Game 17: at Columbia — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Though the Quakers began to pull away at the end of the second half — leading by six with 45 seconds to go — the Lions capitalized on several Penn miscues and came within a three-point shot at the buzzer of winning the game. But the Red and Blue prevailed, winning their Ivy opener, 66-64, in Uptown Manhattan.

THE GOOD: Zack didn't do it alone. Too many times this year, the Quakers have relied solely on Zack Rosen for their whole offense. Tonight, he had help. Tyler Bernardini and Miles Cartwright led the way for Penn with 16 points apiece, while Rosen had 15 (but only 2 in the first half). Cartwright missed only one shot on the night — he made 5-of-6. And Bernardini earned most of his points by driving to the bucket and drawing fouls, converting 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Quakers are a much better team when Rosen has as much help as he did tonight.

THE BAD: Columbia's shooting from beyond the arc. The Lions came into the game averaging over seven treys per game with the highest three-point shooting percentage in the Ivy League at 38 percent. But Columbia converted only 3-of-19 (16 percent) from long range in this one. It would have been moot, though, if Brian Barbour had been able to sink a game-winner at the buzzer.

THE UGLY: The Columbia band's rendition of Party Rock Anthem. It was bad enough that the band was situated directly behind our position on press row. But when they broke out in Party Rock, it was painful — from the off-key notes to the pauses where they would yell, "Everyday I'm shufflin.'" No wonder their own athletic director banned them from the football team's final game.