Turn Back the Clock: Jan. 30th, 1993
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SHAREPenn men's basketball topples the Princeton Tigers, 64-46, on its way to an undefeated Ivy season. January 30th, 1993
One of the sweetest moments for any team is when they can come together and prove the critics who doubted them wrong. From the opening tip-off in a packed Palestra on that Saturday night, the Quakers did just that.
Penn (10-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy) pummeled the Tigers (10-5, 2-1) all over the court on their way to a decisive 64-46 victory. Before the game, the Quakers side was heavily criticized and labeled "too soft" following back-to-back losses to Big 5 foes Temple and St. Joseph's.
Against Princeton, however, the Red and Blue was anything but soft. In front of a sold-out crowd of 8,700 raucous fans (the Palestra's first sell-out since 1984), the Quakers dominated every aspect of the game. Penn held a 34-18 advantage on the boards while also shooting a lights-out 54.3 percent from the field and only committing four turnovers.
The stellar backcourt tandem of sophomores Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney (both would go on to be three-time First-Team All-Ivy during their college careers) highlighted the Quakers' fantastic performance. Allen put up 11 points and dished out 7 assists, while Maloney led all scorers with 18 points along with 5 assists.
At halftime, the game was still very tight, with Princeton holding a slim 26-25 advantage. But the Quakers stormed away in the second period by playing nearly flawless basketball and outscoring the Tigers 39-20 to finish out the game.
By beating Princeton at home, Penn reclaimed its title as the premier basketball program in the Ivy League. The Red and Blue used that momentum to run the Ivy League table and finished with a perfect 14-0 Ivy record on the season, ending Princeton's streak of four consecutive league titles.
The matchup was a battle of two legendary coaches. Of course, current Temple coach Fran Dunphy led the Quakers from the sidelines. Dunphy has the second-most wins of any Ivy League coach in history. The only Ivy League coach with more all-time victories? The man standing across from Dunphy that night, Princeton's head coach Pete Carril (famed for perfecting the Princeton offense).