FINAL: Penn 83, Cornell 71
The Big Red could not stop Penn for much of the second half, but as their threes couldn't keep up in the final minutes, they go down 1.5 games in the Ivy race. It's all Penn (8-1) and Yale (8-2) at the top.
As Penn is up 14 with under a minute, I can safely say Steve Donahue is now 0-14 against his former team.
Penn 79, Cornell 69 0:59 2nd half
Zoller's back in the game with four fouls. He's still having a a fantastic game on scoresheet - his six assists and six steals are career highs. Grandieri's steal and layup, plus Jaaber free throws, and Penn has its first double-digit lead in a while, at 10.
Band busts out the Hey Song
Penn 74, Cornell 67 2:59 2nd half
The crowd goes nuts as Grandieri blocks Naeve from behind, and Jaaber scores. Another Cornell three keeps it at five, but a nice move by Danley makes it seven.
Dow now goes for a steal and pays by allowing a layup, but an easy two the other way cuts it to three. Kach is an unlikely candidate, but he hits a three to make the lead six.
Two good chants: 'na-na, nana-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye' and 'left-right-left-right...sit down!' celebrate Tyler fouling out.
Zoller takes a bad miss off of a front end of a 1-and-1 (Penn has been terrible on these this weekend) and scores to take an eight-point lead. Reeves' three cuts it to five real quick.
A block is four fouls on Zoller. But on the other end Dale fouls out, and he joins Tyler on the bench.
Penn 62, Cornell 56 7:11 2nd half
Jaaber splits the zone with a cut, and then spins off Naeve for a nice layup to take the lead.
Cornell turns it over yet again, and Zoller makes them pay on the next possession with a strong layup. Kach surprisingly has a sweet free-throw stroke, but only hits the one.
Jaaber makes Cornell look stupid, as he throws it off the back of Naeve to himself for a layin, and the lead is six.
The Big Red are now in a 3-2 zone (3 guards up top), as they are really mixing it up on that end. As Zoller goes for (and misses) a steal in the open court, Naeve gets a tip-in.
Penn 53, Cornell 53 11:20 2nd half
Egee just had a rollercoaster last 16 seconds. He ties it with one FT, then gets his own o-reb, then turns it over, and then gets a beautiful strip on a wide open layup to save two points.
Penn 52, Cornell 53 11:36 2nd half
Cornell's 2-3 zone can't box out Grandieri, who gets an o-reb and then finds Jaaber for a layup to take the lead.
Big Red take the lead on a jumper, and then build on it with an Ihekweazu layup.
Wittman finally misses a three though, Zoller scores, and Egee goes to the line.
Penn 46, Cornell 47 14:41 2nd half
Wittman goes on a nice spurt (a jumper and a three) to cut the lead to one, and a Naeve jumper takes the lead. The big man is en fuego.
Penn 46, Cornell 40 15:55 2nd half
Zoller picks up his second foul, but for once neither him nor Danley is in foul trouble.
Just as I say this Zoller picks up an unnecessary foul. He'll argue, but it's going to be his third, committed while lying on the ground. Meanwhile Dale miss- no drains a three. It goes in and out, and then back in.
Smith loves that corner three, but he's missed two from right around there already this half. However, he takes a nice pass from Danley for two. Cornell has kept the Penn lead at six, though.
Governor Rendell is once again in attendence, working the referee on the other side, so Glen Miller doesn't have to yell.
Halftime stats
At the break, Zoller leads Penn with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Jaaber has three turnovers already, but has scored nine.
For the Big Red, Naeve has torn up Penn for 12 points on four shots, and he has yet to miss. The 6-10 forward does have three turnovers as well though.
Cornell is out-shooting Penn 58% to 50%, but has attempted a measly 19, while Penn has attempted 32. Cornell has one offensive rebound. Wow.
Zoller's six steals are pretty impressive, as Cornell has 14 TOs in all.
Tug of war:
In the Sorority tug of war contest at halftime, Chi O takes care of business, and Alpha Phi pulls out a tough one over Phi Sigma Sigma in first-round action of the eight-competitor event.
Don't-even-try-delt throws the game against Alpha Chi Omega, the Vegas favorites. A Chi O then destroys SDT, and Alphi Phi is no match for Chi O.
In the championship bout, it's a stalemate to start. Chi O takes a lead after about 15 good seconds of dead-even fighting for position, and then gradually pulls one out. The championship lived up to its billing, as it was the closest matchup yet.
Penn 40, Cornell 30 Halftime
Zoller continues having a great half with a floater, and as a steal turns into two more the crowd gets insane.
With the final seconds ticking off the clock in the half, Zoller calmly pump-fakes and drains a three.
Penn 31, Cornell 28 1:54 1st half
Danley hits Jaaber on a backdoor cut... but he was fouled first. He hits one free throw, and Jaaber turns the trip into three points and a tied game with an offensive board and bucket.
Jaaber does it again with a big three to take the lead. Zoller's been creating a lot of turnovers lately, and draws two in two possessions, tipping a ball for a steal and drawing a charge.
Penn 25, Cornell 26 3:49 1st half
Jaaber throws a soft pass to Smith that Dale easily takes the other way, but a missed front end of a 1-and-1 keeps the deficit at 1 for Penn.
Sign from the Red and Blue: 'OFSA loves Cornell' in honor of the Sorority tug of way at tonight's halftime.
Penn 25, Cornell 26 4:47 1st half
Egee hits a three to end an 11-0 run by Cornell. Jaaber bites on a pump fake and Geoff Reeves makes him pay with a short jumper. The Big Red are back into a zone, and both teams are sometimes trapping and doubling downlow. Jaaber gets a pull-up jumper to go.
Egee nails another three, this time off a screen, and the Quakers get to within one.
Penn 17, Cornell 24 7:25 1st half
Jaaber's picked up two quick fouls, something to watch out for. The crowd tonight is huge, over 6,600 here. There were huge lines outside right up until gametime and now that it's filled up it's getting loud. Even some Cornell faithful have made the trip down to warm Philadelphia
Penn 17, Cornell 24 8:20 1st half
Ihekweazu ties the score up at 17 with a layup. A five-second call on an inbounds pass turns it over to the Big Red, and Wittman nails a three to take the lead. Votel misses a hook off of an offensive rebound grabbed by Kach. Both men leave the game, Kevin Egee now in for the first time along with the four starters besides Smith.
Jaaber called for a charge with the shot clock winding down, gets pissed and steals it back from Jason Battle.
Donahue is real animated, he's the most pumped of anyone on the bench to be leading Penn at the Palestra.
Naeve gets the Big Red bench even more fired up as he goes flying down the baseline for a dunk, as Penn calls a timout.
Penn 17, Cornell 15 11:43 1st half
Penn's back in a man defense, so is Cornell. Going for a loose ball, Zoller gets to it first and Naeve hits him hard, throwing the tri-captain to the court. Zoller has some fighting words for him.
Kach goes hard for a dunk, but gets partially blocked and the ball gets stuck between the rim and the backboard for a jump ball
Penn 17, Cornell 13 13:15 1st half
Penn finally getting it going, as Ibrahim Jaaber gets a sick put-back off a Mike Kach miss to go. After a turnover, Zoller comes back with a three from the top of the key, and a little kiss from five feet.
Penn 10, Cornell 13 14:24 1st half
The Quakers get a nice start as Louis Dale throws a pass into the second row, and in transition going the other way Mark Zoller gets an and-1, but misses the 1. After two free throws, Wittman misses a layup off a steal, but Naeve quickly follows with a dunk.
Cornell is really upping the tempo, pressing Penn on defense and pushing the ball, while still getting the ball inside to Naeve for easy baskets. Alex Tyler, a quick sub for coach Steve Donahue, goes over Zoller to take a four-point lead, but a nice feed from Zoller to Brian Grandieri inside makes it 8-6.
The Cornell zone press causes another turnover as Danley throws it away. Penn responds with a 2-3 zone, and Cornell picks it apart for a layup.
Donahue has already played eight players, making subs every few minutes.
Starters:
Cornell
G Graham Dow
G Louis Dale
F Ryan Wittman
F Ugo Ihekweazu
C Andrew Naeve
Penn
G Ibrahim Jaaber
G Darrun Smith
G Brian Grandieri
F Mark Zoller
F Stephen Danley
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 17 -- It's been quite a ride for the women's squash team this season, and that's why it's so unfortunate that all it has left to play for tomorrow at the Howe Cup at Yale is a third-place spot.
Today Harvard upset the second-seeded Quakers 6-3 in dual-match action. So while the Crimson will play Princeton for the National Championship, Penn will take on the Elis (who lost to Princeton) in the consolation match.
To be honest, the Quakers looked inconsistent. I didn't get a chance to watch every minute of every match (I only have one set of eyes), but I did see some spectacular shots followed by mental mistakes. It seemed like they were always playing catchup on the scoreboard, trading points from a deficit. For the third time in the last several dual-matches, No. 1 Kristen Lange and No. 3 Paula Pearson lost their matches for Penn.
But there is a lot of good to take away here.
Starting four freshmen (with Kristen Lange and Sydney Scott as the top two players) and having last year's No. 2 player (Alisha Turner) fall to the seventh spot, nobody quite knew what to expect from this team. Everyone knew how talented they were, but with such a lack of collegiate experience, the team's mental toughness and maturity was questioned. And while it may be easy to point at today's result as evidence of that, one can just as easily look at other things: the rise to a No. 1 ranking and regular-season wins over Yale, Harvard and Trinity. Either way you slice it, freshmen Lange, Scott, Britt Hebden, and Christina Matthias will surely be back and even better next year. Though seniors Paula Pearson, Radhika Ahluwalia, and Caitlin Russell will not win a National Championship in their careers, their guidance will certainly be key should this crop of freshmen produce one.
While it's always fun to watch Nate Robinson miss double-digit dunks in a row, the more important game tonight comes at the Palestra.
And while Penn (7-1) is only a half-game a game up on Yale and Cornell (each 7-2), I have the feeling if Penn wins this it will be almost impossible for the two upstart teams to catch the defending champs.
Cornell is a very good squad, with some power inside and youthful enrgized guards outside, and it just beat Princeton comfortably despite shooting 37% from the field. The two freshman leading scorers - Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale - could always fold under the pressure on the road, but they should definitely put up a fight tonight.
But if the Quakers can pull out an eighth Ivy win, I don't see any teams, even Yale, taking them out. The Red and Blue can sometimes take it easy in mid- or late-season Ivy games, but they will come out blazing against Yale, which embarassed them in New Haven earlier this year. With revenge on the minds of the home team, I can't see Yale coming out of the Palestra two weekends from now with a win. And neither should any other Ivy team the rest of the season after tonight.
Columbia was hyped as having the best frontcourt in the Ivy League with 6-9 Ben Nwachukwu and 6-8 John Baumann, but they have underachieved this year. And in tonight's 73-54 loss to Penn it was no different.
Nwachukwu played tough on the boards, grabbing eight in all, but scored only five points. Baumann was still much worse. The Westport, Conn. native averages 13.1 points per game, but he had zero tonight against the Quakers. In 23 minutes (in part due to foul trouble) the junior went 0-for-4 from the floor, and in addition had only one assist and all of two rebounds.
Columbia only shooting 38% isn't a winning recipe, but defense killed the Lions, particularly Brian Grandieri dismembering the zone defense. Grandieri went a ridiculous 8-for-8 from the field for 17 points. Running the baseline and following the ball, guards found Grandieri in the gray area (on the baseline just outside the lane) for wide open jumpers. It was open all day, and the junior guard knocked it down all day.
While many people might vote for Mark Zoller for Ivy Player of the Year, Ibrahim Jaaber sure made a good case for himself tonight. He's been quietly assassinating Ancient Eight foes from the point guard position, hitting 6-of-11 for 15 points tonight, and more importantly added seven assists and only one turnover. He also added three blocks and three steals.
The second trip through the league begins tonight for the Quakers and Penn will see its New York rivals at the Palestra.
First up is Columbia, who as previously mentioned, has the same uniform template as Princeton and UTEP. Penn is now 2-1 against this design, which in Columbia's case is much better than last year's.
Also, the Lions did not affix anything to the shorts that would be too busy, unlike Princeton. Overall, a good improvement.
As for the Big Red, their white uniforms have too much gray, as I have complained about in the first ever edition of this blog (sorry if the links don't all work, it's from a long time ago).
In other news, the Ivy League has signed a new TV deal. With a station that is not launching until this summer, and I'm sure will be wildly popular with everyone (a little sarcasm).
I don't know if this is the best the league could do, but I'm trying to investigate it, and hopefully will tell you more next week in the DP.
At 4-4 Ivy, Columbia will not be an easy win for Penn, but some of the matchups bode well for the Quakers. The Lions' strengths are in mostly areas in which the Quakers are strong, or at least have looked good in as of late.
Columbia shoots a whopping 39.3% from long range, and a month ago that would have brought chills down a Penn fans' neck, but the Quakers' defense has shut down opponents that can shoot the three. In the last three Ivy games (wins at home over Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton) the Red and Blue have allowed only 21.4% shooting -- only 9 makes out of 42 tries. In order to adjust, Penn played a lot of man defense while switching off of screens to get out to contest shooters, as well as simply playing tighter perimeter defense. Before the last three games, opponents were connecting on 39.8% of threes.
The Quakers prey on Ivy backcourts, and Columbia also turns it over a good amount (15.1 TO/g).
Also, coach Joe Jones plays 11 players over 10 minutes per game, as only John Baumann (27 min/g) plays more than 23 minutes per game. Penn coach Glen Miller has also recently had many players in his rotation, so while the three captains do play a lot, tiring out Penn should not be an issue.
What could be, however, is foul trouble in the frontcourt. One of the Quakers starters -- either Mark Zoller or Stephen Danley -- seems to get in foul trouble every game. Seven of the last nine contests have seen at least one of them pick up four or more fouls. This was less of a problem in their last two. Against Princeton they each had three, and against Harvard last Saturday Brennan Votel -- usually stronger on the defensive end -- stepped in to score 11 points in 16 minutes.
Now, if Penn can only box out and get some defensive rebounds, this thing will be over real quick.
Penn 48, Princeton 35: Final
Penn wraps up a win in which the Tigers never led and saw only one tie. Penn goes to 6-1 in the conference, a half-game above 6-2 Yale and 6-2 Cornell. Next up are the Columbia Lions at home Friday and the previously mentioned Big Red Saturday at the Palestra.
Princeton, meanwhile, continues its tailspin, falling to 1-6 in the league and dropping Joe Scott (17-18) under .500 in his Ivy League coaching career.
Penn 43, Princeton 33: 2nd 1:44
The Quakers are eating up huge chunks of shot clock and have the ball with 32 second left to burn on the shot clock. This one's pretty much over, and "The Hey Song" by the Penn Band backs me up on that.
Penn 41, Princeton 31: 2nd 3:46
Jaaber, as he's been doing every game lately, picks a pocket and rocks the Palestra with a fast-break dunk. This time, he went with the two-handed variety. The steals and near-steals are coming fast and furious agaist a tired Princeton backcourt.
Penn 39, Princeton 29: 2nd 5:25
Quakers closing in on sealing this one as a 10-0 run puts the lead in double-digits. It's all come on the inside, including a 5-foot bank shot by Grandieri. Joe Scott has no voice left. Quakers look like they can pound it in there at will. It's just a matter of execution at this point.
Penn 35, Princeton 29: 2nd 6:59
Didn't mean to scare the Penn fans reading. Zoller looks OK, not 100 percent, but OK enough to give Penn a six-point lead with a difficult layup. Penn still having issues boxing out, as Princeton is getting some uncontested offensive boards in the paint.
Princeton shot clock violations: 2
I think we'll censor the next rollout. If you really care, it has to do with Valentine's Day, Princeton's signature offensive play and a double meaning of the sexual variety.
Penn 33, Princeton 29: 2nd 9:06
Zoller appears to be shaking off a pretty good knock on the head and also came up limping after missing a three pointer and hitting the hardwood on the follow-through.
We'll keep you updated on this one.
Penn 33, Princeton 29: 2nd 10:20
A bad switch on Penn's switching defense gives Lincoln Gunn a pair of free throws when Steve Danley has to chase and foul him from behind. Gunn ties the game with a 1-for-2.
Danley redeems himself and gives Penn the lead back with a strong post move on the other end.
Penn 29, Princeton 28: 2nd 11:56
A minute after missing one of said layups, Tommy McMahon misses the front end of a 1-and-1. On the other end, Princeton grabs a huge offensive rebound to set up another chance to take the lead.
The Red and Blue Crew is back for more:
WANTED: Scott Ward, Rafael Robb, a worthy rival.
The timing probably could have been better. This unworthy rival could take the lead on this possession.
Penn 29, Princeton 28: 2nd 12:57
If it's not going to be a pretty game, the least these teams can do is make it a close game for the jacked-up price of $25 a seat. Luke Owings did his part, pulling Princeton to within three with a trey. Justin Conway follows with a layup, and all of a sudden, we have a game on our hands.
Penn's three missed layups in the last minute aren't helping.
Penn 29, Princeton 23: 2nd 15:46
Fouls telling an ominous story for the Tigers, who have picked up six of the seven fouls called first four-plus minutes. Zach Finley has three of them.
A fourth rollout comes down, where the author was obviously paid by the word:
Notable 250s. Classes graduated from Penn, sausage, egg and cheese from Bui's, Princeton's RPI.
Penn 29, Princeton 23: 2nd 16:34
Three fouls in the first 73 seconds for Princeton, which appears to be making up for an athletic disadvantage by clutching and grabbing.
Steve Danley opens the scoring for Penn with a post-up and lay-in. Perhaps a point of emphasis for Miller at halftime. But a couple of layups for the Tigers keeping them in the game. Man, can this team hang around.
Penn 27, Princeton 19: Halftime
Two free throws put a wrap on Princeton's ninth half under 20 points. The backdoor cut is looking better as we close in on intermission.
Overall, Penn can't be too disappointed with an eight-point lead, although it could have been more. Eight against Princeton is a much safer lead than eight against most teams. Mark Zoller leads all scorers in the half with 11 points. Other notable stat has Princeton shooting 33 percent from the floor in the half.
Penn 25, Princeton 17: 1st 1:42
Joe Scott furious as Mark Zoller gets a three-point play, while those who see the world through orange-and-black-colored glasses look for a travel call.
Marcus Schroeder hearing it from the crowd after the guard talks back to a Penn fan mouthing off. The student section gets the last laugh as Schroeder misses a pair of free-throws. And Schroeder, promptly hooked for an extremely rare breather (he leads the nation in minutes per game), gets an equally emphatically earful from his coach.
Penn 22, Princeton 14: 1st 3:33
Princeton gets an offensive rebound just about the only way they're going to be able to. Ten-plus feet from the basket.
Meanwhile, Penn's transition offense off the turnovers is clicking, and the lead has opened up a bit.
The Red and Blue Crew takes its obligatory Dartmouth shot, noting:
Dartmouth last beat Penn 11 years ago.
Dartmouth last beat Princeton 3 days ago.
Penn 17, Princeton 12: 1st 5:55
Egee brings back memories of the Yale game, missing a pair at the line, bringing the Quakers to 2-for-5 for the day. It may not be today, but someday, that will haunt Penn again. And Justin Conway has to stop shooting threes. It may be the best look of the possession, but at 4-for-28 for the year, it's never a good shot.
Penn 17, Princeton 12: 1st 7:14
If the big guys won't do it, I'll do it. Jaaber, one of the giants compared to the Tigers, goes post-up for an easy deuce. Princeton isn't getting any looks from inside of 15 feet with the exception of a well-executed cut for an easy layup. A Kyle Koncz three keeps it close, but the Quakers got a hand in his face the second time.
Third rollout a little punny. Best one yet.
St. Louis Cardinals: Won in five
Princeton Tigers: One and five
Second media timeout:
The rollouts' poetry theme quickly ditched in favor of the politically incorrect.
Autopsy reveals: Anna Nicole Smith died from watching the Princeton offense.
Penn 12, Princeton 7: 1st 11:39
Joe Scott, who presumably did not see that rollout is pretty calm on the Tigers bench. Scott, who's been far from calm in earning technical fouls in the last two visits to the Palestra hasn't said barely a word to the officiating crew.
The Quakers aren't doing much to get the ball inside after the initial few sequences. A bit surprising after the success they had in that department this weekend.
Meanwhile, at the 14:37 mark, Lincoln Gunn ensured that Princeton would exit the night still as one of the three teams in Division I to have hit a three-pointer in every game since the inception of the line in 1986.
Princeton shot clock violation count: 1
Telegraphed back-door passes stolen: 1
Penn 8, Princeton 4: 1st 15:56
Ibrahim Jaaber is having an easy time with Princeton defenders, and the Quakers are getting to the offensive glass. Only three Penn missed layups are keeping the Tigers in the game in the early going.
Whoever's making the rollouts is clearly a veteran of Poetry 101. Tonight's first:
Princeton's colors, orange and black.
I use Scott to wipe my crack.
Penn 7, Princeton 2: 1st 17:45
Good start for the Quakers, who naturally win the tip and get the ball to Darren Smith in the corner for an open there. Princeton, meanwhile has its trademark offense alive and well. making cuts and curls some 30 feet from the basket. Still Penn is unaffected and is overwhelming the undersized Tigers for scores on the first three possessions.
Penn 0, Princeton 0: 1st 20:00
Relatively small crowd by Penn-Princeton standards. Maybe it's whatever was falling on my head that wasn't exactly snow. Maybe it's Princeton's record. But the Tigers didn't even bring their cheerleaders.
Pregame:
Welcome to tonight's showdown between Penn and Princeton at the Palestra. This year's matchup is uncharacteristically between the league's top and bottom teams. The Quakers come in 5-1 Ivy, while Princeton is 1-5, its lone win coming in double overtime over Harvard.
Here are the starters:
Penn (14-8, 5-1)
G Ibrahim Jaaber
G Darren Smith
G Brian Grandieri
F Mark Zoller
C Stephen Danley
Princeton (10-10, 1-5)
G Marcus Schroeder
G Lincoln Gunn
F Justin Conway
F Noah Savage
C Zach Finley
And just one quick note before we get going. One of tonight's officials is none other than Joe DeMayo, making his first appearance at a Penn game this year. It was DeMayo, who made the famous hook call for Judson Wallace's fifth foul when Penn had its epic comeback two years ago. Interesting time for DeMayo to come out of his A-14 hibernation.
Here's one final angle that hasn't been covered on The Buzz today in anticipation of the Penn-Princeton game.
The Tigers do not have many advantages coming into the Palestra tonight, and their uniforms do not help. Princeton went from wearing this simple uniform to this slightly fancier outfit. It's the same template as Penn saw earlier this year in UTEP and Columbia. I don't mind the design in general, but I have two problems with Princeton's new uniforms.
First, the word "Princeton" was changed from arched lettering to straight lettering. That is too long to fit across a jersey. Second, the "P" on the shorts, seen here, looks to be the same as the "P" on the jersey. I don't understand why the Tigers could not have put their actual logo here rather than the cheap and less aesthetic option. But who knows.
One final thought - Yesterday during practice fellow DP reporter Matt Meltzer and I were asked to try to find out from Penn coach Glen Miller who his fifth starter was going to be tonight, so that the editors could put in a graph with the starters. Miller, who has changed his fifth starter a number of times, laughed, and said we should make a pie chart with the faces of all the candidates (Egee, McMahon, Kach, Smith). Two of them got in the actual paper today. So we'll see who gets the nod come tip-off.
I'd like to first clarify the nature of the Daily Pennsylvanian and Daily Princetonian columns that appear in today's papers, then move on to the actual game.
First, it was an honor to write the reciprocal column, and I had a lot of fun writing it in a tongue-in-cheek manner (probably more than you'll have reading it). It's not often a sportswriter, much less a college sportswriter, has a chance to make fun of someone so much.
As for the Prince's column, I appreciate the off-the-beaten-path argument they used, even if some of the assertions were questionable.
My friend and former Buzz blogger Jonathan Tannenwald had a slightly different take, which you can see here.
Either way, I hope they gave our readers a break from the usual -- and that I did a good enough job of trashing Princeton.
On to the game, where as of 4:07 p.m. Penn is a 12.5-point favorite, with an over-under of 110.
I think the safer bet is that not many students will show up tonight.
The first clue that ticket sales weren't going well was the giveaway from the Athletic Department: Buy a ticket for Penn vs. Princeton, get a free ticket for Penn vs. Someone-you-don't-care-about.
Then the reality of $25 tickets set in. (To which I would say: Why did the Athletic Department think people would pay that much more for 1-5 Princeton?)
Then it happened to snow today.
I'll reserve judgement until game time, but I'll say this: Good thing Princeton's students never show up anyway.
As promised, the Ivy League player rankings made their print-edition debut, so here's a crash course or a refresher, depending on how much you've been reading The Buzz.
The formula, from the book The Wages of Wins is very simple. Points + Rebounds + Steals + .5*blocks + .5*assists - field goal attempts - .5*free throw attempts - turnovers - .5*fouls.
It's based on the very close approximation that the average possession nets the offensive team one point. The value computed by Ken Pomeroy for this season is 1.015 points. So for instance, if a player makes a two-point field goal, his rank simultaneously rises by two for the points and drops by one for the field goal attempt, giving a net difference of +1, which is also the improvement on expectation that the player caused for the possession.
Take a breath before example 2.
If a player goes to the line for two shots and makes one, it's a net zero (plus 1 for the point minus one-half for each free-throw attempt) just like the possession was.
Defensively, a steal is worth one because you're ensuring the other team ends its possession with zero, rather than the expected value of one. And a turnover is just the reverse. A block, on the other hand, is worth just half a point because there's roughly a 50-50 chance that the ball returns to the offense.
On Cusworth: Why is the departed Harvard center still in the rankings? We're measuring contributions, and even with two weeks of zeroes, Cusworth's contributions still tower over much of the league. Expect the center, who graduated after Harvard's first semester, to be passed at a steady rate, but a top-10 finish in the
rankings isn't out of the question.
Stay tuned for an experiment, probably after the Penn-Princeton game, where we adjust the ranks not only by team-games-played, but by possessions per game for that team. It will be interesting to see whether that helps Princeton players overcome a natural bias against a team that doesn't have as many chances to make possession-altering plays.
If you'd like any more info on the rankings, please post your question or e-mail me at zlevine@sas.upenn.edu.
What happens when a slow, methodical offense faces a team that likes to get out in transition and push the ball for quick looks?
If played smartly, the slow-tempo team wins that battle, and if Princeton wants to, it will be able to control the pace of the game on Tuesday.
The Tigers are last in Division I in possessions per game (53.1), rebounds per game (25.2) and offensive rebounds per game (7.2), and if they want to force Penn (69.1 possessions/g, 88th of 336 in DI) to play their game, all they have to do is not go for offensive rebounds. In the classic Pete Carril Princeton offense an offensive rebound was a sin, and the style seems to still be reasonably like that today. If Princeton only sends Justin Conway to the offensive glass (30 percent of the Tigers' o-rebs in the Ivies) and gets everyone else back to set up the defense, Penn can push all it wants, the transition will not be there.
When the Tigers played VMI earlier this year they held the nation's fastest and craziest offense to 52 shot attempts -- way below the Keydets' average of 83 shots per game -- in a 73-68 win.
But the good news for Penn is that this would mean one of its issues as of late won't play a major role against the Tigers. Penn allowed 32 offensive rebounds combined against Harvard and Dartmouth at home this weekend. And what makes this decision to sprint back an even harder one, is that the guys Penn has trouble boxing out aren't the centers. They are the quick guards, who for Princeton could be playing defense by the time a missed shot comes down.
A possible advantage for the Red and Blue against the Tigers could be the crowd. Princeton has only twice come close to the 8,700-some capacity of the Palestra which should be on hand Tuesday -- at Seton Hall in front of 6,052 (a sparse crowd for the size of the building), and at South Carolina with 12,271 looking on. The SC game got close in the end, but both were losses.
Consider this: Penn's top-3 attendence games (vs. UTEP at a neutral site, at Syracuse and at North Carolina) drew more fans (55,529) than Princeton's entire total this season (51,043) in 20 contests.
I came across an uncharacteristically great story in The Dartmouth yesterday about a rash of players independently quitting the school's baseball program.
Ignoring the coach's guess that players quitting Ivy League sports programs is a new phenomenon, the scariest thing I took away from the article was that programs can often be set back by quittings even if the team is successful on the field, and even if the coach has been around forever. Turnover in the ranks isn't an issue confined to programs in a rut, or even programs with new staffs.
The Penn coaching ranks are currently filled with newbies: in baseball, gymnastics, men's and women's rowing and, of course, basketball.
An obvious thing to watch over the next few years is not just how well these teams perform, but how well the programs can retain athletes.
But no one should give the veterans a pass either. For example, Penn's coaches for soccer, football, and many Olympic sports -- many of those that are entrenched in the school -- need to be held to the same standard as anyone else.
With Ivy teams falling behind in certain sports, the last thing schools needs in any sport is an exodus like the one in Hanover.
Danny Cepero might have gotten a momentary scare when he heard about this. The New York Red Bulls signed a new goalkeeper, Nick Rimando, from Real Salt Lake (the clear winner of the "most ridiculous MLS team name" award). But he probably doesn't have to be worried: Jon Conway, another RBNY 'keeper, is likely on his way out pretty soon.
Meanwhile, the athletic department is hosting blog-ish updates from Cepero at training camp. Here's the most recent.
In an unrelated matter, I've called out the Penn band in the past for stifling the crowd's cheers with its music (specifically, at the Temple game). Last weekend, my Penn Band Cheer Stifle Count remained at 0 for both games. Keep it up, guys!
Jim Goffredo and the Harvard backcourt could really do without playing the Quakers.
Harvard's leading scorer (besides the now-expired Brian Cusworth) really is not an efficient player -- low shooting percentage, low assist-to-turnover ratio -- but he has especially struggled against Penn lately.
As gocrimson.com will tell you, Goffredo led the team with 14 points and 7 steals. But he also shot 5-for-19 from the floor (1-of-8 on threes), notched one assist and had six turnovers. He's a combined 11-for-37 against Penn in the last two years, for four assists and 10 turnovers. Penn has also shut down freshman point guard Drew Housman, who has shot the ball alright, has turned it over 4.25 times per game in the same span.
Speaking of turnovers, for the first time in seven games Ibrahim Jaaber had more turnovers (4) than assists (3). The last time the tri-captain and point guard dropped less dimes was on Jan. 13 against Columbia on the Ivy's opening weekend. For the year, he's got 5.6 assists and 3.0 turnovers per game (1.866 assist-to-turnover ratio for you humanities majors).
Coaches all across America were wearing sneakers to support the Coaches vs. Cancer effort, and that included Glen Miller and Penn's staff as well as Harvard's.
But the real shoes on display last night were on the court, as the Quakers finally got some team shoes. Come on Nike, get your act together. I'll need to get a closer look, but appears to be some standard, all-black Nike Shox, not bad. Although I think they should have just ordered a pair of Tommy McMahon's red and blue Nike's that only he wore in games prior. Those were ballin, but he's gotta replace the faded blue T-shirt.
Harvard coach Frank Sullivan subs in his bench for the last few seconds. Smith dribbles out the clock for Penn.
FINAL Penn 67, Harvard 53 at 3:30 2nd Half
Danley completes an and-1, Goffredo scores a long two on the other end. Goffredo tries to bring some life into Harvard's offense but is called on a charge as he flies down the floor.
In what looked like it would be his fourth dunk of the night, Ibby sails over Harvard with ball in hand. Goffredo fouls him on his way to the basket, though. It is Goffredo's fifth foul so he will take a seat for the rest of the night. Jaaber makes both shots.
Jeremy Lin coughs up a steal to Jaaber and it is Penn's ball in the final minute.
Miller pulls out most of the starters and Adam Franklin gets his second straight night of playing time.
Penn 62, Harvard 46 at 3:30 2nd Half
Egee nets another two, which Grandieri follows up with a smart lay-up to sandwich a Harvard miss. Harris responds with a put-back, but Penn has done an effective job causing the Crimson to get sloppy, and the 16 point lead doesn't look like something Harvard can recover from.
The Penn band seems to agree, and has taken advantage of the time-out to start the Hey song.
Penn 56, Harvard 44 at 5:09 2nd Half
An Egee two from Jaaber extends the Quakers' lead to double-digits for the first time tonight. A nifty Jaaber steal is followed by Goffredo's third foul of the night that sends Jaaber to shoot one-and-one, of which he makes both. Votel follows with a mid-range jumper to put Penn up by 12. Zoller checks back in for Votel who goes out with cheers from the crowd.
In other Ivy news, Princeton and Yale are both losing at halftime in their contests.
Penn 48, Harvard 42 at 8:00 2nd Half
Kach's shot off the glass is good with the shot clock at one. Ibby gets a steal on the next possession and Kach is fouled, and making both shots on the 1-and-1. Unger grabs the o-rebound and makes the shot after a Goffredo miss.
A Grandieri rejection leads to Jaaber's pass to Zoller for a lay-up. Mark makes the shot, and is fouled. He nets the and-1 to complete the three-point play.
Goffredo drains a three that is followed by a Zoller travel to give the ball back to Harvard. Harris is fouled and makes both free throws to bring the Crimson within 6.
Penn 41, Harvard 35 at 11:27 2nd Half
Danley is stripped, but Unger's wide open three won't go. Jaaber picks up his third foul and is replaced by Egee. Darren Smith is in with some tissue up his nose, perhaps because an elbow connected with it in the first half.
Harris lays in Harvard's first points in about four minutes, but Danley answers with a quick two. Zoller picks up his third foul, but is left in the game for now.
Penn 39, Harvard 33 at 15:47 2nd Half
Penn starts the second half on an inside Danley lay-up (his first points of the night) that is followed by a Pusar miss. Goffredo rebounds the ball after a Penn miss and Harris nets the two. Danley is fouled on the next play and makes both shots that Grandieri follows with a steal. Zoller is fouled by Harris (his third), and makes one of two for the Quakers' first miss from the stripe tonight. Zoller is fouled again, this time by Darcy (his third), and makes both shots.
Housman throws the ball to Jaaber for a steal but a foul is called on Ibby that makes the crowd voice its disapproval. Pusar nets two after the call. A sixth team foul is called on Harvard, and it is on Housman.
HALFTIME: Penn 32, Harvard 26
Zoller leads all scorers with 9 points and is also tops in rebounds with 7. Goffredo leads Harvard with 7 points. Penn is out-rebounding Harvard 23-17, but is losing the turnover battle with 11 already, compared to Harvard's 8.
Penn 32, Harvard 26 at 0:25 1st Half
Jaaber snags a steal and tries to elevate for what looks like a third dunk but isn't able to complete the play. Egee gets a steal on the next posession and Grandieri makes both shots after getting fouled going to the basket. Zoller's cross-court pass after a Harvard miss results in Jaaber's third dunk of the night, another two-handed special.
Goffredo is fouled but makes the two, and also the and-1 for the three point play as time winds down towards the half.
It's halftime now, and time for a special performance by former Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke and the Penn band.
Penn 25, Harvard 21 at 3:33 1st Half
Goffredo comes out of the time-out with a nice two, followed by a Danley miss rebounded by Pusar. Housman scores two on that posession. After a slew of turnovers on both sides, Grandieri scores another two for Penn.
Smith pokes the ball free from Harvard to set up a fast-break two-handed Jaaber dunk, his second of the night.
Zoller follows with an and-1 that gets the crowd on their feet.
Penn 17, Harvard 15 at 7:15 1st Half
Votel grabs a lay-up and passes it to McMahon, but McMahon can't hold onto the ball. Andrew Pusar follows with two for Harvard. Votel continues his scoring effort on the next posession, netting a lay-up.
McMahon drives to the basket but the shot won't fall. Jim Goffredo answers by airing it from three.
Penn 15, Harvard 9 at 10:25 1st Half
Zoller misses from three, and after a Kach foul, Penn snags the ball for a Harvard turnover that turns into back-to-back two-pointers and a subsequent three from Brennan Votel.
A pair of Harvard misses get the ball back to Penn, Mark Zoller sneaks the ball inside with some nifty maneuvers for the basket to put Penn ahead by one.
Grandieri misses the lay-in but Ibby follows with a put-back dunk. Not quite as explosive as his dunk last night, but still impressive.
Penn 4, Harvard 7 at 15:26 1st Half
Harvard wins the tip, and Penn has the first of its fouls already. This one's on Danley, both foul shots are made for the first points of the game. Zoller takes the ball the other way for a quick two to start things off for Penn.
Starting Line-ups:
Penn:
Mark Zoller
Ibrahim Jaaber
Steve Danley
Brian Grandieri
Darren Smith
Harvard:
Drew Housman
Jim Goffredo
Andrew Pusar
Brad Unger
Evan Harris
It's minutes before tip-off, but the student section is disappointingly sparse. Not sure what everybody's up to, but hopefully the fans will show up soon. The Crimson look fresh in warm-up despite a double overtime loss to Princeton last night. Penn demolished Dartmouth on Friday, but the home team still has some things to work on in the rebounding department that could get it in trouble tonight if they're not careful.
In response to Sebastien's post (below), I would say that Stephen Danley's game was much improved tonight -- in mostly one area, offense. Danley did an effective job slashing through the Dartmouth bigs, and that was fine. But when it's accompanied by a 1-for-7 shooting performance from the line, it makes you question Danley's potential for consistency.
And let's not forget that Penn got beat on the boards tonight, and some of that blame should, I think, go to Danley. He may not be responsible for boxing out everyone, but he needs to employ some 'ups' to be tough on the boards. The guards didn't consistantly hit someone once the shot went up, but Danley didn't help the cause. He just didn't have that explosiveness that he did in the past, or the killer instinct.
The plusses were that most of Danley's points came on the inside, right where championship-caliber teams should be able to pound the ball. Danley also had a big hand in the turnovers caused by Penn's full-court press tonight, and he was active on defense at times.
For those, like me, who were waiting for Danley to turn around his recent struggles: 15 points isn't a certified breakout, its a big step in the right direction. But after this long a wait, that's more than enough.
No matter what Danley was doing, the best moment of the evening came from the minute-and-a-half-plus that Adam Franklin logged.
The Red and Blue Crew chanted on the fifth-year senior's behalf for a good three minutes before Glen Miller opted to substitute him in along with seldom-used junior Joe Gill. He managed to get in the box score, with a steal, in his 10th and 11th minutes this year.
Lastly, a response to the predictions of a cheesteaking of Dartmouth by the Quakers tonight. I was doubtful that Penn could pound out 100 tonight, and the way both teams slowed the game down, Abner's was in no danger.
Whatever the cheesesteak odds were last night, they should be higher tonight against Harvard. The Crimson lost a tough double-overtime decision to Princeton tonight (for the Tigers' first conference win). But before Friday Harvard also had the second-worst turnover ratio in the league, where Dartmouth had the second-best. If the Quakers can exploit that advantage on the fast break enough, the Abner's ownership will start sweating early on. If not, Penn may be looking at its third cheesteak-less season out of the last five.
I showed up to tonight's game a half hour early, and Dartmouth was still shooting around. The Big Green student manager (he wasn't actually big or green, he was just an employee of the team) had carelessly left one of the team's scouting reports open, right in view of my courtside seat. I only got a look at the first page before he came over to get it, but something interesting caught my eye.
On the front page, there was a section entitled in huge bold letters: We must be ready to defend...
That was followed by a list of six things Dartmouth was focusing on.
#1 was "Transition break,"
#3 was "Dribble Penetration by #2 [Ibrahim Jaaber], #21 [Brian Grandieri], #24 [Mark Zoller],"
#4 listed Jaaber, Grandieri, Zoller and Kevin Egee as "shooters,"
and so on.
Stephen Danley, the best active big man in the Ivy League, wasn't featured on the list at all.
I suppose it came as a surprise to Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn, then, that Danley made mincemeat of the Big Green tonight. He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and could easily have had more if the outcome of the game hadn't been decided before the end of the first half.
The Penn man was the team's most consistent offensive weapon, and with a kinder rim tonight he would have been a lock for 20 and 10. He's been called out in the DP and elsewhere for his lackluster production in recent games, but if tonight was any indication of things to come, he can probably still pencil himself in for a first-team All-Ivy selection.
In the meantime, though, mark him down for a "Player of the Game" award.
FINAL Penn 73, Dartmouth 53
Crowd agrees, as Adam Franklin chants ensue...and now Gill and Franklin are joining Cohen in the game. Gill tries an alley-oop to Frankin, but it's too high.
Penn moves to 4-1 in the Ivy League with the blowout win. It would have been closer if it wasn't for Dartmouth's horendous turnovers.
Cornell and Yale emerge victorious, so it appears Penn will stay in close second in the conference race.
Penn 73, Dartmouth 49 2:14 2nd Half
Large crowd makes for a nice Hey Song, still going through the timeout.
Zoller comes out, but the only real bench player in is Schreiber. I'd like to see a little Joe Gill, Adam Franklin and Aron Cohen action.
Penn 71, Dartmouth 49 3:04 2nd Half
Dartmouth scores a few, but is still down big.
Jaaber's really knocking down the FTs. Good inbounds pass to Barnett, as Reilly didn't know what hit him, fouls the Dartmouth swingman for the and-1.
Dunn makes conversation with Zoller while he's inbounding, wish I heard what they each said.
Penn finally going for some backdoor cuts, surprisingly not too many of them. Danley meanwhile gets another and-1 layup. He's drawn at least five fouls. This game is getting out of hand - Penn's transition keeps catching Dunn's squad offguard.
Hey song coming, you know it's over.
Penn 61, Dartmouth 38 7:55 2nd Half
McMahon gets a steal, then turns it over, then Dartmouth gives it back. Zoller good feed to Grandieri.
Free throws not going down after they were in the 1st. Danley goes crashing through the Big Green bench, hits the media table real hard, but he's a warrior, seems to be okay.
Penn 59, Dartmouth 38 9:25 2nd Half
Jaaber a steal, gets fouled. Egee drains a short jumper.
Dartmouth gets 2 o-rebs but can't score. The pace is getting faster, more to Penn's liking. Smith misses on a post, but Danley's all over the o-reb for a miss and then a tip-in.
Penn 52, Dartmouth 38 11:54 2nd Half
Jaaber takes a transition pass - after good post D from Grandieri and a block from Danley - and emphatically throws it down with his left hand (non-bandaged one) just before defenders get to him. Pretty sick for his off-hand. The crowd obviously approves.
12 combined fouls 8 minutes in, slow beginning to the half.
Penn 50, Dartmouth 36 13:15 2nd Half
Smith playing good D, but Sanders still gets into the lane for a nice jumper.
On-the-ball D looking good for Penn, but Darmouth's passing is getting sharper, as Meyer hits an open three. Kach gets a nice and-1.
Penn 48, Dartmouth 31 15:46 2nd Half
A few bad passes and Penn turns it into 2 points. A pump fake from Sanders and Zoller gets his third foul. This would be huge if Penn wasn't up by 17.
Penn 46, Dartmouth 29 17:06 2nd Half
A couple stops on defense (aka a pass from Ball to Smith's feet), and then each team hits a few close shots.
Grandieri is finally getting into the game, as he hits a nice fade and draws what hhe thought was a charge, but still was a travelling call.
Halftime: Penn 40, Dartmouth 26
McMahon misses a box-out as Meyer gets an o-reb, and McMahon fouls him. You know the Red and Blue are in a groove when they successfully execute a play to end the half. Usually a Grandieri half-court shot is the best option, but this time Jaaber has a great find as Egee nails a wide-open three from the far corner to end the half.
Quakers are looking much better at the end of the first half, driving and kicking for threes or getting it inside for easy buckets.
STATS:
Penn is getting outrebounded by six, as the Big Green have nine offensive boards, to Penn's nine defensive. Zoller leads Penn with 12 points, Ball has 8 for the away team. Penn only has three turnovers. Zoller and Danley are a combined 8-for-10 from the floor for 21 points. Zoller has to watch his two fouls, which forced him out for some time in the first half. Dartmouth has not made a three, while Penn is 5-for-12, two each from Zoller and Smith.
Penn 37, Dartmouth 25 :46
Penn coach Glen Miller screams at McMahon to get into the right place for the inbounds play. Dartmouth's Terry Dunn has been griping all game.
Danley grabs a nice steal. Danley then beats, no manhandles Ball for an and-1 layup, but misses the 1. He scores again inside. Dartmouth looks nervous or something, two more bad turnovers.
As they have not done lately, the Quakers are feeding the post and reeping the rewards. Dartmouth has started to double-down, and that should mean some kickout threes.
Penn 30, Dartmouth 23 3:25
Penn's trapping in the corner forces a bad turnover.
Marlon Sanders takes another drive hard to the hoop as he tightens the lead to five. Votel answers with a great feed to McMahon under the basket for an easy layup.
Penn 28, Dartmouth 21 4:51
Mike Kach takes a terrible pass from Jason Meyer and gets fouled on a transition layup. Nothing is going down for Dartmouth, but another o-reb gets Alex Barnett free throws.
Danley beasts inside for a layup off a post feed. Brian Grandieri goes right back to Danley who draws a foul. And another.
McMahon and Egee getting some good time. Dartmouth has three fouls on this possession, and Jaaber hits two free throws. Unless you count McMahon as a forward, Penn going with a four-guard linup for the moment.
Free throws are goin down easy for Penn, as Jaaber hits two more on the 1-and-1. His finger sure isn't affecting his work from the line.
Penn 21, Dartmouth 16 7:52
Dartmouth starts trapping, but Smith makes them pay with his second three. The Big Green add a three though. Datmouth is killing Penn on the offensive boards, as Ball and Mosely both have putbacks from the guard position.
Penn 18, Dartmouth 12 10:00
Both teams are in a man defense to start. Dartmouth is getting some good penetration into the lane, but not making too many of the pull-up jumpers. Penn is getting the ball inside to Zoller, and as a result he has seven points already.
Zoller with another nasty block, but Dartmouth still scores. This time Cameron Lewis eats up a wild shot, sending it into the cheerleaders.
Lewis and Zoller are playing like monsters, as Lewis grabs a big offensive rebound and dishes it for an open three. The good news for Penn is Zoller has double-figures in scoring. The Bad news is he has two fouls.
Penn 12, Dartmouth 8 15:05
Stephen Danley hits a sick hook from behind the basket. As Zoller comes out for a breather Brennan Votel and Justin Reilly get a few minutes. As Zoller comes back in he gets a nasty block on DeVon Mosley.
Penn 8, Dartmouth 2
Jonathan Ball starts the scoring for Dartmouth but a Smith three, a Zoller post layup in transition and a Zoller three the other way opens up an early lead for Penn only five total possessions in.
Welcome to the Palestra for the Quakers' Ivy home opener.
This battle of the classes seems like a good idea - a lot of students who seem like non-ticket holders are in the upper decks, but these neon shirts are absurd. What a strategy to have more Dartmouth green in the student section that Penn red or blue. Just have everyone wear different shades of blue or red or something.
As for the game, Penn prepares to get back on the winning track after a disappointing loss at Yale last weekend. The Big Green are 2-4 in the Ivies, and the Red and Blue are 3-1. Dartmouth isn't the pushover it usually is, but Penn has got to be a big favorite tonight.
Darren Smith starting in place of Tommy McMahon for Penn, as the Quakers go for a more defensive lineup.
Pre-game injuries:
Pattman has a stomach virus and didn't make the trip to Philadelphia. The Big Green's scorer would really help in this one.
Ibrahim Jaaber's finger is wrapped pretty well. He's playing alright, but doesn't seem to be shooting as much as he normally would.
The Quakers return to the Palestra for their first Ivy home games this season as Dartmouth and Harvard come to visit.
The Crimson's uniforms are the same as last year, but the Big Green's are new, and are horrible. Here's Dartmouth's relatively plain (and sane) unis from last year.
And this is what they look like now.
I just don't understand what the point of the side stripes are. They just look stupid.
As for the Crimson, their white uniforms look like this. Aside from the fact that they look just like the uniforms of Oklahoma I still cannot stand the number font. Something about it just doesn't match the word "Harvard." I think it's too curvy.
Anyway, the Quakers will look better in both games; they just have to play that way.
It's yet to be seen whether the numbers 8-for-21 will still be resounding years later the way the numbers 33-9 are, and the results of the next 10 games will have a lot to do with that.
But if you're a Princeton fan, you're staring at an even scarier statistic having to do with your team's free-throw shooting.
34.
Princeton's leader in the category has taken exactly 34 foul shots.
Never mind that Princeton's played 18 games, and that the stat puts leader Edwin Buffmire 29th in the Ivy League. That's just the beginning.
There are 1,782 players in Division I with more free throw attempts than Buffmire. Put it this way: if each of the other 335 D-I teams had its entire starting five above 34 free throws, that would only be 1,675 players.
And here are your slightly abridged national individual standings:
1. Caleb Green, Oral Roberts, 281 FTA
2. Trey Johnson, Jackson State, 246 FTA
3. Princeton team 230 FTA
Pattman out: Basketball-u.com, citing an article in the Valley News which this blogger is too Internet-unsavvy to find, reports that Leon Pattman is likely to miss tonight's game at the Palestra with an illness.
This one could be ugly. Dartmouth minus Pattman -- clearly the Green's best player -- went 0-6 to start the season.
Quakes (-18) looks awfully good right now (for recreational purposes only of course.)
Top 10: Here are your player rankings for this week. And if you're good, I'll put them in the print edition starting next week. Number in parentheses is the player's ranking as of Jan. 22. Formula the same as always, adjusted to Penn's total of 20 team games played.
1. Zoller, Penn 204.5 (1)
T-2. Cusworth, Harvard 172.5 (2)
T-2. Jaaber, Penn 172.5 (3)
4. Grandieri, Penn 145.5 (4)
5. Baumann, Columbia 144.0 (7)
6. Naeve, Cornell 129.5 (5)
7. McAndrew, Brown 128.1 (6)
8. Hughes, Yale 117.4 (8)
9. Dale, Cornell 101.5 (11)
10. Wittman, Cornell 99.5 (10)
Dropping out of the top 10: Nwachukwu, Columbia.
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