis, Eggleston, Rosen and Gaines.

3:27, OT: Penn 52, Princeton 51

After a long and harrowing possession filled with numerous almost-turnovers, Bernardini finally got inside, missed an easy layup, got the rebound, was fouled, and hit one of two free throws. Princeton missed a long three at the other end.

END OF REGULATION: Penn 51, Princeton 51

To overtime we go! Zach Finley hit two free throws on Princeton's last possession, to tie the game. The Quakers had the last shot and it was their game to win, but all they could muster was an off-balance 15-foot Tyler Bernardini jump shot.

0:36, Second half: Penn 51, Princeton 49

Rosen responded with a pull-up jumper, then Mavraides hit a three to make it a two-point game. Bernardini made another poor play, throwing a baseline pass away, and although Mavraides missed an open three, Princeton got the rebound and will have a chance to tie things up when we come back from this timeout.

2:14, Second half: Penn 49, Princeton 46

They don't. Instead, Bernardini tried an ill-advised drive into two taller defenders and had his shot blocked. Egee committed a brain-dead foul 80 feet from the basket, and a free throw cut Princeton's deficit to three.

2:20, Second half: Penn 49, Princeton 45

Penn responds. Eggleston and Bernardini both hit a pair of free throws, and Eggleston just forced a turnover as Saunders was bringing the ball up the floor. If Penn scores on this possession it will be pretty hard for the Tigers to come back.

5:30, Second half: Penn 45, Princeton 45

A crazy turn of events has let Princeton retake control of the game. The Tigers hit a three to bring the deficit to 45-39, but the and on their next possession Conor Turley committed a foul on Patrick Saunders. The refs spent a good five minutes deciding that Turley threw an elbow, and they ended up assessing a flagrant and ejecting Turley from the game. It was a dubious call, in my opinion. Princeton hit both free throws, and then a Harrison Gaines turnover and a conversion at the other end let Princeton tie things up. Penn needs to do something quickly, because they have zero momentum right now.

9:06, Second half: Penn 45, Princeton 36

Lewis comes up with another field goal, this one a dunk off a feed from Conor Turley. The Quakers look like a well-oiled machine with one exception -- field goals. They've missed the front end of three straight one-and-ones. If their effort from the stripe was even average tonight, they would be up by 15 right now.

The Tigers, though, has problems of their own. They have nine team fouls already, and their starting center, Pawel Buczak, just fouled out of the game. (I, for one, can't understand why he wasn't pulled from the game after he picked up No. 4.) Now it looks like Princeton's only strategy for defending Lewis will be to hack him, which, judging by his free-throw shooting so far, might not be that bad of an idea anyway.

11:01, Second half: Penn 43, Princeton 35

Penn's perimeter defense has been much improved so far -- they've had a hand in the face of every Tigers player who receives a pass near the three-point line. But the big surprise from the last five minutes has been Cameron Lewis, who showed great touch on two close-range field goals in Penn's last three possessions. The Quakers bench is fired up, but that's nothing compared to assistant coach John Gallagher, who's been sprawled out on the floor like a Marine, shouting instructions with his face next to the hardwood. If that doesn't get you listen, what will?

16:17, Second half: Penn 36, Princeton 33

The Quakers came out of the gate strong in the second half with three layups in transition, one by Bernardini and then two from Rosen on consecutive possessions, each after he picked off a Tigers pass. Bernardini also got to the free-throw line and hit one of two, and Cameron Lewis missed a pair from the line, so Penn could be up by six right now. But still, an encouraging start to the half for Penn, forcing Princeton to take a 30-second breather.

Halftime stats:

Score: Penn 29, Princeton 31 FG-FGA: Penn 10-32, Princeton 10-18 3-pt FG-FGA: Penn 3-7, Princeton 6-8 FT-FTA: Penn 6-7, Princeton 5-6 Rebounds (Off.-Def.): Penn 16 (9-7), Princeton 16 (2-14) Assists: Penn 6, Princeton 7

Halftime, Penn 29, Princeton 31

Out of the timeout, Penn features Rosen, Bernardini, Reilly, Egee, and Belcore. Rosen and Bernardini set up a half-court trap that Princeton beat, but Princeton lost it and Reilly managed to get his hands on a loose ball with Finley to get the jump and the possession arrow. Questionable call there, but Penn will take it. Rosen dribbled down the game clock as Penn held for the final shot, with Egee nailed at the buzzer to give Penn a huge boost going into the locker room, down only 2. That shot was huge for Penn -- and Egee, who had been very cold until that point. It looked as though this game was starting to get out of hand, but Penn clawed back into it late in the half. We'll be back shortly with the stats, but keep this great stat in mind:

Penn is 7-0 when leading at the half this season, and 0-13 when trailing at the half. Stay tuned.

0:58.8 to go in the 1st half, Penn 26, Princeton 31

Eggleston goes to the line for a 1-and-1 to the tune of "meningitis" chants from the Princeton band, but he makes both to draw Penn to within 7. I'd personally expect Princeton students to be a bit wittier and more creative than this. Then Schroeder is whistled for a palming violation at the other end. Turley was then whistled for a charge attempting to drive the lange and lay it in. Finley posted up Turley on the next possession but was called for a travel. Then Turley missed a layup on a great feed inside from Bernardini and was whistled for a blocking foul on Finley at the other end. Justin Reilly checked in for Turley -- Reilly's first minutes of the game. Finley hit both free throws to give Penn a 9-point lead. Reilly than took a feed from Eggleston in front of the free-throw line and knocked in a jumper off the back rim that probably would have clanked out nine out of ten times. Then an interesting sequence -- off a turnover, Egee ran the floor but his attempt hit the side of the backboard. He got the rebound and dished to Rosen behind the three-point line, whose attempt missed, but Bernardini cleaned up the rebound and went back up to draw the foul. He hit both to bring Penn to within 5 with a minute to go. Sidney Johnson calls a 30-second TO.

3:59 to go in the 1st half, Penn 20, Princeton 29

Miller kept his discussion with his team brief during the media timeout, as the Quakers' starting lineup -- with Votel in for Lewis -- headed back out onto the court well before Princeton did. Both teams exchanged some free throws, and then Penn got several chances on the offensive end with a few good bounces off of rebounds. Gaines picked up one rebound and went back up with it, getting fouled but missing his free throw. Bernardini made a nice strip on the defensive end but missed his layup attempt and subsequent two put-back attempts on the break, and then Saunders was fouled and went to the line for a 1-and-1. He hit the front end, putting Princeton up 11. A good no-look pass from Rosen set up Eggleston for a baseline jumper, which he missed, but Penn kept it alive with a good offensive board from Bernardini and then another loose-ball recovery after a failed inside attempt from Gaines, and Rosen stuck a 2 from the wing. Rosen is passing the ball very well, but Penn can't seem to convert at all. The Quakers are getting a lot of second and even third-chance opportunities -- they just can't seem to put the ball in the basket. Good interior defense by Princeton can be credited to a certain extent.

Finally, while I have a minute, the crowd here filled up reasonably well, though Princeton's student attendance is pathetic, and Penn's is virtually non-existent. The few insults exchanged between bands and students are uniformly stupid, with Princeton's students frequently resorting to the meningitis card. This is Ivy League nerdiness at its absolute worst.

6:56 to go in the 1st half, Penn 17, Princeton 26

Out of the timeout, Rosen threw a dangerous boucepass to the perimeter for Eggleston, who missed the 3. Then Princeton's ridiculous string of threes continued, with Saunders drilling another. This is a modified Princeton-offense that has been living on the perimter -- not the traditional methodical offense we're used to out of this Princeton team. Penn will need to do a better job guarding the three coming out of this media timeout.

8:34 to go in the 1st half, Penn 15, Princeton 23

Out of the media timeout, Howlett checks in for the first time, along with Turley, Rosen, Bernardini, and Egee. On the first play out of the timeout, Penn attempted to work an inside handoff from Turley to Bernardini, but Bernardini was whistled for the charge. Finley scored an inside bucket at the other end, and then Egee missed a three and a subsequent put back attempt to continue Penn's scoring drought. Then Mavraides stuck another three to give the Tigers a 15-9 edge. Rosen finally broke Penn out of it serendipitously -- as the shot clock was expiring, he created a bit of room for himself off the dribble and drained a 3. Princeton responded in kind with a 3 of its own at the other end, but then Bernardini worked inside to score a basket and draw the foul -- he convered the attempt for a three-point play to bring Penn to within 3, 18-15. The Tigers continued their hot shooting from the perimeter, with Schroeder delivering a 3. Then on the other end, Saunders was left wide open backdoor and Schroeder found him for the easy 2. Timeout Penn.

11:40 to go in the 1st half, Penn 9, Princeton 10

Eggleston was worked in the paint by Buczak following a Mavraides three to get Princeton back to within two points in a flash. Then Miller subbed in Belcore, Votel, and Egee, joining Gaines and Turley -- the unit immediately forced a turnover. Gaines took it coast-to-coast the other way but couldn't convert the layup. Then a sloppy pass at the other end from Douglas Davis gave the ball back over to Penn. Votel tried to feed Turley in the post, but he couldn't convert the left-handed baby hook and was then subbed out for Lewis. At the other end, Votel drew a charge on Finley, who attempted to drive the lane and knock down a floater. The few Princeton students in attendance here have taken to calling the red-headed forward "Ginger Princess," but he just proved them wrong with his toughness in the paint defensively. But then Saunders, the 6-foot-7, 185-pound forward, knocked in a 3 with Votel contesting to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. Off a baseline inbound for Penn, Bernardini caught a pass and barely grazed the rim on the shot attempt, giving the ball back to Princeton, which is on an 8-0 run.

15:25 to go in the 1st half, Penn 9, Princeton 2

Gaines started off the scoring with a tough inside layup, and then Penn worked the offense well, with Rosen finding Bernardini in the corner for a deep 2. On the defensive end, Lewis swatted a layup attempt by Zach Finley, establishing some inside presence defensively. But Princeton managed to get three opportunities offensively on its next possession thanks to fouls on Lewis and Eggleston, and then a missed box-out by Lewis, resulting in an easy layup putback. The second Miller caught that, Turley checked into the game immediately, then he knocked in a turnaround layup in the post at the other end on his first touch just seconds after entering the game. Good substitution, I'd say. Then Bernardini capitalized on some lazy perimeter defense, nailing an open 3 to give Penn a 9-2 lead. The three is currently under review by the officials to see if Bernardini's foot was behind the line. The ruling is confirmed.

Starting Lineups

Penn

G Zack Rosen

G Harrison Gaines

G Tyler Bernardini

F Jack Eggleston

F Cam Lewis

Princeton

F Zach Finley

C Pawel Buczak

G Douglas Davis

G Marcus Schroeder

G Dan Mavraides