Today's La Salle-Saint Joseph's matchup at the Palestra was more than just an ugly tale of two halves. It was a preview of what Penn can expect in its next two contests at home.
Here's the 30-second summary:
As per what has become the usual this season, the Hawks left their game on the bus (their first points came from a Pat Calathes free-throw five minutes in) and didn't really show up until the second half. Dwayne Lee and Abdulai Jalloh were all over the place, and there were far too many offensive rebounds on both ends.
La Salle, meanwhile, came out hot much like last weekend against Temple. Jermaine Thomas was deadly from outside and for the first time I've seen this season, they utilized Steve Smith in transition.
At the half, St. Joe's had 16 points -- 10 from the foul line, 6 from the field.
A little locker room motivation (which I'm told came from former SJU guard -- and prolific scorer -- Pat Carroll) did the trick for St. Joe's. A 29-9 run gave the Hawks a 49-39 edge at the 8-minute mark. Ballgame, 66-54.
Here are the takeways:
- St. Joe's plays about 15-20 minutes a game. Penn will be fine if it can play its best defense during that stretch.
- I can't honestly say I've seen La Salle run an offense. They don't use Smith effectively, and too much is predicated on the three ball. As bad a defensive team as the Hawks are, John Gianinni's team couldn't keep scoring after the initial burst.
- La Salle is anything but consistent. Penn, for the most part, doesn't go cold (with the obvious exception of the second half against Fordham). The Explorers are two different teams in two different minutes.
- Both teams struggle handling the ball (there were 17 combined steals) so Ibrahim Jaaber and his teammates should be busy.
The optimist says: Penn is a much better defensive team, and should be able to contain both La Salle's Smith and SJU's Chet Stachitas. Shut them down, and a win is in hand.
The pessimist says: Remember all those missed foul shots from the Villanova game? Penn still can't put it together at the line (63.6 percent). Saturday, La Salle hit 13 of 16 (81.3); St. Joe's hit 33 of 39 (84.6).
Parting shot: I hated to see Gianinni pull a Jay Wright this afternoon, letting his players foul and calling two timeouts in the final minute with his team down 13. You've got to know when hold 'em, know when to fold 'em and -- most importantly -- know when to walk away.
---
Penn vs. La Salle - Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m. at the Palestra
Penn vs. St. Joseph's - Jan. 28, 7 p.m. at the Palestra
The 2006 Major League Soccer SuperDraft has come and gone, and The Buzz was live at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to bring you all the events that matter. Here's a look back at the afternoon:
12:00 p.m.: Greetings from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City, where the 2006 Major League Soccer SuperDraft is about to get under way. I'm still trying to find Penn men's head coach Rudy Fuller, and I'll let you know when I do, but it's not that easy because most of the people in the main exhibit hall where the draft is taking place are affiliated with the 12 teams in MLS.
I hope to be able to take a Philly angle on this event -- also not the easiest thing to do because this is the largest city in the country without a MLS team. But I did find Temple coach David MacWilliams, who definitely has a stake in today's events as his star player, forward Tony Donatelli, is in the draft pool.
"I think he's a kid that has passion for the game and he's been invovled with the game," MacWilliams said of Donatelli. "I think Tony would be a great asset to any team he would be drafted by."
MacWilliams added that he has talked to "a few teams," and that he does think Donatelli will be drafted.
12:10 p.m.: This being a draft, it shouldn't be a surprise that the trades are already coming fast and furious. Chivas USA, coached by former Princeton coach Bob Bradley, traded the first overall pick in the draft to Bradley's old team, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, for the fifth overall pick and the always-intriguing "player to be named later."
The Metros took UCLA and U.S. Under-20 national team defender Marvell Wynne, the son of the ex-Major League Baseball player of the same name. There are a lot of Metros fans in the crowd here, and they cheered Wynne's selection loudly. That surprised me -- I thought New Yorkers always booed their teams' first picks in drafts. Still, Wynne's definitely one of the top two or three players in the pool, and he'll be a player worth following for fans all over the country.
More to come over the course of the day -- there are four rounds total, with five minutes between each pick in the first round.
1:12 p.m.: The first round has ended with no Philadelphia or Ivy League players drafted. That's not too surprising, but hopefully things will change in the rounds to come.
1:42 p.m.: We finally have some Penn involvement at this year's draft, and it has nothing to do with Rudy Fuller. MLS Commissioner Don Garber just addressed the media, and one of the hot topics he discussed was the league potentially expanding to Philadelphia.
"This is a great city for soccer, and we're interested in the city, and we'll continue to discuss oportunities here as well as with others in some of the outlying areas," Garber said. "This is a market we've got to be in."
Lincoln Financial Field, which has hosted a number of soccer exhibitions as well as being the Philadelphia Eagles' home stadium, would seem to be the obvious choice for a MLS team to play in, because of its grass field and modern amenities. But Garber did not rule out Franklin Field as a possible venue for a team, either.
"There are lots of facilities -- Penn's a good facility and the Linc's a good facility," he said.
Garber added that Franklin Field's Sprinturf surface would not be an obstacle to having pro soccer on Penn's campus.
"FIFA has now accepted artificial surfaces, even for World Cup competitions," he said. But he also admitted that "we love a grass field."
Garber also praised Philadelphia's organizing of this year's draft and coaches' convention.
"This is by far the best production we've ever had, it's the largest crowd we've ever had," he said. "This gives you the feeling that you're at the NFL draft -- it's a big-time event."
2:37 p.m.: Rats. I missed the first Philly-area guy picked. Georgetown defender Jeff Curtin, a native of Oreland, Pa., was drafted by the Chicago Fire with the second pick of the second round (14th overall). Unfortunately, Jeff isn't here, or I'd go try to talk to him.
Interestingly, Chicago -- coached by former Cornell head coach Dave Sarachan -- also drafted Jeff's older brother, Jim (a Villanova grad), in 2001. We could very well see both players lining up in the Fire's backline next season.
3:19 p.m.: I finally found Rudy Fuller, chatting with fellow convention-goers in the the back of the ballroom where the draft is taking place. Unlike many of the other coaches I've seen today, Fuller was dressed in a jacket and tie. He said that he was "just looking official," because the Ivy League had its coaches meeting today.
One of the people Fuller spent time with was one of his former assistants, Rob Vartughian. As he did with the Quakers, Vartughian works with the Terrapins' goalkeepers. Considering that Maryland posted 13 shutouts in this past regular season and two in the College Cup -- including the national championship game against New Mexico -- Vartughian's doing a pretty good job, to say the least.
He said that he has lots of good memories from his time at Penn, and praised Fuller's work in making the Quakers into a nationally-recognized program.
"I think they're in the right direction," Vartughian said.
I also found Princeton coach Bob Barlow, who put in a good word for the only Tiger in the draft pool, midfielder Darren Spicer.
"He's got an incredible engine, he can get up and down the field for 90 minutes," Barlow said. And while he admitted that Spicer isn't "polished" as a player, "at the end of the day, he finds ways to create goals and score goals."
We're now midway through the fourth, and final, round, however, so the chances of Spicer being drafted are decreasing quickly.
3:46 p.m.: The draft has ended. Unfortunately, neither Donatelli nor any of the Ivy Leaguers were drafted. Thanks for reading along.
Okay, I admit it. Yes, I went to the Palestra for last night's high school basketball doubleheader to see Episcopal Academy's star duo of Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson, just like many of the nearly 5,500 in attendance did. But I really went to see how much of a spectacle it would be, because high school hoops are a big deal in Philadelphia and this seemed to have all the trappings of a special occasion.
I clearly wasn't alone in that respect either. Saint Joseph's men's baskeball coach Phil Martelli was there, with his wife, Judy. So was Penn coach Fran Dunphy, and Villanova's Jay Wright -- well-dressed, as always, with a charcoal suit, pink shirt and dark tie. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint was in the house, too, as was former La Salle coach Billy Hahn. Even Dick "Hoops" Weiss, the veteran college basketball writer for the New York Daily News, came down for the occasion.
Among the former players in the house was 2002 Penn graduate Andy Toole, working for the Hoop Group Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic, spent a lot of time shaking hands with old friends he met while wearing a Quakers jersey. After spending two years in And 1 shoes (he transferred to Penn from Elon), Toole was wearing Reeboks last night, which Dunphy lightheartedly pointed out to anyone within earshot.
The coaches all spent much of the evening hobnobbing with friends who came to visit their plum seats on press row. Martelli said that having the Episcopal vs. Neumann-Goretti game broadcast on ESPN2 -- the first time a game between two Philadelphia-area teams was aired on national television -- would only enhance the city's reputation as a basketball hotbed.
"It raises our profile -- it raises our high school profile, it raises our overall profile, for people to understand that we're not just Allen Iverson in basketball, we're not just the Big 5," he said. "If they wanted to come to Philadelphia and do a small-college game, they'd find great games and great players."
Dunphy took a more historical perspective, recalling nights spent in the Palestra as a child.
"We used to have many more games than just a selected few over the years," he said. "I can remember coming down when I was in school, watching Catholic League championships and Public League championships."
He also emphasized the importance of a night like this for the high school players, especially given the players who graced the famous floor in the past.
"Over the years, there have been some fantastic players that have played here," he said. "I think it's important for the young player today to have the same experience as so many others in years past have. You may not appreciate it today, but you certainly will a number of years later as you think about the opportunity."
Given the impressive talent on all four teams that played last night, it would be almost impossible to not wonder what it would be like if any of them came to Penn. Dunphy couldn't talk much about the subject because the rules on recruiting don't let him, but he admitted that "there's some fine players here -- that's all I can say."
The last word goes to ESPN2 analyst Fran Fraschilla, who, despite being a New Yorker, knows plenty about Philadelphia basketball.
"Any time you do a game in the Palestra, it's like going to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral -- it's a thrill because of the history of the building," he said. "Then to have a high school game with such good young players who represented their schools so well is icing on the cake"
There is a new rule in the Ivy League this year relating to the back-to-back games that teams play every weekend. Teams are now allowed to wear their home jerseys for one of the two games, to avoid having to either find a place to do laundry on the road or just wearing the same uniforms without washing them (ugh).
This, according to Ivy League associate director Chuck Yrigoyen was a decision made by the coaches, and is an option, not a rule.
This happened for the first time on Saturday night against Columbia, when the Quakers wore their blue uniforms at home.
According to Darlene Camacho, assistant director of Athletics Communications at Columbia, the Lions used to wash their uniforms after the Friday game. This year, though, they will continue to wear blue one night and white on the other.
Speaking of Columbia, I have finally figured out what brand of uniforms they wear -- Anaconda Sports. You can see a picture of the Lions' logo on their shorts here and a photo from Anaconda's Web site of Hofstra's shorts with the same logo.
So, we need to change the uniform standings for Penn based on this new information. Penn is now 5-3 in white, 1-1 in red and 3-1 in blue. The Quakers, with their two road uniforms, will not have to wear white on the road, but if they play more teams that do, we'll see if there is any consistency to what they wear at home.
Meanwhile, at Princeton on Saturday night, Cornell came out in their white uniforms. According to David Rosenfeld, assistant director of communication in the Princeton athletic department, the Tigers were quite aware of the rule until they saw the Big Red in white. Some Tigers players were in the preliminary warm-ups before the game in white uniforms, but they changed in the locker room in plenty of time for the game.
Rosenfeld was not sure at this point whether Princeton would be wearing white on the road this year, but we will find out soon enough.
As for the Big Red, they are on break until next week so I can't be sure that they will continue to use the white on the road, but it is a good assumption.
I think the rule itself is fair, although back-to-back games have been going on for an awful long time and this is the first time this has been done as far as I know. Maybe laundry bills got too high, or teams cannot afford to buy two sets of road uniforms.
By now, you may have heard that Tuesday was celebrated as Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday in Philadelphia and other cities across the country. To celebrate that historic day for Penn's founder, I spent some time yesterday afternoon looking for a good sports-related Franklin quote before heading to Hawk Hill for the Saint Joseph's-Charlotte game.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find one. So instead, I present to you a picture from what will hopefully be remembered as one of the greatest days in recent Penn football history. In 2002, ESPN's College GameDay football show came to Franklin Field (let's hope they don't rename it Ben Stadium if some bigshot non-profit asks them to) for the Penn-Harvard clash that would determine the Ivy League title. Analyst Lee Corso, known for his use of props to symbolize which team he thinks will win the game from which the show originates each week, dressed up in almost-full Ben Franklin regalia. This despite a driving rainstorm that thoroughly drenched many of the more than 18,000 fans in the stands that day.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Franklin.
Penn's three wins over the weekend pushed the program total to 1,601 all time (against exactly 900 losses and two ties). That's a .640 win percentage.
Seven programs have more wins. Here's a look at how they got to 1,600:
Kentucky (1,915 wins in 103 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Jan. 25, 1995 vs. Tennessee 69-50; UK's 92nd season
North Carolina (1,870 wins in 96 seasons)
Won 1,600th game March 23, 1995 vs. Georgetown 74-64; UNC's 85th season
Kansas (1,858 wins in 108 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Nov. 27, 1996 vs. Virginia 80-63; KU's 98th season
Duke (1,780 wins in 101 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Jan. 22, 2000 vs. Wake Forest 75-61; Duke's 95th season
St. John's (1,686 wins in 99 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Feb. 21, 2000 vs. Connecticut 79-64; SJU's 93rd season
Syracuse (1,672 wins in 105 seasons)
Won 1,600th game March 13, 2003 vs. Georgetown 74-69; SU's 102nd season
Temple (1,647 wins in 110 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Feb. 26, 2003 vs. Massachusetts 88-46; Temple's 107th season
PENN (1,601 wins in 106 seasons)
Won 1,600th game Jan. 14, 2006 vs. Columbia 87-55; Penn's 106th season
The Quakers' 1,602nd victory will be the 300th of coach Fran Dunphy's career.
I have to disagree with Zachary's post about Greg Kuchinski's heave at the buzzer.
Generally, I think it would be inappropriate to take a buzzer-beating shot in a blowout like that (or even if you were up by 5). However, the fact that it was a 40-footer makes this shot okay in my book.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a thing where you just chuck the ball at the hoop as the game winds down. It wasn't after Penn passed the ball around for 20 seconds wasting the clock. It wasn't a fast-break layup.
It was just a guy grabbing a rebound and throwing up a prayer. I don't think anyone on Lafayette would have cared if the ball went in, and in fact they might just have said that it was an appropriate end to the night.
Was Kuchinski's shot necessary? No. But I don't think it was so low class either.
The last three times Penn scored 100 points in a game before tonight, the magic number was reached by a shot from the proverbial last guy on the bench. So as you digest your cheesesteak, here's a look back at those previous occasions when the Red and Blue faithful stormed Abner's en masse.
Two years ago, Penn came home to the Palestra after being swept in a pair of nailbiters at Yale and Brown, and took out its anger on Harvard in a 104-69 rout on Feb. 6, 2004. It was a bigger margin of victory than Stanford's win over the Crimson a few months earlier, and that Cardinal team was a No. 1 seed in that season's NCAA tournament. Anyway, Penn senior guard Pat Lang -- who literally never missed a shot in his college career -- had the honor of putting Penn past the century mark with a three-pointer from the right side of the top of the arc. It earned him the nickname "The People's Champion" from the shivering fans who snaked around the corner of 38th and Chestnut -- a title that went unchallenged until this evening, when Steve Danley made a serious run at it by standing in line for his cheesesteak while his teammates cut to the front.
In 2002, it was senior guard Dan Solomito who went down in cheesesteak lore on Feb. 16. His three from about as far to the left of the arc as Lang was to the right put the Quakers exactly at the century mark in a 100-62 win over Dartmouth -- oddly enough, Harvard's travel partner in the Ivy League's scheduling system. Solomito's fame became so ensconsed in Penn history that even after he graduated, the "Sol-o-mit-o" chant came forth from the Red and Blue Crew whenever Fran Dunphy emptied the bench.
Before that, you have to go back to December 7, 1996, when Penn faced Lehigh. That was current Penn assistant coach Matt Langel's freshman year. With seven seconds left in the game and the score 98-56, Quakers reserve guard Nate Allison -- described to me by a friend who was at Penn back then as being close to Solomito's level in the pecking order -- intentionally fouled Lehigh's Steve Aylsworth to stop the clock. Aylsworth hit two free throws, and Penn got the ball back. Penn guard Mike Dzik, another reserve, missed a three-pointer, but Allison tipped in the rebound to make the final score 100-56. That was the first ever "cheesesteaking," as the promotion did not exist the previous time Penn hit the century mark.
After Allison's feat, Fran Dunphy wasn't happy. "I don't want to ever get in a situation where you're forcing things to get culinary satisfaction," he said.
Allison's story became more interesting after that, according to a DP story written two years later. When the game was over, Allison handed out tickets to local homeless people, allowing them to get some free food along with the students. In the weeks that followed, he only saw 10 more minutes of playing time, and left the team at the end of the season after being asked to move down to the J.V. team.
This year was totally different. First, Brian Grandieri is one of Dunphy's primary substitutes. I figured history would dictate that the glory go to someone such as Joe Gill, Greg Kuchinski, or Kevin Egee -- especially after Egee was called upon to fix the basket at Penn's end of the floor while everyone else waited at the other end. Second, the basket that gave Penn its 100th point came from a free throw. That heightened the sense of drama and anticipation in the Palestra's stands, but it was still a far cry from the heroic efforts of Lang, Solomito, and even Allison.
To be honest, I didn't think Penn would hit triple digits tonight, even as the Quakers ran up the score. This is mainly because I didn't think Dunphy would want his team to inflict such a big defeat on one of his former assistant coaches, Fran O'Hanlon. Dunphy is just not the type to do that sort of thing. Which is fine by me, honestly, even if it deprives the fans of a free cheesesteak at times.
Having said that, Penn's offense simply could not be stopped tonight, allowing the Red and Blue to cap off in high style a weekend where their offensive firepower was on full display. And Brian Grandieri added his name to one of the most illustrious honor rolls in the history of Penn basketball -- the one with Cheez Wiz and onions.
I'm calling this season as the first time in a while that the Quakers cheesesteak more than one opponent. When is the last time that happened? If you guessed the Jerome Allen Quakers of 1994-95, you'd be correct. Oddly enough, Penn beat Fairleigh Dickenson and Cornell by the same score that year -- 101-71.
On this campaign, I see Penn hitting the century mark against Brown or Harvard or both. They both run fast-paced offenses and if the Quakers hit 62 percent from the field like they did tonight, expect to be headed back to Abner's.
High class: Steve Danley passed up the chance to cut the cheesesteak line with the rest of the team, saying that he didn't shoot the ball well enough to deserve the free pass.
Low class: Tough call, and I hate singling out the last player on the bench for one play. But ahead by 32, Greg Kuchinski launched a 40-footer at the buzzer. And as somebody who has plenty of experience being the last man off the bench, I know that when you get the ball with five seconds left on the right end of a blowout, you hold that basketball. No matter how much or how little playing time you get, there's no reason to take that shot.
When the Leopards and former Penn assistant Fran O'Hanlon come to the Palestra tonight, they will be wearing this.
The uniforms are made by New Balance, and are relatively straightforward.
I like the horizontal stripes down the sides, and the use of the silver/gray accenting. The waist stripe could be a little bit better -- to me it looks like it's almost there by accident.
With wins by Seattle, Carolina and Pittsburgh this weekend in the NFL playoffs, at least one Ivy League graduate will be playing in the Super Bowl this year.
The Seahawks have Harvard's Isaiah Kacyvenski on their roster. Dartmouth grad Casey Cramer plays for the Panthers, and Brown's Sean Morey is on the Steelers.
Fourteen Ivy League graduates have played in the Super Bowl, and guess how many have gone to Penn? None. In fact, if Morey's Steelers make it to the Super Bowl -- which I think they will -- then Penn will be the only Ivy school without an alum to have played in the Super Bowl.
That's pretty surprising considering the school's long history of success in football.
Princeton grad Jason Garrett was the last Ivy Leaguer to be on a Super Bowl team, when his Giants went in 2001. As a fan of both the Giants and Quakers, here's hoping that starting fullback Jim Finn leads the G-Men to a Super Bowl next year.
Perhaps it's not surprising that Cornell beat Princeton in men's basketball at Jadwin Gym last night, 57-49, given the Tigers' ineptitude this season. It is certainly a surprise, however, that the Tigers men's ice hockey team beat the Big Red, 3-0, at Princeton's Baker Rink.
Coming into last night, Cornell's men's hockey team was ranked No. 7 in the nation and was in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. Furthermore, the Big Red had beaten the Tigers in their last 11 meetings, dating back to the 2000-01 season. There was some history at play on the hardwood as well -- although Cornell's basketball team won at Jadwin last year, that was only their 23rd win there compared to 78 losses.
It's also noteworth that the attendance at the hockey game (2,335) was just barely smaller than the attendance at the basketball game (2,550). Perhaps that, even more than the scores, is a sign of the times in Old Nassau.
I noticed that a previous Penn opponent, the Citadel, had strikingly similar uniforms to Columbia's.
However, that was the Citadel's old uniform. The Bulldogs' new getups which Penn saw on Jan. 4, were instead just like the uniforms worn by the NBA's Utah Jazz.
And now that Penn swept the opening weekend in Ivy play, the Quakers are 5-3 in the white unis.
Check back tomorrow for a preview of Lafayette's jerseys.
As I was heading out onto the Palestra concourse at halftime of tonight's Penn-Columbia game, I heard public address announcer Rich Kahn announce the participants in the free throw shooting contest. One of them sounded like "Jack Schoo-ar," which caught my attention. I turned around, and there indeed was veteran Associated Press writer Jack Scheuer getting ready to face off against a Penn student whose name I didn't pick up.
Lo and behold, Scheuer won easily. I'm not sure exactly how many free throws he made, but it was definitely a majority of them. His form was pretty good, too, with decent arc and more than enough power. Of course, if anyone would know how to shoot the ball well, it's Scheuer -- he's been covering college basketball in Philadelphia since 1968, and was inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2002.
So congratulations, Jack. And if you're reading this, yeah, that was me cheering you on from the corner of the stands. I hope you'll excuse my lack of objectivity on this one.
While Penn still has to take on Columbia tonight and Lafayette on Monday, there is no reason not to look ahead to the following game against La Salle.
This afternoon, I attended my second Explorers game of the year, a 68-52 loss to Temple at Liacouras and found three reasons that the Quakers should be encouraged.
1. The Explorers die by the three. La Salle opened the game shooting 7-for-10 from behind the arc as they built a double-digit lead. Darnell Harris notched five threes in the first seven minutes. But then the Explorers went cold, shooting 2-for-15 the rest of the way.
2. La Salle can't seem to put two good halves of basketball together. Today, the team in blue led 35-30 after 20 minutes, but fell apart on both ends of the floor, dropping the second half 38-17. Just before break against Florida International, La Salle trailed by 16 at the half before their big comeback and overtime win. And even in a 23-point win against Atlantic 10 weakling Duquesne, the Explorers lost the first half by eight.
3. The Explorers don't use their main weapon. Both times I have seen the team play, today and against FIU, NBA-bound Steven Smith has been underused. I'd take Steven Smith against Steve Danley in the post any day, but it's going to take a pretty significant change of gameplan for the Explorers to take advantage of that matchup on the 25th.
Some notes from today's game.
There's nothing stranger than watching a matchup of Big 5 teams at the Liacouras Center. It's too big, can't get loud, and there's something about music over the speakers that just doesn't belong at a college basketball game.
My favorite player in the Big 5 (next to Kyle Lowry) was conspicuously absent today. And by conspicuously absent, I mean that there was nobody taking up two seats on the Temple bench, as 6-foot-10 300-pounder Anthony Ivory is suffering from shin splints and did not even join the team today. The freshman, who is probably closer to 400 pounds than his listed weight, could be in for a short career if he can't get his weight under control.
Well, I just got this interesting press release via e-mail from Sportsbook.com. It has revised odds for winning the NCAA Tournament as of midway through the season. It only ranks what it considers to be the top 65 teams in the country.
And who slides in at number 64? None other than the U of P, currently a 500-1 shot to win a national title.
Other notables include three other Big 5 schools. There's Villanova, who at 10-1 odds, is the fourth most likely winner in the country -- behind Duke (2-1), UConn (9-2) and Memphis (8-1). Temple pays 300-1, while St. Joe's slides in as the 65th best team in the country at 500-1.
No other Penn opponents this season make the list. That, not surprisingly, includes all other Ivy League schools.
So, anyone want to put five bucks down on Penn?
Joe Scott's Tigers snapped their own eight game losing skid by wining their ninth straight over Columbia Friday night. Princeton won 68-64 in overtime thanks to a slew of foul shots in the waning minutes.
The Lions had a golden opportunity with 12 seconds remaining. Down two, Dalen Cuff tried to inbound the ball under his own basket. When he couldn't find an open man, the senior guard called a timeout. One problem, though, Columbia was out of timeouts. Scott Greenman hit both shots of the ensuing technical foul to give Princeton its final margin. Oddly enough, moments later the same thing nearly happened in the Sixers-Celtics game at the Wachovia Center involving who else but Chris Webber.
Columbia held Princeton without a field goal for the final 10 minutes of regulation. The only reason the Tigers were in it was a 26-of-34 performance from the foul line. Princeton hit more foul shots than field goals (17-of-38 from the field including 8-of-23 from three).
The Tigers are now 3-10 on the year, but they are 1-0 in the column that counts. The upside for Penn: Columbia should be awfully tired by the time they hit the Palestra Saturday night.
Best part of the game for me was ESPNU's Hubert Brown saying "This really is the best the Ivy League has to offer -- Columbia and Princeton." He sounded serious, and that's just scary.
Here are a few interesting facts going back to the first season of the Ivy League in 1955.
Friday night's 84-44 win over Cornell was more than just satisfying for Penn fans. It was also historic. The 40-point margin was the largest for Penn ever in an Ivy League opener. And in a league where blowouts are not uncommon, it was the seventh Ivy win for the Quakers by more than 40. Here are the others:
Feb. 10, 1995 -- 101-71 vs. Cornell
March 4, 1977 -- 105-59 vs. Yale
Feb. 6, 1976 -- 94-54 vs. Cornell
Feb. 7, 1975 -- 113-69 vs. Columbia
March 5, 1971 -- 108-64 at Cornell
Jan. 15, 1966 -- 87-43 vs. Dartmouth
- For the record, Penn has never lost an Ivy League game by 40 points.
- This was the first 40-point win for the Quakers since beating Monmouth 98-54 in 2003.
- It was also Penn's biggest point production in an Ivy home opener since downing Harvard 85-68 in 1997.
- The Quakers are now 37-15 in Ivy openers and 39-13 in Ivy openers at the Palestra. Penn's last loss in a home-opener was 42-40 against Princeton in 1992.
All day today, Philadelphia was shrouded in a thick fog that made it impossible to see more than a few feet out the windows in the high rise dorms. But after the sun went down, the Penn men's basketball team played one of its sharpest games of the season, an 84-44 blowout of Cornell.
Ibrahim Jaaber was dominant once again -- 20 points, eight assists and a whopping seven steals before taking a seat for the night with eight minutes remaining. What impressed me the most, though, was the Quakers' passing. Big Red coach Steve Donahue was on the receiving end of a motion offense clinic from his former boss, Fran Dunphy, as Penn worked the ball inside and around the perimeter almost at will. By the end of the game, Tommy McMahon had a dunk to celebrate and Eric Osmundson had a smile on his face the likes of which hasn't been seen for quite a while.
At the other end of the floor, Big Red swingman Lenny Collins looked like a scrub instead of the first-team All-Ivy player he was last year. Collins finished the night with only five points on 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-4 from three-point range. He also committed two of Cornell's 25 turnovers.
The stat of the night, though, was Penn's 17-of-21 shooting from the free throw line. That may seem like an odd choice, but it's a vast improvement from recent Quakers performances at the charity stripe.
Overall, I'd rate this game as Penn's most impressive win of the season thus far. Yes, it was in front of a home crowd, unlike the Hawai'i game. But the Quakers were simply dominant tonight, and I have to believe this kind of performance sends a shiver up the spine of the six Ivy League coaches who weren't in attendance.
The only question left is whether Penn will play at the same level against Columbia tomorrow night.
Newer Posts
Older Posts
An RSS feed of The Buzz is available