Coming into the weekend, Penn men's basketball’s chances to make the Ivy League Tournament and compete for a March Madness bid seemed almost nonexistent. The Quakers were not shooting well, and seemed unable to hold teams off down the stretch in games. But by early Sunday afternoon, it appears as though the Red and Blue have life once again.

The floodgates have finally opened. Winless in its first six conference games, Penn men's basketball came out firing on all cylinders this weekend at the Palestra to take down Columbia and Cornell in a sweep of New York’s two Ivy League teams.

Coming into the season, Penn’s starting front court of Michelle Nwokedi and Sydney Stipanovich got most of the attention.

In their first Ivy road doubleheader of the season, the Quakers did not disappoint, beating Columbia on Friday 64-54 before travelling to Ithaca to take down Cornell 61-55 on Saturday. Penn (14-6, 7-0 Ivy) maintained their perfect Ivy record and cemented their position atop the Ancient Eight.

This season has not been kind to Penn men’s basketball. Coming into Friday’s game against Columbia, the Quakers were winless in six Ivy League contests and in desperate need of a better performance to have any shot of making the Ivy League Tournament. The Red and Blue were able to gut out the victory on the back of 48 rebounds and 12 three-pointers. Let’s go to the player ratings.

Matt Howard has solved Penn men's basketball’s finishing problem. After watching an 11-point lead slip away in the second half, the senior forward was determined to not let another strong start go to waste. Howard hit a clutch three-pointer with eight minutes to play, cutting a brief Columbia lead down to one. But, it was his defensive closing that sealed the game for the Red and Blue as they went on to win 70-62.

In the first leg of its first Ivy road doubleheader of the season, Penn women's basketball downed Columbia 64-54. An all-around effort for the Quakers saw major contributions from several bench players.

Coming in as the Ivy League’s only remaining undefeated team, Penn certainly looked the part on Friday night, as the Quakers led for all but two minutes of the game in their 64-54 victory over Columbia.

Time to hit the road. Having just finished a seven-game stretch at home, Penn women’s basketball will leave the comfort of the Palestra for its first away competition in a month

"Alright, we’ve had our fun over the last couple of days, but may the real Ivy League championship contenders step forward..." Entering from stage right is coach Andy Ma and Penn fencing, poised this weekend to take another shot at collecting the coveted Ivy League Fencing Championship titles.

Coach Steve Donahue of Penn men’s basketball is not keen on the phrase “must-win.” In fact, in a past interview, he has described the phrase as “for the media” (guilty as charged) and “not what we focus on.” However, with the Red and Blue (7-12, 0-6 Ivy) hosting two immensely important games against Columbia and Cornell this weekend, he had seemingly no choice but to use the vaunted expression. “In terms of making the tournament, I think both of the games this weekend are must-win,” Donahue admitted.

Penn gymnastics will take to Piscataway, N.J. to show they judges how they balance out against Rutgers, Maryland, and Ivy League rival Yale. The event will mark the team's third quad meet of the season and will be a chance to prove to itself and its opponents that its fundamentals are sound as a beam and its ability to execute is not up for debate.

For a Penn squash program anticipating a major postseason, it's the last chance to tune up. This weekend, both the men's and women's teams will take on the final two matches of their regular seasons, facing Columbia and Cornell to wrap up Ivy League play.

Penn men’s basketball fell to its archnemesis Princeton, 64-49, in a high-stakes rivalry match that kept the Quakers rooted to the bottom of the Ivy League and solidified the Tigers’ grip at the top. Despite the packed crowd at the Palestra there to celebrate the Cathedral of Basketball’s 90th birthday, there was no celebration for Penn (7-12, 0-6 Ivy) and its players’ hopes of topping their fiercest rivals (13-6, 6-0) in the first match between the two during the school year since 2012.

In the most highly-anticipated game of the year, Penn men’s basketball fell to archrival Princeton, 64-49, to keep the Quakers languishing at the bottom of the Ivy League. In his postgame press conference Tuesday night, coach Steve Donahue lamented that his players really didn’t play that badly — they just aren’t good enough at their current level. With that in mind, here are our player ratings from Penn’s loss to Princeton at the Palestra:

I went to both Penn-Princeton men's basketball games this year, and they tell the story of our team's season. They tell the story of a team that had the ability to hang with the best of the league, but just couldn't put it all together. They tell the story of a squad that had ample opportunities to earn their way back into competition, but faltered when it mattered most.

On Tuesday, when Princeton storms into town to take on the Red and Blue, students from across the university will flock to the Palestra to view in-person the storied basketball rivalry matchup that the Ivy League has boasted every year since 1903. Several groups on campus are taking advantage of this valuable opportunity to give their members a break from the stresses of academics.