Game 27: Princeton — the good, bad and ugly

We'll do a season wrap up good/bad/ugly at some point in the coming days, but for now, here's your penn-ultimate edition of the year from the second installment of The Rivalry for 2010-11.

The Good: As usual Penn got down early — 15-4 in the first 10 minutes — but an early turnaround was something we hadn't seen much of from Penn. Great driving by freshman Miles Cartwright fueled the scoring spree, which was capped off by a feed from Mizzo to streaking Jack Eggleston who laid in a two-handed jam. When it was over, Penn led 23-19 at the break, a 19-4 run.

Speaking of great penetration by Cartwright, who could forget THIS?!

The Bad: All around second-half defense. Whether it was Kareem Maddox having his way in the paint with 21 second-half points, or Douglas Davis and Dan Mavraides knocking them down from the perimeter (5-for-10 combined), Princeton couldn't be stopped. After a Sydney Jonson timeout refocused the Tigers, they went on to score in 17 of their next 22 possessions.

The Ugly: Penn players and fans sitting and watching Wednesday as Princeton and Harvard make preparations for Saturday's Ivy League playoff to determine who's name will appear on brackets Sunday. The Crimson reports that Harvard is sending three buses (T-shirts, drinks and Pizza included!) to the game at Yale. Both schools sold out of general admissions tickets within about four hours of releasing tickets, according to Princeton Basketball.

Miles Cartwright on ESPN Top-10

There wasn't much good from Penn's second half last night against Princeton. Except for this — Miles Cartwright's posterizing, unbelieveable, unreal, absolutely unexpected, out of control dunk with a minute to go. ESPN thought highly of the dunk too. It was #5 on their Top-10 plays from yesterday:

Seriously, where did this come from? (Also, see Dau Jok's reaction in the top left corner of the video).

M. Hoops Liveblog: Penn vs. Princeton

Hey everyone. I'm here at the Palestra with Jennifer Scuteri and assistant editor Alyssa Kress. It's the final game of the season for the Quakers, who could spoil Princeton's chance at an NCAA tournament berth with a win tonight. As always, follow along here for all of the action and discussion.

Penn-Princeton on ESPN3.com

Can't make it to the Palestra tomorrow night? In New Orleans for Mardi Gras and itchin' for your fixin' of Penn basketball?

The obvious (and always reliable) solution is to follow us here at our Liveblog, but to see a live video broadcast stream, look no further than ESPN3.com. Programming is free of charge to anyone with high-speed internet from an affiliated service provider — Comcast, Time Warner Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon, Mediacom and several more — or on a university or military network. So for those who usually catch the stream from the Penn Sports Network, you'll only get an audio feed.

Scott Graham and Tim O'Toole will commentate for ESPN, but come 7pm Tuesday, I'll be here at the Buzz with my colleagues Jennifer Scuteri and assistant editor Alyssa Kress. And let us not forget:

• If Penn wins, Harvard is the outright Ivy champion and will receive an NCAA Tournament bid.
• If Penn loses, Princeton and Harvard are co-Ivy champions and will play at Saturday at 4 p.m. at Yale to determine which team will dance in the Tournament. (In the event of a playoff, it too will be broadcast on ESPN3.com)

Game 27- Dartmouth: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

After some delay (I had quite the trek home and Cal has no internet connection) and even more anticipation, I present the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Penn's final away game of the 2010-11 season.

The Good: The Quakers' second-half energy. Even two days later, two plays stick out in my head. 1- Miles Cartwright's and-1 layup about two minutes into the second frame. When the foul whistle was called as his basket went in, it was clear that the Red and Blue finally had their groove back. They were happy, energetic and excited. Interestingly, the five guys on the floor were the original starters of the Ivy season — Cartwright, Jack Eggleston, Zack Rosen, Tyler Bernardini and Conor Turley. Speaking of Turley, the second play that sticks out is his monster dunk. A few minutes later, as the Quakers were still chipping away at Dartmouth's lead, Turley grabbed the rim, hung on, pulled up, and hung on a little longer. Questionable call for a senior leader (he was called for a technical), but his team needed to keep that momentum going.

The Bad: Penn's bench production. In total, it only scored 10 points, six of which came from Turley. Ten minutes into the game, coach Allen pulled his starters and cycled through an assortment of eight bench players. Together they tallied 57 minutes. With the exception of Turley, the bench went 2-for-7 from the field.

The Ugly: Starter Mike Howlett's line for the night. After Noah Rosenstein praised Howlett for his roadtrip at Brown and Yale, this weekend's trip wasn't quite as successful for the junior. In 11 minutes, he had zero points (off zero attempts), three fouls and three turnovers Saturday. After Turley's big game, can Howlett hang onto the starting spot Tuesday against Princeton?

Liveblog: Penn Men's Hoops @ Dartmouth

I'm here with Calder Silcox at Leede Arena in lovely Hanover, N.H. Stay tuned for all the action from the last away game of the season. We'll include updates from the Harvard-Princeton game taking place in Boston, as well.

Live tweets: No. 8 W. Lax vs. No. 3 UNC

Hey all and welcome to today's women's lacrosse game between No. 8 Penn and No. 3 North Carolina. It's a windy afternoon here at Franklin Field. I won't be live blogging this game persay, but I'll be tweeting and feeding my tweets into the live blog below, and I'll be answering any questions in the blog, so follow along!

Game 26- Harvard: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: Miles Cartwright's poise and dependability throughout the game. Both Coach Allen and Zack Rosen cited their lack of poise in their struggles, but Cartwright was a rock. He led the team with 16 points on 5-for-12 and 3-for-7 shooting. Every time the Quakers were in a slump or a shooting drought, it seemed like Cartwright was the one to come up big. Mizzo has had his good games and his bad games this season, but overall he has shown tremendous promise for leading the team in seasons to come.

The Bad: Penn's perimeter defense. It was all but absent in the first half, and wasn't helped by Harvard's 58 percent 3-point shooting. The Quakers D tightened up in the second frame and stopped some shots, but the Crimson were unguarded and making nearly every shot in the first half. Freshman Laurent Rivard led the fight, going 5-for-8, while Christian Webster and Oliver McNally tallied two apiece. Harvard found its "sweet spots" in the corner (5-for-9), the top left corner of the arc (3-for-3 in the first) and the top right corner of the arc (3-for-3 in the second).

The Ugly: Both team's bench's final minutes. Maybe it's because most of these guys haven't had much college action, but the last three minutes looked like a bad high school game. A Harvard player passed from the paint to an empty midcourt, and Dau Jok muffed more than one pass. Let's just hope it was nerves that caused these mishaps, otherwise the future of Penn and Harvard are in trouble. Also ugly: Harvard's student section. It was just mean.

Liveblog: Penn @ Harvard

I'm here at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston for Penn's final roadtrip of the season. While the Quakers are out of contention, they can play spoiler with a victory tonight. Stay tuned for all the action...I'm flying solo tonight.

Three Penn lax players make 2011 Tewaaraton Award Watch List

With both men's and women's lacrosse teams getting their seasons underway, three Penn players have already been singled out on the 2011 Tewaaraton Award Watch List. According to the release, the Tewaaraton Award is regarded as "lacrosse's top honor," and it is awarded at the end of the season, after the list (players are selected by coaches from across the country) is narrowed down to the top 10 for both the men and women. Senior attack Giulia Giordano and junior attack Erin Brennan from the women's side made the preliminary list, as did senior defender Brett Hughes for the men. The list is currently 106 strong (58 men, 48 women) and will be cut down three more times throughout the season.

Hughes made second-team All-Ivy last year, while Erin Brennan was a first-teamer and was 2nd on the team in points, goals, and assists. Giordano, meanwhile, was second-team All-Ivy and was clutch for the Quakers in 2010: her six game-winning goals was tops in the Ancient Eight.

Fans may recall that just last year, then-senior midfielder Ali DeLuca made it as a top-five finalist for the award, but Maryland's Caitlyn McFadden ultimately won the honor. DeLuca had a brilliant career, setting the Penn women's program record for goals (140).

See the complete list after the jump.

Official Men’s 2011 Tewaaraton Award Watch List

Stefan Bauer, Lafayette College

Peter Baum, Colgate University

Billy Bitter, University of North Carolina

Chris Bocklet, University of Virginia

Jeremy Boltus, United States Military Academy

Sam Bradman, Salisbury State University

Shamel Bratton, University of Virginia

Zach Brenneman, University of Notre Dame

Jay Card, Hofstra University

Grant Catalino, University of Maryland

Matt Chadderdon, Le Moyne College

Jake Clarke, Bucknell University

Tom Compitello, Stony Brook University

CJ Costabile, Duke University

Kevin Crowley, Stony Brook University

Jimmy Dailey, Stevenson University

Chris DeLuca, State University of New York Cortland

Jimmy Dunster, University of North Carolina

David Earl, University of Notre Dame

Barney Ehrmann, Georgetown University

Peter Fallon, Brown University

Brian Farrell, University of Maryland

Tyler Fiorito, Princeton University

Ryan Flanagan, University of North Carolina

John Galloway, Syracuse University

Dean Gibbons, Harvard University

Matt Gibson, Yale University

Bill Henderson, United States Military Academy

DJ Hessler, Tufts University

Dan Hostetler, Georgetown University

Zach Howell, Duke University

Brett Hughes, University of Pennsylvania

Brian Karalunas, Villanova University

Stephen Keogh, Syracuse University

John Lade, Syracuse University

Jamie Lincoln, Hofstra University

Matt Mackrides, Pennsylvania State University

Mark Manos, Drexel University

JoJo Marasco, Syracuse University

Kiel Matisz, Robert Morris University

Jack McBride, Princeton University

Jordan McBride, Stony Brook University

Peter Mezzanotte, Towson University

Rickey Mirabito, Georgetown University

Rob Pannell, Cornell University

Tom Perini, Lafayette College

Adam Rand, Stony Brook University

Kevin Ridgway, University of Notre Dame

Brett Schmidt, University of Maryland

Steele Stanwick, University of Virginia

Charlie Streep, Bucknell University

Jeremy Thompson, Syracuse University

Justin Tuma, Roanoke College

Justin Turri, Duke University

Chad Wiedmaier, Princeton University

Kyle Wharton, Johns Hopkins University

Joel White, Syracuse University

Ryan Young, University of Maryland

Official Women’s 2011 Tewaaraton Award Watch List

Casey Ancarrow, James Madison University

Kelly Barnes, Georgetown University

Shaylyn Blaney, University of Notre Dame

Sarah Bray, Hamilton College

Erin Brennan, University of Pennsylvania

Sarah Bullard, Duke University

Ally Carey, Vanderbilt University

Kat Collins, Dartmouth University

Kitty Cullen, University of Florida

Brittany Dipper, University of Maryland

Jackie Doherty, University of Notre Dame

Corey Donohoe, University of North Carolina

Liz Downs, University of Virginia

Maggie Dunbar, Pennsylvania State University

Lauren Dykstra, Lehigh University

Bergan Foley, University of Louisville

Alex Frank, Northwestern University

Julie Gardner, University of Virginia

Grace Gavin, Loyola University, Maryland

Giulia Giordano, University of Pennsylvania

Grace Golden, William and Mary

Katie Hertsch, Hofstra University

Liz Hogan, Syracuse University

Mia Hurrin, University of North Carolina

Kristin Igoe, Boston College

Alison Jaeger, The College of New Jersey

Karri Ellen Johnson, University of Maryland

Sarah Jonson, William and Mary

Christie Kaestner, Duke University

Jordyn Kirr, Georgetown University

Tee Ladouceur, Syracuse University

Mary Kate Lomady, James Madison University

Logan McCraw, Georgetown University

Laura Merrifield, University of Maryland

Greta Meyer, Dartmouth University

Sarah Mollison, University of Maryland

Ashley Olen, C.W. Post

Claire Petersen, Adelphi University

Abby Rehfuss, Loyola University, Maryland

Lauren Schmidt, Stanford University

Katie Schwarzmann, University of Maryland

Shannon Smith, Northwestern University

Jessi Steinberg, Cornell University

Kat Thomas, Duke University

Taylor Thornton, Northwestern University

Erin Tochihara, Princeton University

Michelle Tumolo, Syracuse University

Laura Zimmerman, University of North Carolina

Penn prof. on ESPN as NFL Analyst

For those of you following intently as the NFL and the players' union hash it out over their collective bargaining agreement, which was set to expire today (before it was given a 24-hour extension), here's your Penn connection: ESPN recently picked up Penn sports law professor Andrew Brandt as an NFL business analyst. And he is all over Sportscenter talking about the talks:

(Just posted a new video so it should work)

Harvard in the Times

With anticipation growing for the showdowns up in Cambridge, Mass. this weekend, even the New York Times Sports section is giving some inches to the little old Ivy League. In an article today, the Times took a look at Harvard's rise to contender over the last three years: "In 100th Season, Harvard Basketball Seeks First Ivy Title".

Those of us who regularly follow the Ivy League will quickly note that the Times' headline writers probably don't...The Ivy League has only been handing out titles for the last 54 years. Regardless, it's a good look at the program and what coach Tommy Amaker is doing with it.

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to me is at the end, which points out that Harvard star and 2010 grad Jeremy Lin and his Golden State Warriors will actually be in Boston Friday night to play the Celtics — so he'll have to miss watching his alma mater's game against Penn.

Title scenarios part deux

Princeton or Harvard will be Ivy champion this year. That's for certain. While Princeton holds a half-game lead over Harvard, those two teams go head to head on Saturday night. And for invested Penn fans/not-Princeton fans, Penn also plays Harvard this weekend — and Princeton on Tuesday, so the Quakers will no-doubt have a role in deciding which team gets the Ivy League's automatic NCAA bid.

I'm going into spring break mode, so my brain doesn't currently have the capacity to plot out the mathematical possibilities. But luckily our friends over at the Ivy League Office have done just that:

If Harvard and Princeton both win OR both lose Friday: • A Princeton win Saturday would clinch the outright Ivy title for the Tigers. • A Harvard win Saturday would force Princeton to defeat Penn Tuesday, March 8 to necessitate a playoff. • A Harvard win Saturday, coupled with a Princeton loss at Penn Tuesday, would give the outright Ivy title to the Crimson.

If Harvard wins Friday, Princeton loses Friday: • A Harvard win Saturday would clinch the outright Ivy title for the Crimson. • A Princeton win Saturday, coupled with a Princeton win Tuesday at Penn, would clinch the outright title for the Tigers. • A Princeton win Saturday, coupled with a Princeton loss Tuesday at Penn, would force a playoff.

If Harvard loses Friday, Princeton wins Friday: • A Princeton win EITHER Saturday OR Tuesday at Penn would clinch the outright title for the Tigers. • A Harvard win Saturday would only result in a playoff if Princeton loses at Penn Tuesday. Harvard would not be able to have an outright title if it loses Friday and Princeton wins Friday.

I'll ask two questions for discussion: 1) Who's going to be the champ (or will we have a playoff)? 2) Who would you rather see as champ?

$wimming $uits up for Championship$

Penn men's swimming is off to Harvard for this year's Ivy League Championships — you can read all about it in today's DP. But in addition to busing the team up to Boston and housing them, there's one more major cost for the swim program — or investment that is.

In a class we share, breaststroke star Brendan McHugh broke out his top-of-the line Speedo Fastskin LZR racer swimsuit. If you're not familiar with these high technology, aerodynamic spacesuits jammers, here's a description from Speedo's website.

The World's Fastest Swimsuit: Speedo has harnessed the expertise of NASA and a number of international research institutes to create a faster suit which has 10 percent less passive drag than Speedo's FASTSKIN FSII launched in 2004 and 5% less passive drag than Speedo's FASTSKING FS-PRO, which was launched in March 2007 and has seen swimmers break 21 World Records as a result.

In the Huddle, Continued

Aside from actually playing in the games, I lived the life of a women’s basketball player this past weekend.  Pre-game speeches, team meals, team meetings, long bus rides: I experienced it all.

My article about the trip ran on Tuesday in the DP, but there was no way I could fit everything I wanted to in the article.  The following are observations, tidbits, and anecdotes that I couldn’t fit into the story but also couldn’t keep to myself.  In addition, I want to extend a “thank you” to the entire Penn women’s basketball program for giving me this amazing opportunity and putting up with me over the course of the weekend.

Before the bus left for Columbia, the skies opened up and soaked everyone walking outside.  It also soaked Jess Knapp's bag, which was in the luggage compartment under the bus.  She took this unfortunate development in stride, and transferred her clothes to a different bag in hopes they would be somewhat more dry by the time we arrived at Columbia.

Senior Erin Power, who loves roadtrips, was sad about her last one: “I’m just gonna stay in Philly and be a practice player next year,” she jokes during a team meal.  Coach McLaughlin immediately responds, “You’re hired!”

Starters Megan McCullough and Power both came into the weekend hurting.  Erin’s wrist had been bothering her to the point where she had to miss practice earlier in the week.  For Megan, it was her ribs giving her trouble.  During warmups before the Columbia game, Erin walked up to Megan and asked, “You alright?”  Megan nodded and the two players high fived.  Erin’s wrist was visibly bothering her during the passing drills, but she did her best to hide it. Both Erin and Megan took the floor as starters and went on to play 36 and 30 minutes respectively.

Many players on the team have Pillow Pets, a cross between a stuffed animal and a pillow.  The person most fond of her pillow pet, a unicorn, is Kelsey McLaughlin, the coach’s 11-year-old daughter.

At the beginning of the trip, the bus is stocked with a varied snack array, with everything from chips to Pop Tarts to fruit snacks.  Nearly all of it is gone by the time the trip ends.

Lastly, as far as I could tell, there is not one unfriendly person associated with this program.  From Robin (the bus driver), to coach McLaughlin, to the assistant coaches, to the trainer, to the players.  Everyone played a part in making this reporter feel welcome and even appreciated.

Game 25 — Cornell: The good, bad and ugly

This was a tough one for the team to swallow. They definitely didn't want to lose the series to Cornell this year, and I know they wanted to give a great crowd the win. Nonetheless, here's my take:

The good: Miles Cartwright turning on beast-mode in the second half. Lots of players contributed to erasing a 15-point deficit (gee, that sounds familiar), but none took control more than the freshman. From re-finding his shot, to driving the lane, he was excellent, scoring a game-high 23 points  with four assists and three steals in 38 minutes. Mizzo put on a clinic in body control, power and finesse going to the rim. That kind of play will make for, at the very least, an entertaining three years to come.

The bad: Jerome Allen's timeout call with 36 seconds remaining. Cartwright had just given Penn a one point lead and the Quakers weren't giving Cornell any chances on offense. The shot clock ticked down to just 1 second before the ball went out of bounds off Penn. Allen's 30 second timeout might have given him a chance to set up some defense, but it also gave Cornell's coaching staff enough time to regroup before one successful inbounds play, a baseline pass to Mark Coury who hit the jumper to give Cornell the lead, which the Big Red would hold onto for the win.

The Ugly: The fact that Penn's seniors will have to return for their final home game — senior night — looking for a last win at the Palestra over spring break, when the student body will not be here to see it.

Post game presser: Cornell

Here's Jerome Allen after Penn's 74-72 loss to Cornell Saturday night. My apologies if the audio isn't great — in addition to Allen's low volume, there was a lot of noise coming in from outside.

Coleman goes to Clemson

A recruiting update Friends Central's Devin Coleman gave Clemson a verbal commitment tonight, according to Philly Inquirer staff writer Keith Pompey.

The forward had listed Penn and Clemson as his top two in recent days, but after visiting the ACC campus this weekend, chose to be a Tiger over a Quaker.

Liveblog: M. Hoops Penn vs. Cornell

The Quakers  finish up their final Ivy home weekend hosting the Big Red of Cornell. Penn lost in overtime when they faced Cornell up in Ithaca, so they'll look to avenge another loss as they did last night against Columbia.

Adding to their motivation is a so far very successful day for Penn sports here on campus. The M. Lax team kicked off its season with a 7-3 upset of defending national champion Duke, and the No. 6 women dispatched neighborly rival Drexel, 12-9. Can the Quakers keep the success rolling? Follow along in our liveblog below:

Or Click Here to open it in a new window.

The Quaker's last dance

In addition to tonight being the last real home game for the seniors on the men's basketball team, as well as the fourth years in the Red and Blue Crew, it's also the last night cheering on the team for the current inhabitant of the Quaker.

In honor of his service to the team, our friends over at 34th Street profiled the man in the suit, Dave Dobkin for their Ego of the Week feature. Check out the full interview here. Some highlights below:

Street: What qualities does it take to be the Penn mascot? Dave Dobkin: To begin, even though the mascot wears a giant head, you still need to be really really ridiculously good looking to even get a tryout. Second, the magical power to change spontaneously in nooks and crevices — or behind a tree. Finally, incredible miming techniques. You’d be surprised what kind of conversations you can have without words.

Street: My PennCard looks like I’m… Dave Dobkin: You mean PennCards — I have one for the Quaker and one for me. The Quaker’s looks like a colonial pedophile, and mine looks like a dorky pre–frat high school senior.

Street: What do you wear under your mascot suit? DD: You’ll just have to meet me under the bleachers to find out.

Street: What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had? DD: Well to me this is normal, but I once had a dream that the man behind the Phanatic went missing and I was chosen to fill the role for the day… they say dreams become reality!