Game 23: Harvard — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

In the most anticipated game of the year, Penn fell to No. 25 Harvard, 56-50, at the Palestra. The Quakers drop to 4-2 in the Ivy League, and the Crimson remain undefeated at 7-0. Penn has now lost six straight — and four straight at home — to Harvard.

THE GOOD: Quakers down low. Entering the game, the Crimson looked to have a mismatch in their favor in the front court with Keith Wright and Kyle Casey. Though the Quakers were outrebounded by a slim margin, 39-35, they matched Harvard with 16 points in the paint. Moreover, the Red and Blue held Wright in check. After he dropped a career-high 25 points at the Palestra a year ago, Penn held the 6-foot-8 forward to a season-low four points on just 1-for-5 shooting from the field.

ALSO GOOD: 7,462. This was one of those old corner-packing games current Penn students always hear alums talking about but never actually experienced themselves. Yes, the Princeton game 11 days ago was packed, and so was last year's Harvard game, but neither filled the arena up like tonight. The Palestra was absolutely rocking.

THE BAD: Now, Penn needs help. Coming into the game, the Quakers still controlled their own destiny within the Ivy League. Now, for the Red and Blue to claim their first title since the 2006-07 season, not only will they have to beat Harvard in Boston on Feb. 25, but they have to hope another team can pull of the upset as well.

THE UGLY: Shooting. Not to discredit the defense in this one, because both sides defended well, but the shooting was just awful for both Harvard and Penn. The Quakers went 18-for-56 (32 percent) from the field on the night, and the Crimson weren't much better shooting 17-for-49 (35 percent). And from distance, the numbers get even uglier: 5-for-22 (23 percent) for Penn, 4-for-19 (21 percent) for Harvard. Penn guard Tyler Bernardini may have been the coldest of all, going the whole game without a field goal on five shots.