As great as this 3-0 conference start is, it’s not as if the Red and Blue are playing perfect basketball. Coach Steve Donahue acknowledged after the victory over Columbia that this team is still constantly trying to improve week to week and is learning how to close out basketball games. 

Sophomore forward AJ Brodeur filled up the statsheet for the Quakers (12-5, 3-0 Ivy) in Friday’s 69-61 victory against Cornell, only to come back the next night with an even better performance. In the Saturday night matchup versus Columbia, Brodeur led the Red and Blue in a tightly contested 77-71 victory.  

On Friday, Penn men's basketball played its second Ivy League game of the season, defeating rival Cornell, 69-61. The Quakers (11-5, 2-0 Ivy) were paced by AJ Brodeur with 18 points, while guards Ryan Betley and Darnell Foreman joined him in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Overall, it was a strong win for the Red and Blue in the first of back-to-back home games.

After last week’s monumental victory over Princeton, the Quakers picked up right where they left off in Friday night’s game against Cornell. Behind 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from sophomore forward AJ Brodeur, Penn survived a late run from Cornell to win 69-61 in a game that the Red and Blue never trailed.

The absence of the Brown's men's swimming from the meet on Jan. 13 will change the approach that the Quakers plan to take in deciding this weekend’s lineups.  

On Thursday, Penn Athletics introduced a new series of game day enhancements, including a limited amount of free student tickets, that will debut at Penn men’s and women’s basketball’s doubleheader with Cornell this Friday at the Palestra. The news comes a day after Penn Athletics announced a new partnership with Uber that will provide Penn students with free uberPOOL rides to and from the Palestra for select men’s basketball games.

Although the temperature may be dropping, it's heating up at the Ringe Courts to kick off 2018. Led by a gutsy three-set comeback by freshman Andrew Douglas in the final match of the night, Penn men’s squash pulled out a 5-4 nail-biter over Rochester on Wednesday, ringing in the new year emphatically and ushering in an action-packed weekend for both Red and Blue squads. 

Coming off a busy but successful winter break, the Quakers will look to keep improving as they head into the midpoint of their season. This weekend will be another wild one for the Quakers, as they have a tournament and back-to-back away meets over the course of two days. 

But with their newly elevated status, the Red and Blue also find themselves facing an even higher level of expectations. That doesn’t seem to bother the team very much heading into back-to-back games at home against Cornell (6-7, 0-0) and Columbia (3-10, 0-0) this weekend.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Is Stat So?, a compilation of some of the most interesting stats to come out of Penn Athletics from the week. Each week, we'll highlight a few different numbers that go beyond the box score, and give deeper insight behind Penn's biggest wins and losses.

If the Quakers have all of their best athletes on the floor, we think the Red and Blue men will drive home as tournament champions. As for the women, closing the gap with Columbia might be a tall task, not to mention that the women have a harder field because Temple does not have a men’s team. But still, we expect the Quakers to improve on last year’s effort with a second-place finish here.

Penn men’s basketball has me convinced. They are legitimate, serious contenders for an Ivy title this year. If last year’s team could make the tournament at 6-8, this year’s edition should have no problem getting in with two or three losses. 

Penn wrestling's Frank Mattiace had himself an extremely successful winter break. Highlighted by his takedown of No. 6 Nate Robert, Mattiace's efforts were enough to earn him DP Sports Player of the Break.

Both the men’s and women’s teams experienced an inconsistent meet, picking up wins against host Dartmouth, 249-104 and 235-118 respectively, but suffering big losses to Yale, 123-230 and 80-273 respectively.

Penn men's basketball sophomore guard Ryan Betley made a lot of those in the Quakers' 76-70 win over Princeton on Saturday. His 21 points on 72 percent shooting garnered him the third Ivy League Player of the Week award of his career.

The Quakers started their slate of matches before the new year when they travelled down to Illinois for the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, where they finished with their best team score in 16 years. A week later, Penn travelled to the west coast for a dual meet double-header against Cal Poly and Stanford. There, they dominated Cal Poly 32-13 but lost a nail bitter to Stanford 21-20. 

This iteration of the Quakers is probably the best squad the program has had in a decade. They play with intensity, energy, and athleticism. They've got fluid ball movement, three point sharpshooters, and two big men who pass as well as they score. They've got a great starting five, but they also have a deep and talented bench.