Final: Cornell 87, Penn 74
Penn made it somewhat respectable with a nice run midway through the second half. But the explosive Big Red offense proved to me too much to handle for the Quakers. Cornell's players are enjoying the moment with their fellow students by throwing T-shirts into the stands. I bet Penn can't wait to leave this state.
2nd Half, 43.8: Cornell 83-74
Grandieri cut it to single digits again with a "lucky" three pointer that be banked in from the wing. But Cornell built its lead with a pair of Dale free throws and to add insult to injury, Schreiber doinked a wide-open dunk, drawing more than a few jeers from the crowd. Penn is in foul mode now.
2nd Half, 2:14: Cornell 81, Penn 69
Never mind that whole comeback idea. All of a sudden the Big Red are back out to a double-digit lead and NOW this one is over. The real dagger came with a step-back three-pointer from Adam Gore.
2nd Half, 3:57: Cornell 74-69
Penn is starting to make me look bad as it has stormed back into this game in the last few minutes. Jack Eggleston brought Penn within 3 with a big three-pointer off a fastbreak pass from Gaines. Wittman answered with a huuuge three for the Big Red to give them a small cushion going down the stretch. The Penn press has been causing real problems for Cornell's ball handlers.
2nd Half, 5:18: Cornell 71, Penn 64
Don't warm up the bus back to Philly just yet. Thanks to an athletic tip-in from Schreiber and a tough jumper from Gaines, Penn is within single digits for the first time in a while. Gaines then stole the inbound pass following a Cornell timeout and hit two free throws to make it a seven point game. Penn has brought on the press and caused two Cornell turnovers since the timeout.
2nd Half, 7:48: Cornell 69, Penn 57
The Quakers are showing signs of life after a Grandieri three knocked the lead down to ten. After the teams traded baskets, Louis Dale hit yet another mid-range jumper.
2nd Half, 10:01: Cornell 65, Penn 50
Any hopes that tonight would be different from last night are quickly fading away. Jason Hartford's three was a dagger even though we have ten minutes to go and without Tyler Bernardini here, Penn's offense is simply not explosive enough to come back from this.
2nd Half, 11:23: Cornell 59, Penn 48
Alert! Ryan Wittman finally missed a 3, but Penn hasn't capitalized. Harrison Gaines brought Penn within six with a n and-one drive and layup following some nice ball movement. The Big Red have rebuilt their lead thanks to some offensive rebounding and their ability to get to the line. By the way, the atmosphere here is pretty electric. The Cornell fans know that a change of guard in the Ivy League is at stake.
2nd Half, 15:47: Cornell 52, Penn 41
Wittman continued his three-point barrage to give Cornell a double digit lead. Brian Grandieri answered for Penn off a short jumper from an inbound play, but Louis Dale is proving tough to guard by the Penn D as he hit a smooth mid-range fadeaway.
2nd Half, 17:36: Cornell 47, Penn 39
Remy Cofield brought Penn within two after hitting a three from the corner to open the half. But Cornell quickly built their lead after Ryan Wittman got free off curls and hit back-to-back quick release 3's.
Halftime: Cornell 41, Penn 36
After an embarrassing loss to Columbia last night, Penn has surprisingly kept it close. Andreas Schreiber is playing with supreme confidence inside and Harrison Gaines is showing his talent with some sweet moves and jumpers. Penn is doing a much better job defending the 3 than it did last night in Manhattan.
Louis Dale has been the most productive force for Cornell and he also is also leading the team in rebounds despite his 5-11 frame and thanks to his "Vince Carter-like hops" according to a fan behind me. We'll see if Penn can stay in the game the rest of the way.
1st Half Stats:
Leading Scorers: Penn - Andreas Schreiber (14), Cornell - Louis Dale (12)
FG %: Penn - 15-30 (50%), Cornell - 12-25 (48%)
Rebounds: Penn - 17 (6 offensive), Cornell - 14 (3 offensive)
Assists: Penn - 8, Cornell - 9
Turnovers: Penn - 7, Cornell - 3
Rob Gross here finally in Ithaca for the Penn-Cornell contest. Due to some technical difficulties we were unable to bring you first half updates. Stay tuned for first half stats and updates throughout the second half.
After last night's disheartening performance at Columbia, we know that it likey means more minutes for Penn's three point guards. Normally, Penn's ballhandlers -- Kevin Egee, Aron Cohen and Harrison Gaines -- combine for just over 40 minutes, meaning that only one of them is on the court at most times. But last night, with no Tyler Bernardini, they got 31, 13 and 21 minutes, respectively.
Bernardini's injury is now confirmed to be a concussion sustained in practice on Monday. He won't see the court tomorrow in Ithaca, either, since he didn't make the trip.
Some other notes from the game:
- Think 2-for-11 (18.2%) was Penn's worst three-point showing of the season? Not even close. Losses to Loyola (4-23, 17.4%) and North Carolina (3-19, 15.8%) were worse, as was last week's 0-5 showing against Dartmouth.
- The game ball for Columbia goes to K.J. Matsui: 6-10 shooting, 5-8 on threes for 17 points in 31 minutes off the bench.
- Cameron Lewis and Andreas Schreiber combined for 8 fouls in 29 minutes.
Here are the other results from last night:
Cornell 72, Princeton 61
Yale 83, Harvard 70
Brown 77, Dartmouth 51
And here are the betting lines for tonight's games:
Princeton at Columbia (-6); Over/under: 115
Penn at Cornell (-13.5); Over/under: 144.5
Dartmouth at Yale (-9.5); Over/under: 134
Harvard at Brown, (-9); Over/under 141
What do you think is the best Ivy League bet to make tonight?
Final: Columbia 74, Penn 58
In-game updates can be found after the jump.
A couple more scoreboard malfunctions (what is with this place?), and this one is over. Penn may be able to blame a great deal of its troubles on the mysterious absence of Tyler Bernardini (more to be explained shortly, hopefully), but it is difficult to pin a deficit this big on just one factor like that. Mostly, the Quakers struggled on D, and it is doubtful that Bernardini would have helped so much on that front.
I apologize, but due to the lack of power outlets on press row here in Levien Gym, the battery on my computer is about to run out. Sorry to cut out like that..
????, 2nd half
The only thing that could have interrupted Penn's downward spiral in this one has just happened. The scoreboard system has malfunctioned, with the buzzer sounding continuously and the scoreboard showing 00s. An impromptu media timeout, I guess, while they get this sorted out. Under a minute left, though, and Penn down big.
3:47, 2nd half: Columbia 70, Penn 52
One of Columbia's male cheerleaders can do splits, and the crowd loves it.
Oh, right, there's a basketball game going on; but not much of one at this point, with Grandieri now on the bench and Kach getting called for travelling.
5:07, 2nd half: Columbia 69, Penn 50
This one has pretty much gotten out of hand, and the Columbia student section isn't far off the mark with their "warm up the bus" chant. Penn's press has been largely ineffective, leading to more easy buckets (like the most recent dunk for Baumann) than turnovers (0).
7:07, 2nd half: Columbia 62, Penn 46
Matsui has been hot all night from beyond the arc, and the last couple minutes have been no exception. He has staked the Lions to their biggest lead of the night with three-pointers on two out of three possessions. On the second, he faked Cohen out of his shoes, took a dribble as the Penn senior flew by, then drained the shot.
8:50, 2nd half: Columbia 57, Penn 43
Miller has called another timeout with Columbia building its lead and Penn doing nothing on offense to speak of, apart from turning the ball over. On one possession, Eggelston gave Lewis a bounce pass that was a little too hot to handle (much too hot to handle for Lewis), and on another possession, Cohen simply lobbed the ball out of bounds looking for Schreiber down low.
On defense, Reilly allowed Nwachuwku to wriggle along the baseline for an easy bucket, prompting his immediate substitution by Lewis.
11:49, 2nd half: Columbia 52, Penn 43
Oh, and one more thing -- Jack Eggelston came crashing into the press table (unnecessarily, if you ask me) a couple minutes ago trying to keep possession. The table went flying, and nearly cleaved my colleague, Rob Gross, in two. He looks a little shaken up, but I think he'll be alright.
12:38, 2nd half: Columbia 50, Penn 39
Columbia has strung together some possessions without a turnover, and that can account for the widening of their lead. Matsui, the second part of the deadly three-point shooting tandem for the Lions (at least tonight..), hit another three.
Grandieri looked more like himself from last season on a Penn possession, where he hit an awkward fall-away layup on which he was fouled.
Miller has turned up the pressure, and it looks like Penn will look be employing a little full-court press for the time being.
Both teams will be in the bonus for the remainder of the game (Columbia, 8 fouls; Penn, 7 fouls).
15:44, 2nd half: Columbia 43, Penn 36
A real frantic, end-to-end stretch there. For Penn, Brian Grandieri missed a chippy layup off of one of his patented backdoor cuts, then Schreiber committed a silly foul on Baumann on defense. Baumann missed both shots, though. On offense, Harrison Gaines drove for the layup, looked to have drawn contact, but missed the shot. When Matsui saved it, the entire Penn cheering section (which only now announced its presence, and relatively impressive size) screamed that he was out of bounds. Instead, Matsui drove on the next possession and was rejected emphatically by Egee.
Media timeout.
17:01, 2nd half: Columbia 43, Penn 36
It seems Cam Lewis saw Justin Reilly waiting to sub him out. After a nice pass from Eggelston set him up down low, he delivered by getting the hoop and drawing a foul on Baumann. But he missed his shot when he got to the line, preventing Reilly from coming into the game. Penn is hanging in there, though, despite another three from Scott, who has been flawless.
18: 40, 2nd half: Columbia 40, Penn 33
Penn is clawing back into this one. Cameron Lewis just drew the third foul on Nwachukwu down low and will go to the line for two (brace yourselves!).
On a gutty possession, Grandieri drove but missed his layup, then tipped the board out to Egee. Egee then missed a layup of his own, but Grandieri got the board once more and put it in himself.
Halftime: Columbia 38, Penn 29
It was a difficult half for the Quakers, in their first Ivy road game and without their top scorer in Bernardini. But while the offense is producing very little (2 assists total on 29 points), the defense has been even more concerning. The Lions are lighting it up from downtown, almost all of them on wide open looks. Over all, they shot 7-of-14 in the first half from three-point range.
If not for the turnover numbers, this game might be over already. Columbia is shooting 52 percent from the field, but turned it over 12 times in the first half to limit their output a bit. The Quakers haven't been much better in that department, with 11 turnovers of their own.
No one stands out in the stats department for the Quakers. Brian Grandieri has six points in a tie for the team lead, but he missed a couple open jump shots that could have padded those numbers more. Gaines had a strong half for Penn with six points of his own, but didn't have any dimes.
Niko Scott leads the Lions with 10 points on perfect shooting from the field, including 2-for-2 from downtown.
1:27, 1st half; Columbia 38, Penn 27
Penn's lack of a perimeter game without Bernardini in there is painfully obvious right now. One one possession, Penn had numbers and Brian Grandieri got the ball wide open on the flank. Instead of jacking it up, he kicked it out to Eggelston, also wide open, at the top of the key. Eggelston shied away as well, handing it off to Gaines to see if he wanted a go. By this time, the Columbia defense had recovered and there were no more open shots to be had.
3:32, 1st half: Columbia 36, Penn 23
Last media timeout before the half, and Columbia has widened its lead behind the home crowd.
Grandieri got another bucket inside, while Eggelston came up with a steal and took it hard on the fast break. Nwachuwku fouled him, and he hit both.
That progress was wiped out on defense, though, with another wide open three being drained by Scott.
5:32, 1st half: Columbia 31, Penn 19
Penn got two free throws from Cofield, but Baumann has begun to come on for the Lions. He has hit two consecutive buckets inside.
Harrison Gaines has come back into the game for Miller, who called a timeout to try and halt the slide. He was hot earlier, maybe he can make a difference now.
7:47, 1st half: Columbia 27, Penn 17
Penn can't blame the absence of Tyler Bernardini for poor perimeter defense, and that's what's killing them right now. Joe Bova has come off the bench and hit two three-pointers, the second one wide open from the top of the key. Matsui has also hit a couple more over his man, Aron Cohen. Cohen has gotten some measure of revenge, though, with a three of his own and a nice dish to Cofield in transition for two.
Cofield heads to the line for two after this media timeout.
10:34 1st half: Columbia 18, Penn 10
Miller calls a timeout as the Lions widen their lead. Matsui has hit his second three of the game for Columbia, and Nwachukwu got his first bucket inside. The crowd broke out in chants of "Justin Reilly" after the Penn forward missed as wide open a layup as you'll ever see off a nice feed from Gaines.
11:46, 1st half: Columbia 13, Penn 10
Harrison Gaines has apparently been working on his jump shot. He's drained two of them in a row just inside the arc, both with hands in his face and the second off of a nice crossover. Reilly hit another jumper, also just inside the arc. If not for a garbage 3-pointer by Matsui off an out-of-bounds save, this one would be tied.
13:57, 1st half: Columbia 10, Penn 4
A rough stretch for Cam Lewis, he gets subbed immediately by Reilly. On one end, he forces an entry pass to Schreiber, then on the other , he fouls Nwachukwu down low to give up the hoop and the harm. The big guy sinks the free throw to stretch the Lions' lead.
15:26, 1st half: Columbia 7, Penn 4
Niko Scott has all seven of Columbia's points with a three-pointer, two free throws and a transition layup. On the other end, Grandieri got some back for the Quakers after posting up his man and getting the easy deuce.
16:27, 1st half: Columbia 3, Penn 2
Niko Scott is going to the line for two after getting fouled by Kach on a drive. Penn's points came from a nice take by Egee in transition for a bank shot.
Starting lineups
Penn: Kevin Egee (g), Brian Grandieri (g), Michael Kach (g), Cameron Lewis (f), Jack Eggelston (f)
Columbia: Niko Scott (g), Mack Montgomery (g), Brett Loscalzo (g), John Baumann (f), Ben Nwachukwu (c)
Also, Bernardini does not even look to be on the bench, meaning he didn't even make the trip.
Greetings from inside cozy (very cozy) Levien Gym on the campus of Columbia University. We're about 10 minutes from the tip off between Penn (2-0) and Columbia (1-3). One quick observation: rumors today that Tyler Bernardini was injured and would not play seem to be true, as the team just came out for some warmups and he was absent. Should be interesting...
More updates to follow.
With a 2-0 start, the Penn basketball team has been playing better, but two wins on the road this weekend is a very slim possibility.
Columbia is a winnable game, but the Lions are solid this year. They are a mere 7-11, but due to playing only seven of those at home, and only facing five teams in the bottom 200 of the RPI, have a rank of their own at 213 (compared to Penn's 309)
Columbia also hasn't lost to a team worse than it. The Lions' worst defeat was the opener to Fordham (RPI=180) at home, and that's really not even a bad loss.
Stat-wise, Ben Nwachukwu has been a bit of a disappointment, grabbing 6.7 points and a mere 4.5 rebounds per game, but another senior - John Baumann - has picked up the slack. He's averaging 15.2 and 6.9 inside, as well as shooting 51 percent from the floor and 79 percent from the line.
As a team, Columbia shoots a fairly sad 40.6 percent, and an equally un-impressive 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. K.J. Matsui, however, has hit over half of his 71 threes this year. On defense, however, they do lock down on perimeter attempts - their opponents hit a paltry 31.5 percent from three. If you're a Penn fan, hope that this recent trend of not settling for threes continues....
As a result, Penn is an underdog for this game, and I can assume it will be a large margin against Cornell. Here are the Ivy League lines for Friday night:
Penn at Columbia (-7.5)
Princeton at Cornell (-12)
Harvard at Yale (-7.5)
Dartmouth at Brown (-11)
We don't know the nature or extent of his injury for sure, but Tyler Bernardini might not see the court this weekend.
We have reason to believe that he recently sustained a concussion, but according to Penn's sports info office, it was a different injury.
How do you think his absence affects Penn's game plan against Columbia and Cornell?
Figures, Saint Joseph's gives us a killer performance at the Palestra, its home away from home, then it lays an egg on the road. Phil Martelli wasn't happy. Temple fell back down the A-10 ladder at Richmond, but La Salle evened up its conference record at G.W.
As you may or may not know, Ibrahim Jaaber has been tearing it up in Greece. A few weeks ago, he dropped 40 in a win, and he leads his team, Egaleo, in points, minutes, blocks, steals and assists. In most of those categories, the player in second place isn’t even close to Ibby. His 22 points per game are 8 more points than the next best scorer averages. He is also leading the league in points and steals, and he’s second in assists. You can keep up with his team stats here and his league stats here.
The Greek All-Star Game, which was slated to take place last weekend, has been postponed. Since I can’t speak or read Greek, it’s hard to figure out exactly what the details are and what the rosters are. The online forums I’ve searched in English seem to suggest that Ibby is (or was) a lock for the All-Star team, though, which pits the Greek natives against “The World.” If you can make anything of this website, let us know more about the Jaaber situation in the comments section.
Thanks for joining me for Villanova-Saint Joseph's at the Palestra. Refresh this page for live updates of the game.
FINAL: Saint Joe's 77, Villanova 55
It's over, mercifully. Villanova's streak of 14 straight Big 5 wins is finished, too. The Hawks still have La Salle and Temple, but they're in the driver's seat for the Big 5 title this year.
Read more on this in tomorrow's DP.
Good evening from The Buzz.
2:20, Second half: Saint Joe's 75, Villanova 44
Villanova pulled out a full-court press to little effect, and Calathes just shredded it for an easy deuce. None of the Xs and Os
went Villanova's way tonight, and the box score will reflect that. Calathes and Govens are out; the scrubs are in.
5:59, Second half: Saint Joe's 70, Villanova 42
There's the dagger. Govens hit his fourth three-pointer and Williamson came up with a great block of a Reynolds three. Calathes tipped in a miss after the fast break, and Villanova calls another timeout. The Hawks student section can taste it.
7:30, Second half: Saint Joe's 65, Villanova 42
St. Joe's is doing a good job milking the clock and ushering the game toward its all-but-inevitable conclusion. A lot of the credit for this win has to go to the passing of the Hawks. They've done a great job of maintaining control of the ball and finding players inside. Calathes and Ferguson have been the big beneficiaries of the passing.
13:36, Second half: Saint Joe's 56, Villanova 31
Villanova has don't little to help its cause; the 'Cats are just fouling too much and St. Joe's barely seems to miss at the free-throw line. For the Hawks, Carr picked up his fourth foul, meaning we'll be seeing Williamson for much of the game's remainder. Ferguson just hit two open threes, which should make this deficit just about insurmountable. Cunningham also has four fouls for 'Nova.
I'm not sure why Villanova is slowing down the game and dragging out its possessions. They need some quick baskets.
First semi-clever rollout of the game from the St. Joe's student section: "2 Coreys Don't Make a Wright"
Halftime: Saint Joe's 45, Villanova 26
Villanova can't capitalize on some sloppy play by the Hawks, and the situation only gets worse when Govens hits yet another three as the first half was winding down. Lots to talk about in the Wildcats locker room.
2:36, First half: Saint Joe's 42, Villanova 22
Obviously too early to call things, but all signs point to a blowout. Calathes hit another deep three and then corralled a steal on the next possession and threw down a thunderous dunk. Game is the Hawks' to lose at this point.
4:07, First half: Saint Joe's 35, Villanova 20
Drummond scored in the post, but Rob Ferguson hit a big three-pointer to stretch the lead to 15. Villanova calls timeout, and the small minority wearing blue and white is nearly silent.
5:13, First half: Saint Joe's 30, Villanova 18
St. Joe's is going to win the game at the free throw line at this rate. They're pushing the ball effectively in transition and earning fouls as they attack the rim. Villanova, meanwhile, has gone cold, its inside play and offensive rebounding keeping it in the game for now.
7:00, First half: Saint Joe's 24, Villanova 18
Villanova closed the gap to one, but yet another three from Govens made it 22-18 Hawks. Garrett Williamson is in now for St. Joe's, which is playing like an NCAA Tournament team. Villanova is playing relatively well too, their big men more so than their guards, who aren't doing much more than jacking up threes. They've made a good deal of them so far, but they'll need to get better shots to catch the Hawks. St. Joe's looks pretty locked in.
10:40, First half: Saint Joe's 15, Villanova 10
Govens hit another three and Nivins hit two free throws, but Villanova has been chipping away with some good inside play of its own, along with a deep three from Reynolds.
My impressions on Reynolds so far are that he plays as advertised. Great talent, very quick, plays out of control at times. He has two turnovers and probably should have just had another travel called.
15:40, First half: Saint Joe's 10, Villanova 4
Darrin Govens scored in transition, and an Ahmad Nivins jam after Govens missed his free throw gave the Hawks an early lead. Corey Fished hit a jumper, but Tasheed Carr answered with one of his own, and after a patented quick-release three-pointer from Pat Calathes, it's 10-4 Hawks and Jay Wright calls timeout. The St. Joe's defense has been smothering so far.
Here are your starting lineups:
Villanova (13-7, 3-0 Big 5)
F Antonio Pena
F Dante Cunningham
G Scottie Reynolds
G Reggie Redding
G Corey Fisher
St. Joe's (14-5, 2-0)
F Rob Ferguson
F Pat Calathes
C Ahmad Nivins
G Darrin Govens
G Tasheed Carr
It took a step down this year, from ESPN2 to CSTV, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow the annual St. Joe's-Villanova game. For those willing to cough up $10, a pay-per-view option is available on the Hawks' website, and for the tight-fisted, Joe Lunardi will be calling the action on WNTP (990 AM). I'll also be courtside at the Palestra, blogging away, so be sure to check back here around 8.
For a preview, check out the Inquirer article here.
Final, Penn 68, Dartmouth 66
Kevin Egee first makes a game-saving block on a Giobacchini layup attempt with Penn up 2. Off the inbound, Fitzgerald recovers the ball from a scramble and puts up a layup that sits on the rim for what seems like an eternity but it falls out and Penn squeaks out a win.
2nd Half :06, 68-66 Penn
Kach fouled Mosley -- 40 feet from the basket -- and he hit two. But Egee goes back to the line for Penn and made one.
2nd Half :18, 67-64 Penn
The Penn defense held, so Dartmouth was forced to foul Egee. He went to the line for a one-and-one and made both. Glen Miller calls his next-to-last timeout, and Dartmouth has one more good chance to tie the game coming up.
2nd Half :42, 65-64 Penn
Penn takes back the lead! Eggleston tipped in a jumper and Terry Dunn burned his final timeout.
2nd Half 1:14, 64-63 Dartmouth
Wow. Dartmouth hit a layup, Bernardini turned it over, and Barnett drew a foul and hit both free throws, and Dartmouth has a lead for the first time since 18:44 in the first half. This hasn't been a sudden collapse, but Dartmouth has been chipping away for a long time now, and Penn has gone totally cold from the field. Crucial possession coming up.
2nd Half 2:21, 63-60 Penn
Dartmouth turned it over on the inbounds, and Reilly drew a foul in a scrum on the other end. He hit one, and then Giovacchini -- he seems to be in on every play -- airballed a three. Bernardini did the same on Penn's next possession, and the Quakers' lead is at three.
2nd Half 3:40, 62-60 Penn
Penn didn't score, but Egee made sure Dartmouth didn't either. He blocked a driving Giovacchini to preserve Penn's two-point lead for now. Dartmouth has 4 seconds left on the shot clock when we come back from this timeout.
2nd Half 4:40, 62-60 Penn
No, no, no! Eggleston picks up his third foul. Kurt Graeber makes one. Game is dangerously close to slipping away.
2nd Half 5:16, 62-59 Penn
Bernardini may have helped breath life into the Big Green. He practically body-slammed Giovacchini as he was taking a three, and wouldn't you know it, it ends up as a four-point play. Not a smart play at all.
2nd Half 5:34, 62-55 Penn
Ugly turnovers are preventing either team from doing much scoring now. Penn is doing the smart thing and taking its time on offense, working as much time off the clock as possible. It's Grandieri, Eggleston, Bernardini, Egee and Reilly on the floor for the Quakers.
2nd Half 8:24, 60-53 Penn
Giovacchini rolled off a screen and hit a three. Schreiber had a chance to undo some of the damage, but missed two free throws. Only two timeouts left for Dartmouth.
2nd Half 9:34, 60-50 Penn
Barnett got open on the baseline for a dunk and Michael Giovacchini hit two free throws, but Eggleston answered with a lay-in, Gaines found Schreiber with a long pass for a dunk in transition and Grandieri hit another patented mid-range shot. Dartmouth is closing the gap, but if they can't stop Penn from pulling down offensive rebounds, they won't have enough possessions to come back.
2nd Half 13:52, 54-41 Penn
Grandieri scored inside and Bernardini hit a fadeaway mid-range J to maintain Penn's lead despite a rare three-pointer from Dartmouth. Incidentally, Grandieri is playing much better than he did last night. Most of his scoring comes inside six feet, and after hitting a few long jumpers early he's really gone to work down low against Dartmouth. He may have a double-double before this game is over.
2nd Half 15:48, 50-38 Penn
The Quakers have stretched the lead with some great inside play. Cameron Lewis scored twice inside three feet and Jack Eggleston hit a layup too. Egee is running the point and doing a satisfactory job, even though he just gave up the ball on an ill-advised 30-foot pass. He does that way too often, by the way.
Dartmouth is shooting horribly; this is Penn's game to lose at this point.
The Red and Blue Crew comes out with its first rollout of the game: "We may have an off year, but you're still Dartmouth."
1st Half Statistics:
Leading Scorers: Penn - Eggleston (12), Dartmouth - Barnett (11)
FG%: Penn - 15-31 (48.4%), Dartmouth - 13-29 (44.8%)
Rebounds: Penn - 27 (12 offensive), Dartmouth - 11 (4 offensive)
Assists: Penn - 9, Dartmouth - 4
Turnovers: Penn - 6, Dartmouth - 5
The Philly Phanatic is in the house! Strange halftime entertainment of a pick up game featuring the Penn Quaker, the Villanova Wildcat, the Phanatic and the Philadelphia Soul's Soul Man. It must be hard to move around in a mascot suit because these guys can't buy a bucket. The Phanatic looks intoxicated and it seems like the Soul Man can't see through his big sunglasses.
Halftime, 41-29 Penn
Dartmouth, down by ten and with the shot clock off, failed to take the last shot of the half, leading to a final Penn possession. After the ball was knocked out of bounds with 0.2 on the clock, Eggleston converted an alley-oop jumper to give Penn all the momentum going into the break.
1st Half 1:09, 37-29 Penn
Grandieri is heating up for the Quakers, but Barnett is keeping Dartmouth in the game. Like last night, Penn is allowing too much dribble penetration by opposing guards. Penn is starting to look pretty comfortable on offense though, exemplified by some nice ball movement that led to an Eggleston jumper from the top of the key.
1st Half 2:56, 31-24 Penn
Mosley scores inside after two Penn defenders can’t grab the board, but he then commits a needless reach-in foul, giving Eggleston two free throws, and misses a wide-open three. After a tough Bernardini layup between two Big Green defenders, Barnett winds up for a monster throw down but is fouled by Schrieiber. After the free throws Dartmouth put on the press, but the Quakers broke it easily and Grandieri hit a 3. Terry Dunn is really using his bench, 11 players have entered for the Big Green.
1st Half 7:02, 22-16 Penn
Harrison Gaines has entered the game but Egee remains on the floor with him. The combo seems to be working well so far. Marciano picked up his second foul and was sent to the bench. Ronnie Dixon, despite a nice drive to the hoop and layup conversion is getting the “AIR-BALL” treatment from the Penn students for an earlier three point attempt. Penn is killing Dartmouth on the offensive glass. Lewis just took a missed Gaines’ jumper and put it in for 2. Barnett responded by breaking Egee’s ankles and converting a baseline jumper.
1st Half 11:46, 13-8 Penn
Andreas Schreiber has made an immediate impact off the bench, First he forced a turnover fronting Marciano inside then he hit a short fadeaway jumper and later converted on a layup. Eggleston is exuding confidence and fighting hard inside, but Penn is turning the ball over, which led to a fastbreak layup by Mosley
1st Half 15:52, 5-4 Penn
I guess most of the Greeks had their share of school spirit last night, not much of a crowd here. It’s been somewhat of a sloppy game so far with a lot of deflections and some missed opportunities, including a Cam Lewis missed layup. Marciano looks like he is going to be a tough load to handle for the undersized Quakers inside.
Starting Lineups:
Dartmouth:
F Alex Barnett
F Johnathan Ball
C John Marciano
G DeVon Mosley
G Marlon Sanders
Penn:
F Cam Lewis
F Jack Eggleston
G Brian Grandieri
G Tyler Bernardini
G Kevin Egee
For some reason Penn is wearing their blue away uniforms and Dartmouth is sporting the home white. Justin Reilly had to wear Dan Monckton’s jersey last night after bloodying his own. This may confirm the suspicion that the Quakers don’t have any backup jerseys.
Rob Gross here at the Palestra to bring live updates from tonight's Penn-Dartmouth contest. Stay tuned for the game's events throughout the night.
A couple out-of-towners asked about the ejections last night. Here's what I saw: Justin Reilly and Harvard's Evan Harris got tangled up after a rebound and fell over, almost comically. Reilly and Harris got up visibly heated, Andreas Schreiber took to the court, Brennan Votel went out to restrain Schreiber, and the scene quickly quieted down.
Reilly got a personal foul and Harris got a 'T'. Votel and Schreiber didn't get called for fouls, but they were ejected. According to the NCAA rulebook (download it here), neither player is ineligible for tonight's game. Rule 10, Section 11, Article 4(a) says that no technicals are assessed when a player leaves the bench without the intention to fight.
Reilly came back to the game wearing Dan Monckton's jersey -- who wasn't, I believe, on the bench at all last night.
Some other notes from the game are here.
The game balls from last night go to the E's, Egee and Eggleston. Egee had some nice drives and played in control, and Eggleston wreaked havoc on the Harvard frontcourt (admittedly, without Pat Magnarelli) for 33 minutes. It was Eggleston's second straight 30-plus minutes game.
In the other League games: Columbia confirmed Yale's status as a disappointment, Princeton finally did something good and Cornell continued to impress.
On to tonight's game against Dartmouth. As of 2 p.m., Penn is a four-point favorite with an over-under of 134.5. I'll leave you with the condensed preview of Friday's DP:
Offense: This might not be your older brother's Dartmouth. the Big Green have two legitimate scoring threats in Alex Barnett and Devon Mosley. Good enough for the edge this time. Advantage: Dartmouth
Rebounding: Barnett's a big man. But he's not all that big. Penn forwards Cam Lewis and Andreas Schreiber should outmuscle the Big Green's undersized frontcourt. Advantage: Penn
Defense: Glen Miller has always harped on poor effort on defense as the Quakers' major problem this season. until they prove they can make a change, they won't be getting much love here. Advantage: Dartmouth
Coaching: If Penn AD Steve Bilsky had wanted Terry Dunn, he probably could have had him. Miller's got the experience and fire that Penn needs right now. Advantage: Penn
Overall: Given last year's result, this one could be a squeaker. Dartmouth, surprisingly, isn't half bad this year. Advantage: Dartmouth
Final, 73-69 Penn
Housman air-balls an off-balance three and Penn gets the ball out of bounds. Fitzgerald fouls Grandieri as he accepts the inbound pass. The captain hits one of two, but it’s enough to seal the game for his team.
2ndHalf 14.3, 72-69 Penn
Bernardini commits another costly turnover in a drive to the basket. Harvard calls a timeout after a frantic series where they nearly committed a turnover. Still down by 3, it will be interesting to see whether they go for a 2 or a 3.
2nd Half 43.1, 72-69 Penn
Eggleston gets a put back off a Bernardini missed layup. He then commits a foul away from the ball to give Harris two free throws. He sinks them despite the boos. Penn will have the ball up three following this timeout.
2nd Half 1:24, 70-67 Penn
A Grandieri layup gives Penn a three-point lead and now the Palestra is rocking, certainly the first time since the North Carolina game that there was much enthusiasm in this building.
2nd Half 2:06, 68-67 Penn
Turley misses the front end of a one-and-one, which could prove big as we approach crunch time. Lin continues to get to the basket for Harvard as he draws a foul inside and hits both from the charity stripe. The lead is going back and forth as Grandieri hits two free throws of his own. Turley makes up for his miss from the foul line by drawing a charge on Unger, who has just fouled out.
2nd Half 3:00, 66-65 Penn
Penn comes out of the timeout with a nice entry pass by Eggleston to Grandieri for a layup. The captain then commits a poor foul on Housman as he shoots an off-balance jumper. Unger hits a wide-open three from the top of the key to regain the lead for the Crimson but Harris knocks the ball into his own basket trying to block Egee’s layup, giving back the lead to Penn.
2nd Half 5:24, 62-61 Penn
Harris scores inside after a bad Bernardini turnover. We have out first tie since…well, for a long time. Eggleston breaks the tie off a nice feed from Gaines and Penn extends its lead off a short jumper from Grandieri. Fitzgerald answers once again with an and-one layup. He missed the free throw and two offensive rebounds later Lin hits a three to give Harvard its first lead…in a long time. After two Bernardini free throws that give Penn the lead, Eggleston draws a huge charge against Lin.
2nd Half 7:58, 56-54 Penn
Lewis is finally contributing as he scores on consecutive Penn possessions. He then gets a nice block on Housman inside. Harvard has entered a 2-3 zone for the first time in the game (we think). McGeary continues to kill Penn as he hits another three. He makes a bad play a few possessions later by trying to save a ball that was clearly off of Penn. The crowd has its loudest eruption of the night as the Free-Throw, 3-pointer, Half Court shot competitor sinks all three.
2nd Half 11:26, 51-47 Penn
Bernardini scores on an acrobatic drive to the lane. He has been the best offensive player in this game by a long shot. Eggleston continues to ask for the ball inside and he rewards his teammate’s pass with a nice reverse layup. Kyle Fitzgerald answers for Harvard with a short jumper followed by a layup after a terrible Turley turnover. Every time Penn looks like it will build a substantial lead, Harvard has responded to keep it close.
2nd Half 15:19, 45-40 Penn
Unger scores on a fast break but Penn responds with a beautiful back door play from Grandieri to Egee for the reverse lay in. The crowd erupts as Harris picks up a loose ball foul by undercutting Lewis. Cam continues his struggles as he misses a layup and picks up a foul on the other end, he is sent back to the bench. A Penn turnover leads to a breakaway dunk for crowd favorite Harris. Bernardini hits a huge three to give Penn a five-point advantage but Harvard gets to the free throw line on the next possession. It is starting to look like this one will go down to the wire.
1st Half Stats:
Leading scorers: Penn – Bernardini, 13, Harvard – Unger, 9
FG %: Penn – 12-30 (40%), Harvard – 10-28 (35.7%)
Rebounds: Penn – 22 (6 offensive), Harvard – 18 (6 offensive)
Assists: Penn – 7, Harvard - 4
Turnovers: Penn – 8, Harvard - 8
The half time activities have been more entertaining than the game so far. The sororities are battling it out in tug of war. Alpha Chi Omega prevails in the final thanks to some help from the volleyball team. My tye-dye girls lost and I still can’t figure out which sorority it is, their shirt is hard to read.
At the Half, 35-31 Penn
Lewis finally returns to the game at the 1:34 mark. Penn is exploited inside immediately as McGeary gets in too easily for a layup. Jeremy Lin keeps it a six-point game with a nice block and Housman gets inside again for the Crimson to cut the Penn lead to 4.
1st Half 1:34, 35-27 Penn
Reilly returns to the game wearing a #30 jersey. Mike Kach hits a big three but Harvard answers with some nice ball movement and picks up some free throws for Unger. Penn gets a fast break off a long rebound the next possession and Bernardini finishes with a nice move to the hoop. It gives Penn its biggest lead of 9. Conor Turley puts on a beautiful spin move inside. Too bad he misses the wide-open layup, again.
1st Half 3:51, 29-22 Penn
Egee is playing a nice all-around game so far as he gotten a couple steals and more than his share of rebounds. Aron Cohen finally enters the game at the 4:08 mark. Eggleston gets a nice block inside but Harris recovers the ball and gets fouled. So far my favorite sorority outfit is whoever is wearing the tye-dye shirts. I’ll try to find out which one it is and report back.
1st Half 6:00, 25-19 Penn
The offenses have gotten increasingly ugly since the near fight. Both teams are turning the ball over with offensive fouls. To make it worse, Conor Turley just missed a wide open layup off an inbound pass. He is going to have to step up with Schreiber sidelined. Both Gaines and Lewis have been riding the bench since being ineffective early. Reilly returns to the bench and gets an ovation after the knock he took from Harris.
1st Half, 7:47, 21-19 Penn
Penn looks pretty active defensively but they are turning the ball over as well. The Harris-Reilly incident has created a buzz in the arena and the Penn students are booing every time Harris touches the ball. The energy in here has distracted me from checking out the sorority section, updates on that are coming though.
1st Half, 9:03, 21-17 Penn
Things get heated as Harris and Reilly collide and Harris throws him to the floor. Harris cocks back as if ready to punch Reilly but is held back by his teammates. The Penn bench nearly clears but things are kept under control. Harris is given an intentional foul and Reilly takes a personal. Brennan Votel and Andreas Schreiber are ejected for leaving the bench. Losing Schreiber could prove a huge blow to the Quakers. The Penn students promptly start a “Harris sucks” chant.
1st Half, 11:34 17-16 Penn
Harrison Gaines gets a big ovation as he enters for Egee. Harvard continues to feed the ball inside but it looks like Andreas Schreiber is more capable of defending them inside. Dan McGeary has hit two three’s since coming off the bench to keep the Crimson within one. By the way, it looks like the Greeks are starting to show up, Penn’s student section is alive and very much full.
1st Half, 15:27 12-8 Penn
The back door is working early for Penn as Bernardini and Egee have been able to get behind the Crimson D. Two early exclamation points for Penn as Bernardini gets open back door for a slam and Lewis takes a nice entry pass from Grandieri for another dunk. Even Harris and Brad Unger look to be too much for Penn’s interior defenders so far.
The starting lineups:
Harvard:
F Brad Unger
F Evan Harris
G Jeremy Lin
G T.J. Carey
G Andrew Pusar
Penn -
F Jack Eggleston
F Cam Lewis
G Tyler Bernardini
G Brian Grandieri
G Kevin Egee
Either the fraternities are late to show up or this is a sorry crowd for Greek Night and the Ivy opener. We'll see if it fills up.
The Quakers look more pumped up than any game so far this season as they get in a NFL worthy moshpit before warmups. We'll see if it translates to a high level of intensity once the ball is tipped.
Hey it’s Rob Gross here at the Palestra for Penn’s opening Ivy game of the season, against Harvard. Stay tuned for live updates throughout the night.
I'm too lazy to write my own preview of this game, so here's the story that ran in today's DP, and here's who has the edge on the court, straight from the pages:
Offense: It's not exactly going to be a battle for the ages -- both squads have vanilla offenses at this point. But Glen Miller's dynamic sets might shine in Ivy play. Advantage: Penn
Rebounding: Another wash. It'll come down to Pat Magnarelli, a guy Miller couldn't land at Brown vs. defensive-minded Cameron Lewis and big Andreas Schreiber. Two against one. Advantage: Penn
Defense: The Quakers have struggled mightily on defense this season. Was it becasue they were playing solid nonconference teams, or because they just can't D up? We'll see tonight, but at this point the nod goes to Harvard. Advantage: Harvard
Coaching: The newest Ivy League coaches: one an Ancient Eight veteran and the other a Big Ten expat. Advantage: Harvard
Overall: Penn may have three freshmen logging heavy minutes, but Harvard's roster is weak. Amaker just might find himself under .500 in the League after tonight. Advantage: Penn
See you at the game.
During a lull in Wednesday's match, with the women’s squash team down 4-0, I was walking around the viewing area and managed to make eye contact with coach Jack Wyant.
He looked at me and asked, “Did you count us out?”
I answered “no,” as any dutiful reporter would do, but in my mind, I was figuring out if there was any way to put a positive spin on what was looking to be a devastating loss for the program.
Looking back, I probably should have counted them out. I should have counted them out before the match, when they were going against the defending national champions and top-ranked team in a sport where upsets are nearly non-existent. I should have counted them out when they were losing 3-0 after the first cycle and 4-0 shortly thereafter, when members of the team were sulking away from the courts and being dominated on them.
Even after the comeback started, I should have counted them out with junior Tara Chawla, already down two games to one, losing 6-4 to Princeton’s Emery Maine in the fourth game. I could even have counted them out after Chawla lost the serve and first point of the tiebreaking game.
Quite frankly, though, it doesn’t matter what I thought, because the team never counted themselves out.
“If we’re going to win 5-4 or 6-3, those losses have to come at some point,” Chawla said. “They just happened to come in the beginning this match.”
On a team with only one freshman, true unity and chemistry can lead to absolute faith in each other to win under even the most adverse situations.
“This team spends so much time together,” senior co-captain Lauralynn Drury said. “We can’t help but be confident in the girls we train with.”
In the end, it is that confidence that allowed the Red and Blue to come back and truly earn that victory over Princeton. It is also that attitude which could make the intangible difference between last year’s 4th-place Howe Cup finish and the unlimited potential of this year’s squad.
--Neil Fanaroff
I thought this was one of Stephen Danley's more interesting blogs, really dipping into the way both Fran Dunphy and Glen Miller manage.
For those of you too lazy to read it, Danley's main point is that Dunphy was a coach that relied more on the intelligence and skills of individuals, rather than Miller, a man who trusts the system.
It's impossible to tell which one is right, but sometimes each style can be beneficial.
For a team like Penn, though (and really maybe any team), I'd slightly prefer Miller's style of offense, and Dunphy's defense.
In one of my last few games of competitive basketball, due to some injuries, my squad had a rotation of six players. The opposition knew this.
I remember when I went to Penn basketball camp as a kid, Dunphy always preached "take what the defense gives you" among other things. This works often, but in some cases is fatal. (Still, Miller's squad has been often baited into taking open threes early, which is certainly not part of the offense.)
In this game, our opponents gave us open threes if we wanted them and lanes to drive, all early in the shot clock. We took every good chance we could, and as a result play at a very high pace. We were within a few points at halftime, but were also exhausted, and lost by 40.
A more disciplined offense would have made us give up some attractive options in order to play our game.
Miller's "system" defense sounds like it is simpler, but harder to remember. What I mean by this, is the sets may be easy enough for a freshman to be plugged in (unlike in Dunphy's), but always having to remember things like which players to switch on when screened, and which ones to go over screens and which under on them is too much of a burden. Defense is about effort and intensity, and those are hard to achieve when there is too much on your mind.
While I was the only Ivy-Leaguer on my high school team, I was probably the least basketball-savvy, which is why rebounding was the strongest area of my game. When my coaches had us running matchup zones, we were playing cautiously. I once even kicked out of practice fro screwing up a play one too many times.
But when I can play a defense where we as players can talk and sort out moves on our own, I, and the rest of my team, would play the best.
Especially for a team struggling with communication and getting out on shooters, it doesn't matter who you're switching off of, sometimes you just have to simplify.
Everybody's favorite blogger looks at the coaching philosophy of Glen Miller versus Fran Dunphy.
Harrison Gaines stood out on the court from day one.
While the rest of the team wears Nike Air Huarache Elite II, The freshman point guard has worn a different show almost the entire season so far – his pair of personalized Zoom Kobe II’s
“I asked [coach Glen] Miller before the season, ‘if I bought the shoe and personalized it would I be able to wear it?” Gaines said. “He said ‘fine, as long as it’s the Penn colors.’”
He personalized the pair on NikeId.com, and has worn them since.
But why these shoes when you have a perfectly good pair waiting for you in the locker room?
“People like Jordans because it’s Jordan, I like Kobe’s because it’s Kobe,” the Victorville, Calif., native said. “That’s probably the main reason [I like them] because it’s what Kobe wears.”
With the personalization, NikeID lets you put a nickname on the shoe. Ever since his cousin gave him the nickname “Goo” when he was little, he’s gone by that, and that’s what his Nike’s say.
“He said that I moved the defense like goo,” Gaines said. “It’s real corny, but it stuck.”
As has been the recent tradition, Penn will wear black shoes (which I believe are these, or something similar) during the Ivy League slate, so Gaines will have to retire his shoes until next season.
Adam Gore is back to his old ways, so All aboard the Cornell bandwagon!
Columbia has a man of many talents on its roster. It also has an unremarkable team right now, according to the Spec. I would agree.
Princeton has problems, but Sydney Johnson isn't looking to Marcus Schroeder to solve them.
Quote of the week comes from Brown, where guard Chris Skrelja had this to say after a brief altercation with Yale's Porter Braswell.
"I have the utmost respect for Yale," Skrelja said, "and they just came into the game and didn't show us the same respect."
In the Big 5, Villanova, which is in need of a win, might not get it tonight. Saint Joseph's is already getting psyched for Monday, as am I.
Non-conference play is finally over, and it sure wasn't pretty. What arguably killed the Quakers the most, or at least the most glaring statistical weakness, was three-point shooting. Last season during non-conference play, Penn shot 35 percent from three-land, improving slightly to 38 percent during Ivy League action. This season, the Quakers have converted an icy 28 percent of their three-point shots. But what's even more telling about Penn's shooting as a team centers on one player's dramatically reduced production from behind the arc: Brian Grandieri.
Grandieri, who netted 16 of 30 three-point shot attempts last season during non-conference play, has hit only 9 of 33 from downtown so far this season. Why this sudden drop-off? Last year, with the help of Ibrahim Jaaber, the Quakers were able to penetrate defenses much more easily and kick the ball out for open looks.
This season, with the injury to Darren Smith and subsequent absence of a reliable point guard, the Quakers haven't yet found their slasher. Penn has showed positive signs recently with its inside play, and the team has rebounded every bit as well as it did last year. But its inability to penetrate has yielded remarkably lower assist totals this season, which also leads to colder three-point shooting.
Grandieri didn't forget how to shoot the three; he just hasn't gotten the good feeds that he was used to in years past. Now, as the Quakers head into conference play, someone needs to step up on the perimeter and break down defenses in order to get Penn's three-point threats open looks at the basket.
One option might be Harrison Gaines, whose deft ball-handling skills and quickness could prove to be a major asset against the slower and less athletic teams in the Ivy League. If the Quakers can continue their improvement in the paint and add some semblance of a perimeter game, they might just be able to squeak back into the Tournament.
The Penn men's basketball team starts off its Ivy season in just about the easiest possible way - at home to Dartmouth and Harvard. Along with Princeton, these are the only three teams I really think don't have a legitimate chance to win the league, but even they could knock some people off. Here's a very brief analysis of each team's schedule coming in. We'll have more to come soon.
Tommy Amaker's Harvard squad surprisingly beat the coach's former team, Michigan, but hasn't done much else
The Crimson are 5-2 at home, but 0-9 on the road. On the bright side, the 6-12 Crimson haven't lost to a team with an RPI over 300, but then again, they haven't played any.
Dartmouth is slightly more consistent than Harvard, but has still gone 5-1 at home and 2-7 on the road. The Big Green are on a tear now (well, three wins has to be considered a tear for Dartmouth), winning against Harvard, at New Hampshire and then against Maryland-Eastern Shore. None of those teams are good at all, but the home wins were by large margins (18 and 16) and they'll take any win on the road that they can take.
Thanks to Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn refusing to allow his players talk to the media with the exception of the 15 minutes after a game, my plans for an "opponent spotlight" article this week have been foiled.
So here are a few sample ideas you won't learn about in the DP this week:
Freshman point guard Ronnie Dixon, from Danville, Ill, is the youngest of 11 children. This is pretty interesting in itself, but why is it particularly odd? It's the exact same situation as comedian and host of the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert. Dixon's also in the Dartmouth gospel band.
Senior guard Michael Giovacchini has brothers that played basketball at Stanford and Harvard, his father played at Washington State and his uncle was also a Cardinal. They were all point guards.
Guard Robby Pride won two Colorado state high school titles in Lacrosse.
Blake Williams went to Blake High School in Minnesota. And he still collects Pokemon cards.
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