There is simply no way that the athletic department can forcibly stop student season ticket holders -- who have shelled out 80+ dollars for their seats -- from starting up the "Hey Song" at the end of games. If anything, an attempt to block students from starting up so much as an a cappella version will inspire the more rebellious students of the bunch to sing more vociferously.
That said, the "Hey Song" isn't too much fun to begin with when no one is showing up to games. Obviously, it's difficult to attract a large crowd of students when the team is not an Ivy League Championship-caliber one. But on the whole, the student turnout this season has been miserable. Brian Head and the marketing arm of Penn's athletic department should be less concerned with a few dozen kids screaming "you suck" and more concerned with putting more than a few dozen kids in the student section.
Finally, given the relatively few opportunities that students have had this season to serenade the opposing team with those not-so-kind words, the timing of this decision seems out of place. As immature as it may be, some students really enjoy the "Hey Song." Now is the time to avoid any possible disincentives for student attendance. I'm afraid that a public stand from the athletic department against the "Hey Song" could make attendance matters even worse. Not only will students continue to show up late, but they might start leaving early, too.
In case you didn't see my article today, the Penn Band will no longer be allowed to play what students refer to as the "Hey Song." It's a great debate on the singing of "Rock and Roll Part II," and the athletic department has a good point, but I believe it is wrong in a few ways.
Having the band play the "Hey Song" does sort of reflect poorly on the University, and while it's not offensive, it doesn't look good for a wing of the athletic department to tell its opponents that they suck.
But there are also many things that bug me about this decision. Saying "you suck" is offensive, but it's not that bad. In fact if you average all of the Penn chants I'd guess that it's below-average in obscenity. It was fine to have the band stop playing "Hang Jeff" in which at one point all of the fans yell "No, f__k you!"
While parents, not I, are the judge, kids aren't going to have the same reaction to hearing "suck" as the word that rhymes with that. When I was a 12-year-old West Philly kid going to Penn basketball games, me and my friend would pray for horrible shots by Penn's opponent so we could yell "airball, airball, airball, you suck!" (Needless to say, Dartmouth games were always a hot ticket.)
That brings me to my next point. If you are going to try to stop fans from singing the "Hey Song" a capella, then why aren't you banning people from chanting "asshole!" or "bullsh_t" or the airball chant, or even the ridiculous things that fans scream at players when they shoot free throws. Are they saying that it's fine to chant "virgin! virgin! virgin!" When Noah Savage goes to the line, but saying "you suck!" collectively to the other team is going to far?
And even if the song is considered offensive, does the athletic department believe that telling the band not to do it is going to stop the fans from singing? Can Brian Head stop 500 (25 if there's an obscene chant five minutes before tipoff) fans from singing? Even Band director Greer Cheeseman doesn't think so. And don't they know that without the band to mediate when the "Hey Song" is played, it will be sung earlier and earlier, and perhaps more and more often?
You might not think this is a concern to them, but according to the E-mail from Mary DiStanislao to the Penn Band, they won't stop fans from singing if it's done at a reasonable time. Something smells fishy...
I planned on taking it easy on my live blog of the Hawks-Explorers game, maybe updating five times per half, but that plan went downhill fast. It was, legitimately, the most entertaining game I've seen all year, although all ESPN seems to show is the Big East, so that doesn't say too much. You can look at the box score, but here are a few things you might not have noticed.
I will never stop liking St. Joe's fans, but two of their roll-outs, while funny, were completely incorrect.
- “Keep Exploring the bottom of the A-10.” - the Explorers may have played the easiest imaginable non-conference schedule (two of their wins came against 1-9 St. Bonaventure and one versus 3-8 George Washington), but still they are 5-5 in the Atlantic 10. An even record in the nation's 8th-best conference according to the RPI. So while that sign is great, the Explorers are proving it wrong.
- “St. Joe’s salutes La Salle fans (both of them).” Again, these two signs are funnier than the Red and Blue Crew's entire season besides the Drexel game. But the La Salle fans were loud, and down the stretch louder than the St. Joe's contingent. True, there weren't a whole lot, but they were just as plentiful as the Villanova fans in the Holy War, and 10-times as ruckus.
Now, here's my top 5 plays of the game. As Chris Rock used to say as "Nat X" on Saturday Night Live would say, why only five? Because the Inquirer could get a top 10, but I work for a college newspaper and the man would let me get half of that. Okay, really I only have five good ones. (And I refuse to pull a SportsCenter and make "La Salle three-point shooting" one of the top plays.)
First, a couple honorable mention:
- St. Joe's Ahmad Nivins throwing Jerrell Williams to the ground to make way for a wide open dunk on his team's first possession. Oh how that was not indicative at all of what happened the rest of the way...
- La Salle's Rodney Green blocking 6-foot-10 Pat Calathes from behind and going the other way. He got fouled, but didn't make the layup, costing him a spot.
5. A Hawks fan in the Qdoba shootout won free burritos for a month, doing basically nothing. I what I believe was 35 seconds, he hit a layup, an elbow shot, an elbow shot from the other side and another layup. That's pretty hard to screw up. In the Penn equivalent you must hit a layup, free throw, three-pointer and a half-court shot for the same prize. Even without the half-court shot the Penn contest is much harder.
4. On a drive in the first half, Calathes took it down the heart of the lane, and while getting his jersey pulled (by I believe Paul Johnson) he threw down a nasty dunk over the La Salle junior. After the play he slapped the ball into the crowd and received a harsh warning from an official (though he didn't receive a technical).
3. With his team up by one with under 30 seconds to go, Kimmani Barrett got the ball in the post, was double-teamed, but somehow flipped the ball over the big men for the eventual game-winning basket.
2. Eight-minutes in, Williams went up for a monster dunk, taking off from outside of the lane on the right side, and Nivins absolutely rejected him. The 6-9 big man got his entire palm on the ball just before the height of its path, and threw it down. Needless to say, the Hawks fans went berserk.
1. With just over a minute to go and the game tied at 86, Yves Mekongo Mbala missed only his second shot of the night, but Green, a 6-5 guard came flying down the lane for a thunderous dunk to take a two-point lead. It was probably the loudest a La Salle crowd got since Donnie Carr. No Fran Dunphy. No Bill Raftery.
I don't have much to say today about Penn basketball, but that Remy Cofield still isn't practicing with his foot injury. Glen Miller wouldn't say what it was, how long he's out for, or whether or not he'll play against Harvard and Dartmouth. He's "day-to-day." If the injury isn't "out for the year", chances are it's "day-to-day."
Getting through the seven-hour bus trip to Dartmouth can be rough, and Brian Grandieri will spend his time watching Lost. That show could even make the Hanover, N.H., trip seem quick. It'd take a bus ride to Japan and back to watch all the episodes of that show.
See video of it by clicking here.
WOW. Harris misses the front end of the 1-and-1, but on a drive left, Carr loses the ball and the Explorers recover and call timeout with 1.4 to go.
La Salle throws a risky pass the length of the court, and Green gets fouled with a second to go. He misses the first.
A whistle goes off as Green is about to let the second free throw go. He stops mid-shot, and gets called for a violation. He probably would have missed on purpose, making a last-second three almost impossible.
So St. Joe's inbounds with one second to go. They throw it long, and the pass for Calathes under the basket is knocked by La Salle to Carr, but he can't get the shot off in time, and the game is over. I can finally stop holding my breath.
That was, no joke, the most entertaining basketball game I've seen this year.
0:09.3 2nd Half: La Salle 90, St. Joe's 89
Carr hits a quick layup, a real tough one at that, and the Hawks are down one. Harris gets the ball and is fouled.
0:17.6 2nd Half: La Salle 90, St. Joe's 87
An Explorer misses but Green throws down a monstrous put-back dunk. Williamson hit one from the line, and the Explorers lead by one.
With the shot clock winding down at under 20 seconds left, Barrett hits a tough layup while getting double-teamed. This place is LOUD.
1:22 2nd Half: La Salle 86, St. Joe's 85
Green hits two from the line and Carr turns it over. Passing around the traps well, the Explorers can't get off a three like usual, but Mekongo Mbala gets to the line with 1:39 left. He hits the second only to go up 3.
Govens makes a nice entry pass to Nivins, and the big man nails a crucial and-1.
2:39 2nd Half: La Salle 83, St. Joe's 83
Williams is back in with four fouls, but he gets trapped, and Harris misses the three at the end of the shot clock.
Carr goes streaking across the lane, and hits with zeros on the shot clock. But Johnson answers with his ugly, ugly shot from three. Govens finally misses, and Williams gets fouled on the other end.
Calathes misses, and Green hits a bank to tie it at 81. The La Salle crowd goes nuts, and then erupts when Carr misses, and Barrett hits a reverse layup to take the lead. Calathes answers, though, with a runner with 1 on the shot clock.
Green somehow blocks Calathes, and then gets fouled on a transition layup that he can't convert. He punches the backboard protector a bunch in frustration.
7:56 2nd Half: St. Joe's 79, La Salle 75
It's hard to imagine that a guy who already has nearly 30 points won't be the player of the game, but Harris hits what I believe is his fifth three of the game. Govens hits a layup, and he's got 26 points, a third candidate for game MVP.
Garrett Williamson finally makes his presence felt, swatting a Harris three. Calathes goes for a rebound but misses, and angrily sways the ball into the crowd, but he somehow avoids a tech.
The Hawk fans roll out another good sign: "Keep Exploring the bottom of the A-10." Now "Smiley" the Hatfield pig mascot is shooting hot dogs into the Hawks student section. One goes to the Explorer faithful, and to their delight, the fan throws it back onto the court. The last hot dog of about 20 explodes on its way out of the gun.
The Explorers fans put up a banner: "St. Joe's has class... Rivera usually cuts it." referring to the guard who "focused on academics" last semester.
11:39 2nd Half: St. Joe's 74, La Salle 69
Calathes hits, but so does Guillandeaux on another floater.
Harris, who hit three threes in the first half, is unconscious on this deep one over Ferguson. But once again, Govens returns with a jumper and then a three.
The action never stops. Harris makes Carr fall on the baseline, but misses the three. Then Calathes puts the ball around his back and hits Govens for yet another three.
14:38 2nd Half: St. Joe's 62, La Salle 63
Carr hits a three to start off the half, but Green turns a steal into two points. Govens converts a nice layup, and now Nivins takes a charge, giving Williams his fourth foul.
Nivins now gets whistled for a charge, and Martelli slams his hand against the scorer's table. Nice ball-movement gets Gullandeaux an open three, and he connects.
Gullandeaux is taking over now - he hits a jumper in the lane, and then nails a trey in transition. Now Mekongo hits an open three, but it's answered by Govens. Harris takes back the lead, and Govens gets it right back. Now Barrett gets fouled, and the shot is goal-tended, and the Explorer's grab back the lead. This has been maybe most electrifying game I've seen all year.
Halftime: St. Joe's 50, La Salle 46
While this section of my post just got deleted, the half ends with the Hawks on top by four. This was an insane first half, not necessarily with bad defense, but the shooting on both sides has been impeccable. St. Joe's is hitting 67 percent from the field, while La Salle is 47 percent, though 10-for-17 from three.
3:27 1st Half: St. Joe's 43, La Salle 40
Gullandeaux nails a three off of a nifty pass from Williams, and La Salle takes the lead for the first time.
Calathes comes right back with an and-1 layup (that should have been called on the ground). Giannini disagrees, but spends more time calming down Williams. Calathes then scores again on a sweet baseline jumper from 17 feet.
Harris is nothing but net on a three from NBA range. He is money tonight.
I must give the La Salle fans credit, they are real loud tonight, probably better than the Villanova coningent at the Holy War.
6:05 1st Half: St. Joe's 34, La Salle 34
Calathes drains a three, but once again it's answered by the big man, Mekongo Mbala.
Following a Nivins dunk, Mekongo Mbala drains yet another trey, and La Salle has tied it up at 34.
8:21 1st Half: St. Joe's 29, La Salle 25
Johnson hits a transition layup, and the Explorers are within six, and the teams then trade threes.
Off of a tough offensive rebound, Williams slices through for a layup, and the game is real close now.
Huh, the St. Joe's staff has a guy walking around the Palestra selling cotton candy.
11:51 1st Half: St. Joe's 24, La Salle 16
Harris drains a three over Carr, he's he's just nasty, has eight points already.
Nivins just made a fantastic and-1, double-teamed in the post but still getting it up.
Wow, Williams cocks it back for a monster dunk, but gets rejected by Nivins, and the crowd goes crazy.
The Hawks fans roll out a sign: "St. Joe's salutes La Salle fans (Both of them)." A Hawks fan just won a semester of free Qdoba burritos just by hitting a couple of layups and elbow shots. That's just sad. The Penn Qdoba makes you hit a layup, free throw, three and half-court shot.
15:32 1st Half: St. Joe's 15, La Salle 10
Both teams are raining threes, as Harris gets the Explorers on the board, Mekongo Mbala hits another, but Calathes nails one from the top of the key to extend the St. Joe's lead.
Johnson misses a three, but makes a pretty feed (while getting trapped) to Harris, who makes an even prettier finish. But Govens comes back with a ridiculous reverse layup, throwing it off the backboard with great english.
18:44 1st Half: St. Joe's 6, La Salle 0
On the first possession, Nivins bullys Williams for an easy dunk and then a layup, as Mekongo Mbala completes his team's second-straight turnover. Calathes adds a dunk and Dr. John Giannini calls timeout.
The crowd is about 75 percent full, and the majority are Hawks fans. The La Salle fans let out a pretty loud chant of "Let's go 'splorers!", but it's drowned out eventually by the "Hawks Are Marching In"
We just had a moment of silence for the Northern Illinois shootings, though that moment lasted no more than two or three seconds.
As the La Salle band plays, the St. Joe's students try to belt the chant of "Phil Martelli!" over it. We're just about ready to go at the Palestra, the Hawks wearing the home white, La Salle in blue.
________
With only three games left in the Big 5, nothing is decided. Well, except for that Penn (0-4) won't win.
Villanova (3-1), Temple (1-1), La Salle (1-1) and Saint Joseph's (2-0) all have a shot at winning at least a share of the Big 5 title, though the Hawks are the only team that can win the title outright.
La Salle hasn't been bad lately, going 4-5 in the Atlantic 10, and will likely make the conference tournament, unlike last season. Out of 14 teams, 12 make it to Atlantic City on March 12, and the Explorers sit in 11th place, two games ahead of 13th-place George Washington (3-8).
The Hawks are on the opposite side of the spectrum. Despite recent losses at Xavier and Duquesne, they sit alone in second place at 7-3, though Rhode Island, Richmond and Temple are all one game behind them, chasing those valuable four tourney byes.
An hour before the game, St. Joe's fans are already here. They aren't making much noise, but that's stilll pretty impressive. The Explorers' student faithful start showing up about 45 minutes early. The Hawks fans do one of my favorite chants "When the Hawks come marching in" replacing "Saints" with their team when their team takes the floor a half-hour before tip-off.
Starters:
St. Joe's:
G Darrin Govens
G Tasheed Carr
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins
La Salle:
G Darnell Harris
G Rodney Green
F Paul Johnson
F Jerrell Williams
F Yves Mekongo Mbala
Steve Danley talks about Ivy League weekend road trips.
Final, 78-65 Penn
Just as it looked like Penn might be in for a repeat of last night, the Quakers snapped out of their funk and went on a 28-3 run, playing the most inspired stretch of basketball they've played all season. The key to the game was Penn's great inside play, which started to free up open looks from the perimeter later on in the game. Glen Miller has to be very pleased with this win against a somewhat talented Yale team. On the whole, a tremendous team effort for the Quakers.
A few quick notes:
- Yesterday I told you that Remy Cofield left the Palestra in a Tom Brady-like protective boot. He was not on the floor for the pre-game warmups tonight and didn't see any action.
- Cam Lewis, who didn't play last night, saw 4 minutes tonight.
- Mike Kach did not play.
- Penn got to the free throw line 20 more times than it did last night, going 22-26.
- Harrison Gaines had 5 assists in 12 minutes with only one turnover. For the game, Penn had 18 assists and 12 turnovers.
In-game updates can be found after the jump.
1:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 76-60 Penn
Penn has other ideas. The Quakers do a great job of breaking the press, and Reilly finds Bernardini under the basket for a layup. He makes the basket and draws the foul, converting the 3-point play. Now, music to Penn's fans' ears -- an "Ibby Jaaber" chant emanating from the Red and Blue Crew. Jaaber acknowledged the fans with a wave. Justin Reilly just delivered the dagger, a three in front of the Penn bench. This one is over.
2:55 to go in the 2nd Half, 70-56 Penn
A few quick baskets by Yale and a Tyler Bernardini turnover later, Yale still has a bit of hope. Down 14 with just under three minutes to go, crazier things have happened.
3:41 to go in the 2nd Half, 68-52 Penn
The Red and Blue crew thinks this one is in the bag, and it probably is. Penn's student section is serenading the opponent with the "hey song."
4:44 to go in the 2nd Half, 67-49 Penn
Caleb Holmes just fouled out on a great Justin Reilly tip-in on a Bernardini missed layup. Penn did a great job in transition, with Grandieri finding Bernardini under the basket for the open look. Holmes is absolutely pissed off and had yelled some R-rated words in frustration on his way back to the bench. The Penn fans gave him plenty of grief with their classic "left-right-sit" chant, and he slammed his hand down on the bench. Yale responded with a Pinick dunk in transition, and Miller is very upset with Gaines' defense on that last play. Penn is doing a good job breaking Yale's full-court press, though, and seems to be in control of this game.
7:52 to go in the 2nd Half, 61-41 Penn
Wow. Penn looks like a true contender right now, in part because Yale is so deflated. After Cohen hit his foul shots, Eggleston kicked the ball out to Cohen who netted a big three-pointer from the corner in front of Penn's bench. On the next possession, Cohen found Bernardini cutting to the basket, and Bernardini was fouled on the layup attempt. He'll go to the line for two after the media timeout. Penn hasn't looked this good in a long time. Also, Ibby Jaaber is in attendance tonight behind the Penn bench. Bernardini just sank both of his free throws -- Penn is great from the line tonight. This is a 28-3 run by the Quakers right now, who have clearly woken up after the weak start to the second half.
9:05 to go in the 2nd Half, 56-39 Penn
Aron Cohen just got fouled, and Penn is now in the double-bonus. Penn is doing a great job from the free-throw line tonight. Bernardini and Reilly were perfect on two consecutive trips to the line, and Cohen was perfect on this one. Egee also hit a great jumper from the elbow. The Quakers are starting to break this one open.
10:23 to go in the 2nd Half, 49-39 Penn
Tyler Bernardini went coast-to-coast off the inbounds and split Yale's defense, taking it to the lane and drawing a foul. He made both free throws to put Penn up by 10. For Yale, center Matt Kyle has just fouled out, which can't bode well for Yale. The Bulldogs are having enough trouble guarding Penn inside. Yale's coaches are exhorting their players to show some signs of life right now. Penn is already in the bonus.
11:46 to go in the 2nd Half, 46-39 Penn
Penn just went on a very nice run thanks to great passing and good defense. Yale decided to go into a full court press down 39-38, and Penn broke it to perfection. Eggleston dribbled through it and found Grandieri running up the court with him. Grandieri hit a nice pull-up banker to give Penn a two-point lead. The Quakers then scored five more unanswered. First, Gaines pushed it up the floor and found Reilly wide open under the basket for a layup (on a goaltending call). Then, Penn set up its offense, and Bernardini drained a three, making it 46-39 Penn. Gaines has been doing a great job of pushing the ball up the floor today -- Penn has had a lot of success beating Yale in transition.
14:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 39-38 Penn
Speaking of jackets, Glen Miller's is now off after Eggleston failed to convert in the paint and was called for an offensive foul.
15:39 to go in the 2nd Half, 39-38 Penn
Penn has its first lead since the opening minutes, thanks to a great off-balance jumper from the right elbow by Bernardini. The Quakers have also picked up the intensity on defense, drawing two offensive fouls by Yale on back-to-back possessions. Also, a sidenote: I've now received two texts about Penn assistant coach Perry Bromwell's attire. He's wearing a green jacket that I can barely see from my seat here. But if I've gotten two texts about it, I'm sure it's a sight to be seen.
16:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 38-37 Yale
Penn has now gone back to the game plan again, and it's working. Inside baskets have brought the Quakers back in this one. Good inside ball movement left Schreiber open for a layup attempt, on which he was fouled and converted both free throws. Then Reilly pulled down an offensive rebound off of a Bernardini three-point miss and put it back up, drawing the foul and converting the three-point play. Bernardini also got fouled going up for a layup on the next possession and converted 1-2, making it 38-37.
18:57 to go in the 2nd Half, 36-29 Yale
Yale just opened up on a 6-0 run in the first minute of the second half. Three easy layups against a lazy Penn defense, the last one on a fast break after a poor entry pass from Bernardini. Schreiber also attempted a three, but it was an air-ball. Miller quickly called a timeout. After such inspired play to end the first half, this is the last thing the Quakers needed.
Halftime Stats
For Penn: Grandieri and Eggleston lead the Quakers with 8 points a piece, and Grandieri has 3 assists as well. He's 4-7 from the field. Schreiber is 3-6, Eggleston is 3-7. Penn has 24 points in the paint, compared to 12 for Yale. Penn shot 42 percent from the field and was 1-5 from downtown. Penn has a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. No joke.
For Yale: Eric Flato leads all scorers with 9, with all of his points coming from beyond the arc. Travis Pinick has five points on 2-3 from the field. The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field and are 5-13 from downtown.
Halftime, 30-29 Yale
At the end of the half, Gaines set up Penn for a last second shot, which Reilly took from three-land, but it didn't fall. Yale's bench was livid, claiming that Gaines stepped on the sideline before passing it over to Reilly. Grandieri got Penn to 29 on a tough basket in the paint, which has really been the story of the game so far for the Quakers. Defensively, they've given up one too many threes, but all around they're playing the best basketball I've seen them play in a while. The only time Penn struggles is when it tries to fire up threes. When the Quakers have worked the ball inside tonight, though, they've looked fantastic, in large part thanks to Grandieri's efforts. Gaines has also played nicely, especially in the final few minutes of the half. Halftime stats will follow shortly.
2:41 to go in the 1st Half, 28-27 Yale
Just as the game looked like it might be shifting in Yale's favor, Penn went back to its game plan, and it paid dividends. Inside buckets from Grandieri and Reilly off of great feeds from Harrison Gaines have put Penn back in this one, and Yale has cooled off from downtown. On the Reilly basket, Gaines beat everyone on Yale down the court and found Reilly wide open under the basket for the easy 2. Then Gaines pushed the ball up again and slung a one-handed pass to Grandieri, who was all alone under the basket. James Jones is not happy with his team's interior defense, or the officiating, which has favored Penn today. He just slammed his hand down on the scorer's table in disgust.
5:21 to go in the 1st Half, 26-21 Yale
A few ill-advised three-point attempts by Penn, including one from Cohen, and another three from Flato, and the momentum has shifted. Yale now has the ball with a 26-21 lead. Gaines, Egee, Reilly, Eggleston, and Grandieri are in for Penn.
7:39 to go in the 1st Half, 20-17 Yale
After the timeout, Yale came out energized, scoring two quick baskets. The second was an emphatic dunk by Pinick. On the previous possession, Egee attempted an off-balance scoop shot that couldn't even hit the rim. But on the next Penn possession, he stuck a three -- Penn's first points from the perimeter all game -- to cut Yale's lead to three.
8:57 to go in the 1st Half, 16-14 Yale
Great job by the current lineup Penn has on the floor, and Yale is starting to struggle in transition. Penn pushed the floor against the Bulldogs twice in a row. The first time, Egee found Eggleston driving the lane for an easy two. Then, Cohen found Schreiber all alone under the basket for an open layup, prompting a Yale timeout.
10:40 to go in the 1st Half, 16-10 Yale
Penn is getting burned by the three-point shot, just like it has all season long. After the timeout, Flato -- who has the hot hand for the Bulldogs right now -- came back with another three, stretching Yale's lead to six. Penn got two inside buckets -- all of their points have come from point-blank range today. Grandieri had a nice dish to Gaines for a layup, and then Grandieri had a nice spin move inside to create an easy layup for himself, making it 16-10. Gaines was taken out soon after his layup, and Egee took over at the point. Now, Eggleston, Schreiber, Bernardini, Aron Cohen, and Egee are in, with Cohen running the point.
14:11 to go in the 1st Half, 11-6 Yale
Flato and Holmes just responded with two quick threes, forcing Miller to burn a timeout. Conor Turley and Harrison Gaines, along with Lewis, Grandieri, and Egee, are in for the Quakers. And finally, the Penn students are starting to file in. The section is by no means packed, but there are more than 3 kids.
14:48 to go in the 1st Half, 6-5 Penn
Right from the get go, it's clear that Glen Miller's game plan today is to work the ball inside to the big men. Penn got the first points of the game on a reverse layup from Schreiber -- on a nice entry pass from Grandieri. The Quakers got their second basket on a Grandieri-to-Schreiber pass and baby hook, as well. Eggleston, who has had several looks inside tonight, finally converted one to give Penn 6. Both teams are playing man-to-man right now, and with all of the emphasis in the paint, it looks like Cam Lewis -- who didn't play last night -- is coming back out onto the court after the media timeout.
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Good evening from the Palestra, as the Penn Quakers (8-15, 3-3 Ivy) look to bounce back from last night's tough loss against Brown. Their opponent, Yale (10-11, 4-3 Ivy), is coming off of a 67-56 win over Princeton last night. In case you didn't know, this game is airing on ESPN Classic. 15 minutes before tip, there are 3 Penn students in the stands. 3. That should make for some interesting crowd surfing shots. Hopefully everyone will start to file in soon. Refresh this page for live updates throughout the night.
Tonight's Starters
For Yale:
F Travis Pinick
F Nick Holmes
C Matt Kyle
G Eric Flato
G Alex Zampier
For Penn:
G Kevin Egee
G Tyler Bernardini
G Brian Grandieri
F Jack Eggleston
C Andreas Schreiber
With a few minutes left in the Penn-Brown game, it looked like the winner would have a great shot of challenging Cornell for the title.
The Big Red were surprisingly down, as Harvard used a 19-5 run to build a nine-point second-half lead. The Crimson were still on top by that margin with seven minutes left, and maintained a five-point advantage with under 30 seconds to go after a Jeremy Lin three.
But everything that could have gone wrong for the home side did.
Cornell's Alex Tyler connected on a shot that cut the deficit to 71-68 with 25 seconds left. Then on a long inbounds pass, Lin fell out of bounds (without a foul call) to give it right back. The Big Red gave the ball right back to their big man, as Tyler scored again, getting a goaltend from Evan Harris.
The Harris tried to inbound the ball, but was whistled for a five-second call. Cornell, with under 10 seconds to go, used a screen and misdirection to find Tyler open under the basket to finally re-take the lead, 72-71. Drew Housman's bid to win the game for Harvard missed, and Cornell's undefeated record (7-0) remains intact. Box score
Meanwhile, the Quakers were left at 3-3 after the loss, and a long way away from a fourth-straight title. It's still possible, though, but if the Red and Blue lose tonight to Yale, they are finished.
Wondering why tonight's game is at 6 p.m.? It's on ESPN Classic. I kept seeing advertisemnets for tonght's doubleheader (Villanova plays St. Johns, and yes it is also a national broadcast) in between watching Cheap Seats and old Duke-Maryland games. You won't find Classic in the Quad, but Comcast cable off-campus gets it, and it's in my appartment on Hotwire cable. Yes, that's actually the name of my cable company, and yes it's real ghetto.
Cornell 72, Harvard 71
Yale 67, Princeon 56
Columbia 59, Dartmouth 50
- Tonight's game marked the first time in Brian Grandieri's career that Penn lost an Ivy League contest at the Palestra.
- As a team, the Quakers shot 9-17 from downtown, hitting three more triples than the Bears. The difference was the play inside. Despite Brown's smaller size, the Bears etched out 30 points in the paint (compared to Penn's 24) thanks to a number of smooth backdoor cuts. More importantly, the Bears got to the free throw line 26 times -- Penn was 2 of 6 from the charity stripe. Brown's 61.5% clip wasn't impressive, but it was good enough.
- Grandieri overcame his recent shooting woes tonight, going 9-15 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arc. He was the Quakers' only reliable option in the second half -- especially with Kevin Egee on the bench in foul trouble -- and hit a number of clutch shots down the stretch.
- Cameron Lewis did not see any action tonight, and though Remy Cofield did see 12 minutes, he left the Palestra wearing a Tom Brady-like protective boot.
Tomorrow's game against Yale has been moved up to 6 pm. If you can't make it to the Palestra, ESPN Classic will be televising the game. Stay tuned to The Buzz for more coverage.
P.S. Jack Eggleston was a guest earlier this week on UTV's DP Roundtable and was asked about the incident with Noah Savage at the end of the Princeton game. With Princeton inbounding the ball under its own basket down by 3 with 9 seconds to go, Savage took a swing towards Eggleston's groin area and was called for a technical foul, essentially ending the Tigers' chances. On an earlier possession, Savage missed an important shot that would have put his team in better position to win. On the show, Eggleston said that right before Savage picked up the "T," Eggleston -- who played with Savage a lot over the summer -- said something to him about the missed shot, prompting the hot-headed reaction. Zidane, anyone?
Final: Brown 66, Penn 61
In-game updates can be found after the jump.
The game is finally over. Penn made it interesting in the final minute, but didn't have enough left in the end to change the final outcome. The Quakers drop to 3-3 in the league, while Brown improves to 5-2. The Bears are likely the only Ancient Eight team left in the field who could challenge Cornell for the title. Speaking of the Red, they squeaked by Harvard on the road, 72-71, on some last-minute fireworks.
10.8, 2nd half: 65-61, Brown
Kach made just one of three, uncharacteristic of him. Friske to the line for two on the foul by Schreiber.
12.8, 2nd half: 65-60, Brown
Kach will go to the line for three shots after being fouled on the long-range attempt by McAndrew.
19.6, 2nd half: 64-60, Brown
Bernardini has just fouled out. McAndrew will go to the line for two on the foul.
0:21.0, 2nd half: 64-60, Brown
Penn is fighting to the end here. After Friske made one of two for the Bears, Grandieri rebounded a missed Gaines three and hit a three of his own. Brown to inbound the ball.
0:43.8, 2nd half: 63-57, Brown
I may have spoken too soon, but we'll see. After Sullivan missed both of his free throws, Harrison Gaines hit a three for Penn to cut the lead to six. Brown will have the ball after this timeout.
1:16, 2nd half: 62-54, Brown
It looks like the game is just about over. Gaines threw it away on offense, and then Brian Grandieri was whistled for an intentional foul on Skrelja, who fell to the floor visibly shaken up. It looks like his knee. While Brown's big man was being attended to, Huffman nearly got into it with a crowd of Penn players at midcourt.
1:33, 2nd half: 60-54, Brown
Kevin Egee has just fouled out of the game, as he intentionally committed his last foul on McAndrew in order to send the Brown senior to the line. They're in the double bonus, so he'll get two.
2:06, 2nd half: 58-52, Brown
Glen Miller calls a 30-second timeout as Penn finally breaks the scoring drought for both teams on a Brian Grandieri bucket down low. The Quakers are down just 6, but time is definitely of the essence. They come out in a full-court press to try and speed the Bears up.
3:44, 2nd half: 58-50, Brown
The Quakers have held the Bears on several straight possessions, but have been unable to take advantage on offense to shave down the margin. Kevin Egee, with his four fouls, came back on during the last 30-second timeout, but missed his first shot attempt, a short jumper along the baseline. Grandieri has cooled off as well, missing his past two attempts with Mullery playing some nice defense on the crafty senior down low. Time is running out for the Quakers to take advantage of their shored up defense.
5:23, 2nd half: 58-50, Brown
Brian Grandieri is playing possibly better than he has all season. In addition to hitting a three, he has been on with several of his jump shots near the rim and layups inside. But still Penn is having trouble closing the gap.
7:31, 2nd half: 58-48, Brown
Penn has picked up its game a little, but the 50/50 things have not gone their way. They are staying in it with some hot shooting from three-point range, as both Grandieri and Cohen have drained long-range shots.
Things have started to get a little testy -- Bernardini was whistled for a foul when he appeared to jab his man, McAndrew, while the two were jostling for position down low. He had to be restrained by Eggleston after play was stopped, but no technicals were assessed.
Egee remains on the bench with four fouls. Penn's defense has stepped up a bit, probably due to Kach's presence on the court. On one play, Penn actually got two blocks on the same shot (not technically), the first time I have ever seen something like that. As the shot clock wound down, Grandieri got a hand on Huffman's deep three-point attempt, which ended up short. Brown's Mullery tried to tip the airball in, but Schreiber was there to emphatically deny that shot, as well.
11:56, 2nd half: 53-42, Brown
Tyler Bernardini hit his second three-point attempt of the game on the rare occasion that he found some space on the perimeter. But Huffman responded on the other end with a three of his own, pretty much uncontested after Penn had defended decently well for the entire shot clock. That defense was the exception instead of the norm, as they have consistently given up penetration and easy layups to Brown, which is consequently shooting at a very high percentage from the field.
I'm pretty sure that Penn has more turnovers this half than the Bears have missed shots. If you were wondering, that's not a recipe for success.
15:10, 2nd half: 45-35, Brown
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Red and Blue -- Kevin Egee just picked up his fourth personal foul, and will likely have to slow up a little. That comes as unfortunate news, since it's been his hustle and tenacity that have benefited the Quakers thus far.
16:04, 2nd half: 43-33, Brown
This half has begun almost the same way that the first half did, with Glen Miller preempting the first media timeout with one of his own. The Quakers can't stop anything on defense, and the Brown zone is forcing them into awkward shots late in the shot clock on the other end. Eggelston made a couple bonehead plays early on and got subbed out immediately in favor of Gaines. Egee seems like he has picked up where he left off, hitting his only field-goal attempt of the half thus far, a short jumper off a nice fake.
Halftime stats:
One could consider this a good thing or a bad thing, but Penn has been pretty balanced on offense. In total eight different players have made a field goal, but aside from Egee, no one has made more than one. Egee leads the Quakers with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 2-of-3 from downtown. Overall, Penn shot a respectable 42.9% from from the floor, well above their season average. The Bears hold the edge on the boards, though, 18-13.
Damon Huffman leads Brown, and all scorers, with 14 on 6-for-10 shooting.
Halftime: 30-29, Brown
The Kevin Egee and Aron Cohen show, which made its debut earlier this week against Princeton, is back for an encore. For the past five minutes or so, Egee has singlehandedly willed Penn back into it, hitting threes, an and-1 fastbreak layup, and getting it done on defense as well with a big block and an offensive foul drawn. When Miller subbed him out in favor of Cohen with about a minute left, the crowd rewarded him for his efforts with a nice ovation. Cohen also responded, hitting a three-pointer to bring the Quakers to the one-point margin they are now looking at.
Bernardini, in his first game back after that concussion, has yet to make his presence felt. He knocked down an early three-pointer, but that's all. It seems that Brown's 2-3 zone has keeping him under wraps pretty well on the perimeter.
Several notable calls (and no-calls) have been going Penn's way, and Bears coach Craig Robinson spent most of the first half pestering the referees. The most recent call I can think of was on a three-pointer by Huffman, where he clearly got fouled, but the ref swallowed his whistle. On the ensuing fastbreak, Gaines found Egee up ahead for his aforementioned old-fashioned three-point play, which he converted at the line.
Stats will follow in a bit.
3:24, 1st half: 27-20, Brown
Penn has managed a little swing in its favor, and the student section is starting to make its voice heard. They've done it with a tightening of the defense, particularly Egee on the perimeter forcing turnovers and Schreiber down low guarding the post. Mike Kach also drew two straight offensive fouls on Brown's Sullivan.
On offense, Penn is taking what it can get here and there, and has failed to entirely take advantage of Brown's drought. Gaines drained a shot reminiscent of his performance at Cornell, a nice pull up just inside the arc. After missing two more, he found Egee on a nice baseline cut for another deuce.
7:39, 1st half: 27-16, Brown
Neither Penn's offense nor its defense looks particularly good right now. Brown is still lighting it up from the floor, and guards like Huffman and Williams are penetrating at will. On the other end of the floor, the offense is struggling to find good looks for Penn shooters, who need all the help they can get in their uphill battle for nylon. Kevin Egee has had a nice stretch, with a driving floater of a layup that went down, as well as a quick three-pointer he popped with his defender sagging off of him.
10:41, 1st half: 19-11, Brown
Remy Cofield continues to assert his influence on this game. He has come up with another nice steal on defense, and just forced Brown's McAndrew to burn a timeout when he couldn't find a target for his inbound pass on the baseline.
11:52, 1st half: 19-9, Brown
A very sloppily played game thus far. When Brown isn't turning it over by passing it away and walking, they are draining whatever they fire up.
The enigma that is Aron Cohen has again reared its head in this one. On his first offensive possession after entering the game, he made a beautiful pass to Grandieri under the basket for a layup. On the very next possession, he tried a similar pass and ended up firing it directly into the chest of a Brown defender. Then, on defense, he fouled Williams on a three-point attempt that the Brown guard drained anyway, then went to the line to convert for a three-point play.
Remy Cofield has replaced Schreiber, and looks like he might be limping. It didn't seem to affect him on one possession, though, where he came up with the steal and converted the fast-break layup.
15:54, 1st half: 12-2, Brown
The Brown seniors, who have not won at the Palestra for their entire careers, like what they're seeing -- especially Damon Huffman, who has knocked down two threes, a jumper from the corner and a layup off a steal in the fullcourt press. Glen Miller called a timeout after the latter in order to slow down the Bears, who have streaked out of the gate.
Penn's only points have come from Andreas Schreiber, who had a tough offensive board and putback in the lane. Harrison Gaines has already come in off the bench to replace Kevin Egee, who didn't particularly do anything of note while he was on the court.
Ilario Huober here in the Palestra. We're minutes from tipoff, and fans are predictably still shuffling in. A reassuring name came up during the announcement of Penn's starting lineup: Tyler Bernardini. Let's see the impact he has on the game tonight after missing the past three with a concussion. Here are the rest of the starters:
Penn:
Andreas Schreiber, Jack Eggleston, Brian Grandieri, Kevin Egee, Tyler Bernardini
Brown:
Peter Sullivan, Matt Mullery, Mark McAndrew, Damon Huffman, Chris Skrelja
Some news stories to keep you busy before the game tonight.
Check out these betting lines: Brown is a four-point favorite at Penn, Cornell is a five-point favorite at Harvard, Columbia a two-point favorite at Dartmouth and Yale a 1.5-point favorite at Princeton.
What's so remarkable about that? I believe today is the first time any road team has been favored all year. And the first time it happens, all four road teams are favored!
I think the best bet is for the Big Red to cover the spread at Harvard.
For those who want to keep an eye on 6-0 Cornell's run for the Ivy League title, check out the Times's ongoing coverage of their roadtrip through New England.
And if you can't make it to the Palestra for the Brown game tonight, check back here for live updates. Until then, here's the Providence Journal's preview of the game and here is the DP's.
I reported today on fears of an arms race of financial aid within the Ivy League and on Athletic Director Steve Bilsky's proposed solution -- athletic scholarships.
What's your reaction? Is a 'great divide' of haves and have-nots inevitable? How much would this hurt recruiting at schools like Penn? And what of Bilsky's near-endorsement of a limited scholarship system for the Ivy League?
Please also leave any questions you have about this issue. In the coming days I hope to speak with more Ivy League coaches about it, so stay tuned. I will be publishing more reaction to the aid initiatives and answering reader comments.
You probably know the story by now.
Brown coach Craig Robinson is the brother-in-law of Barack Obama. You've probably read the New York Times articles about it too. But here is an interesting story from the Providence Journal a few days ago that focuses on Robinson's amazing journey.
After the sruggles of the last few seasons (and the beginning of this one), I never thought I'd say the Penn basketball team would win a game at the free-throw line. Let alone two.
After edging past Harvard thanks to going 17-for-21 from the stripe, the Quakers hit 31-of-36 against Princeton, and again won by a very slim margin. The Red and Blue shot 64 percent in non-conference games, but miraculously have hit 73 percent in the conference slate.
Interstingly enough, while the foul calls helped the Quakers by getting them to the line, they hurt them by getting three players ejected, Andreas Schreiber and Brennan Votel against the Crimson and Brian Grandieri last night. The free-throw shooting once again bailed out a team that was missing a star player (this time Tyler Bernardini, out with a concussion).
And while this was a great game, it was painful to watch. As Rob says, these are finesse teams, and while I wasn't covering this game, from my angle it looked like they didn't play any more physically than normal. Players were gettting offensive fouls for posting up and defenders were getting whistled for holding their space. Players were getting called for actions that they would get yelled at by their coaches for not doing. Even the carrying calls were kind of absurd. The game was stopped so often that the contest had no flow, and it's not fun to see a third of the points scored on free throws. If this was a Big East game, the team managers would have to suit up.
And while I didn't see it, I've heard from multiple people that the Noah Savage technical was for hitting Eggleston in the groin, a la Chris Paul on Julius Hodge, though not as bad.
I hope all two dozen of you who went enjoyed the game last night. Attendance issues aside, it was a great game to watch with plenty of twists and surprises. My recap is here, and three of my colleagues' takes on the game are here, here and here. A couple other papers chime in here and here.
You can also watch video of the post-game press conference by clicking here.
Since a few people have already inquired about the source of Noah Savage's technical foul with nine seconds left, I'll address it. My vision was partly obstructed by another player, but I saw the play.
Savage was smarting from missing an open three-point attempt with 10 seconds to go. It would have put Princeton up 66-64. Instead, Remy Cofield hit two free throws (after Zach Finley's and Brian Grandieri's technicals cancelled) to give Penn a 66-63 lead. As Savage and Jack Eggleston took their positions for the next inbounds play, Savage threw something -- an arm, an elbow perhaps -- at Eggleston. Both players knew it was a 'T' right away. Eggleston hit one free throw. Four-point Penn lead; ballgame.
Around the Ivies, Phil Kasiecki of Hoopville offers an Ivy notebook today, the Sun writes about Cornell's success at the free-throw line and the Ithaca Journal is already looking ahead. In the Big 5, the Inquirer tries to bring some closure for 'Nova fans still sore over that iffy loss to Georgetown.
FINAL: Penn 70, Princeton 65
In-game updates can be found after the jump.
The Tigers got a layup to cut it to three with under three seconds to go, but Penn was able to get the inbound in and Kach knocked down both free throws to officially seal it.
2nd Half, 9.3: Penn 67, Princeton 63
Still with nine seconds left and Princeton inbounding, Savage was called for an intentional foul on Eggleston. Not sure exactly what happened, but Savage has fouled out and Penn got two free throws and the ball. Eggleston hit one of two, which is probably enough to seal the game for the Quakers.
2nd Half, 9.3: Penn 66, Princeton 63
Savage got wide-open for a three but missed badly. Cofield grabbed the board for the Quakers and was fouled immediately by Finley, who has fouled out. Double techincals were handed out to Grandieri and Finley after the personal foul was called. Grandieri, with two technicals, is now ejected.
Cofield hit both free throws and now Princeton will have the ball hoping only for a tie.
2nd Half, 28.1: Penn 64, Princeton 63
Penn worked the shot clock and got a decent look, but Egee was unable to hit from three. We'll see who the Tigers go to for the potential winning shot.
2nd Half, 1:02: Penn 64, Princeton 63
Eggleston played some nice D and forced a missed shot for Finley inside, but Savage grabbed the board off a deflection and converted for the Tigers. Penn called a timeout and now has the ball.
2nd Half, 1:36: Penn 64, Princeton 61
Grandieri may not be having his best game, but he came up big with a leaner in the lane to give Penn another three-point lead. Finley responded, though, by scoring through a double team. Eggleston converted two free throws and Princeton now has the ball off the timeout.
2nd Half, 3:34: Penn 60, Princeton 58
They may not be battling for an Ivy title, but this is how a Penn-Princeton game is supposed to be. This one is going down to the wire.
Koncz hit a huge three to cut Penn's lead to one, but minutes later Egee hit an acrobatic layup for a three-point play. The Tigers cut the lead again, though, with a back-door layup by Gunn.
2nd Half, 7:17: Penn 51, Princeton 48
Grandieri finally got off the schneid with a short jumper to regain a six-point lead for the Quakers. Savage re-entered the game around the nine-minute mark and immediately took advantage of a mismatch on Grandieri with an easy basket. Mike Kach scored inside for Penn but Steuerer converted a tough layup over two Quakers to bring it back to a three-point game.
2nd Half, 11:56: Penn 46, Princeton 40
Grandieri is really struggling out there. His shot is way off, he only has on field goal so far, but at least he is still rebounding. Penn looked to take some momentum when Eggleston threw down a dunk that really got the crowd going and Savage picked up his fourth foul on the next possession. Princeton responded with a Marcus Schroeder layup to cut it to six.
2nd Half, 14:57: Penn 42, Princeton 36
Savage scored on an off-balance hook shot inside. Reilly got payback after he made a nice catch in traffic and hit a layup.
Nice moment as the women's squash team is presented the Ivy League trophy by athletic director Steve Bilsky. Too bad they'll probably be the only sport to win the league this winter.
2nd Half, 16:03: Penn 40, Princeton 34
It's been back-and-forth so far. Finley started the second half the same way he started the first: with two quick baskets inside. Egee hit a three for the Quakers and Eggleston got back at Finley by scoring on him inside.
Another first half note: Harrison Gaines never returned after picking up two fouls but he has opened up the second half on the floor.
1st Half Stats:
I usually don't start with free throw statistics (or even mention them), but that has been the biggest story of the first half. Penn is inconceivably perfect from the line.
FTs: Penn - 15-15, Princeton: 9-14
Leading Scorers: Penn - Aron Cohen (11), Princeton - Zach Finley (9)
FG%: Penn - 8-19 (42.1%), Princeton - 10-10 (50%)
Rebounds: Penn - 12 (3 offensive), Princeton - 9 (3 offensive)
Assists: Penn - 6, Princeton - 5
Turnovers: Penn - 9, Princeton - 8
Halftime: Penn 35, Princeton 30
Cohen hit a floater in the lane to give Penn it's seven-point lead back, but Steurer exploited a mismatch against Egee and has scored twice so far posting him up. The half ended with a bit of momentum for the Quakers as Remy Cofield blocked a Gunn three-point attempt with time winding down.
Side note: The Palestra has filled up, but it's clearly not a sell-out. Also, this has to be the least enthusiastic crowd for a Penn-Princeton game in recent memory.
1st Half, 3:34: Penn 31, Princeton 24
The teams were trading free throws until Grandieri found Cohen cutting in the back-door for a three-point play. Since Justin Reilly and Eggleston have been patrolling on Finley, he has struggled. In fact, the entire Tigers’ offense has struggled; I don’t remember the last field goal they converted.
Princeton caught a break though when Grandieri picked up a technical foul arguing a personal foul call. The Tigers made three out of the four free throws to cut it back to single digits.
1st Half, 7:31: Penn 22, Princeton 19
The Quakers are starting to execute on offense and have gained their first lead of the night. Mike Kach made a nice defensive play as he stripped Gunn driving to the hoop. On the other end Egee scored on a Princeton-esque back-door play.
I said it has been sloppy: both teams are in the bonus already. By the way, the Penn band just played Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone," apparently dedicated to Bernardini.
1st Half, 11:34: Princeton 14, Penn 10
It’s been a pretty ugly game so far on both sides of the court, but especially for the Quakers’ offense. So far they have three field goals and many turnovers, too many for this English major to count. Finley continues to abuse Penn's interior defenders but Cohen hit another open three to keep it close.
Injury Note: Kyle Koncz received treatment on the sideline for blood under his left eye. He has a bandage and is back on the court.
1st Half, 15:23: Princeton 9, Penn 7
Well it didn't work so well as Gaines picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of play, which led to an early appearance from Aron Cohen off the bench. Schreiber, making his second consecutive start, has been getting abused early on the defensive end. Zach Finley has already scored three baskets on him inside. Cohen hit a three to give the Quakers and early lead, but the Tigers came back with a Lincoln Gunn layup off a fastbreak.
Interesting lineup decision as Glen Miller elects to start both Harrison Gaines and Kevin Egee. We'll see how the Quakers play with both point guards on the floor.
Starting Lineups:
Princeton:
F Kyle Koncz
F Noah Savage
C Zach Finley
G Lincoln Gunn
G Kevin Steuerer
Penn:
F Jack Eggleston
C Andreas Schreiber
G Kevin Egee
G Harrison Gaines
G Brian Grandieri
Looks like the weather is making it a late arriving crowd or this is the sorriest crowd in Penn-Princeton history. I'm sure the Quaker faithful are on their way.
Early injury update: Tyler Bernardini, whose status was unknown coming into tonight, is in street clothes. We'll see how the Quakers fare without their leading scorer for the third game in a row.
Rob Gross here at the Palestra set for the rivalry to be renewed; Penn-Princeton tips off in a matter of minutes.
I caught the first hour or so of practice today, and though Glen Miller refused to do an interview, here is what I saw and can report.
After missing last weekend's road trip because of a concussion suffered in practice last Monday, Tyler Bernardini showed up to practice in street clothes about half an hour late and handed some forms to the trainer. After a brief discussion with the trainer that I was not privy to, Bernardini went into the locker room and changed into his basketball clothes and started to practice with the team.
In the drills I saw him run, he did not appear to be limited in any way. When Penn practiced its offense, he went at 100%, making hard cuts and knocking down shots from the get go. Obviously, given the dangerous nature of concussions, this information does not necessarily mean that he will be cleared to play tomorrow. All I can report is that, from what I saw in my hour at practice, he looked like he might very well be able to play.
While Miller declined an interview with me at practice, he did do an interview with Comcast, in which he said that Bernardini is "day-to-day." Apparently, that is all of the information that the team has.
In other news, Brian Grandieri, who played through a groin injury last weekend, also practiced at full strength. Though he certainly isn't playing his best basketball right now, you really have to admire the grit and determination that he has shown this season. Grandieri has fought through injuries every time he's set foot on a basketball court this year, but he never complains about it and always plays hard. His leadership in games is just as evident as it is in practice, bad knees and bad groin and all.
Finally, a few days ago, I told you about Ibby Jaaber's outstanding play this season in Greece. Well now, he's heading to to the prestigious Euroleague. Jaaber will compete on Lotomatica Roma (that's in Rome, for those of you Italian scholars). Read more about it here.
Check out tomorrow's DP for more coverage on the Penn-Princeton game, and stay tuned for updates on The Buzz.
Most likely. You can't predict injuries, and you can't predict which players are going to fade down the stretch. But if Cornell sidesteps the big land mines, it waltzes into March. With any luck, in Tampa, not Denver.
Steve Donahue's Big Red machine has the best shot of any Ivy of garnering a halfway-respectable Tournament seed, too. They're 73rd in the Pomeroy RPI right now, far ahead of the next-best Ivy (Brown, at 119). That No. 73 rank compares favorably to where Penn was in 2003, 2002 and 2000, when Penn got two 11s and a 13.
That will change depending on how many losses Cornell picks up from here out. One bad game on the road -- or worse, at home -- against a mediocre Ivy team can depress those hopes for a 13-seed in a hurry, as Penn has found out before.
The alternative is to go undefeated. What's more likely: Cornell goes 14-0, or Penn goes better than 7-7? Leave a comment.
While Penn coach Glen Miller knows his team isn't the League's best in 2007-08, he certainly isn't backing down.
Well, his mouth isn't, anyway.
After the 74-58 loss at Columbia, Miller had this to say for his opponents reaping the benfits of a weaker Penn squad.
"I would just say to our opponents in the Ivy League: Enjoy it; it won't last long."
For anyone who followed Penn under Fran Dunphy, you're probably as shocked as I am to hear a Penn coach talking in this manner. Dunphy couldn't stop talking about how much respect he had for the other side, calling his adversaries a "very good basketball team" no matter what its record was. Pigs will fly before Dunphy says something like this.
Dunphy is politically-correct, Miller is entertaining, but Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli is the perfect combination of the two.
Martelli praised Penn for its rebounding after the 40-point loss and called Villanova still the premier program in Philadelphia after crushing them in the Holy War. But he could only think of criticism about No. 13 Xavier after the near-upset against the Musketeers.
"Is there anybody here from the Xavier administration?" Martelli said, after dramatically removing his glasses. "Do you know when graduation is? That goddamn [Stanley] Burrell, every goddamn game, makes a shot against us. He was averaging 7.5 points coming into the game, in seven or eight league games. He doesn't look like the same player, playing great defense. Dagger.
"I want to be here to make sure that son of a bitch gets out of here to be honest with you."
Martelli is the man. I've never seen a joke tirade like this before.
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