Penn Athletics Game Notes for Cornell

Below, Penn's game notes for its visit to Cornell on Saturday.

Men's Basketball is at Columbia, Cornell
Penn Athletics Department

PHILADELPHIA - After playing five home games in eight days, the Penn men's basketball team had a "respite" this week with no midweek game. However, the Quakers will be back on the road this weekend, facing Columbia Friday night in New York City and then making the long trek across the state to meet Cornell on Saturday night.

GAME 24 - PENN (5-18, 4-5) at COLUMBIA (9-15, 3-7)
New York, N.Y. (Levien Gym)
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 * 7 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: ESPN 950 AM (Brian Seltzer, Stan Pawlak)

GAME 25 - PENN at CORNELL (23-4, 9-1)
Ithaca, N.Y. (Newman Arena)
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 * 7 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: WXPN 88.5 FM (Brian Seltzer, Stan Pawlak)

Penn Game Notes (PDF)

Penn vs. Columbia
* The Quakers and the Lions have met 216 times, with Penn holding a 133-83 lead.

* Two weeks ago, Columbia gained the upper hand in this year's two-game set with a 66-62 win in Philadelphia. Niko Scott poured in 29 points to lead the Lions; Mike Howlett led four Penn players in double digits with 14 points.

* The teams have split the season series each of the last two years -- two years ago the home team won both times, and last year the road team was victorious.

* Last year, after getting beaten, 74-63, at The Palestra, the Quakers stunned the Lions here in New York City when senior Kevin Egee -- brother of current Lion sophomore Steve Egee -- drained a 30-foot jump shot at the buzzer to give Penn a 51-50 victory.

Penn vs. Cornell
* The Quakers and the Big Red have met 213 times previously on the hardwoord, with Penn holding a 143-70 lead in the series

* Two weeks ago, Penn stunned Cornell, 79-64, the Big Red's only Ivy loss entering this weekend. Jack Eggleston had a career-high 24 points and Zack Rosen added 22 to lead the Quakers; Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale had 16 apiece for the Big Red, while Jeff Foote had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

* Prior to that win, Cornell had dominated the last two years of this series with four straight wins. That ended an 18-game streak that Penn had over its Ithaca rivals dating back to the 1998-99 season.

* Last year, Cornell swept Penn with an 88-73 win in Philadelphia and then an 83-59 victory here in Ithaca; the win at Cornell clinched the Big Red's NCAA Tournament bid, its second straight bid to the Big Dance.

Around The League This Weekend
While Penn attempts to keep itself in the upper half of the Ivy standings this weekend, Cornell and Princeton (7-2) may be playing a title-deciding game Friday night in Ithaca; if the Big Red win, they go two up in the Ivy League standings with three to play, while a Tiger victory puts the teams in a deadlock at the top of the table with two losses apiece. Harvard (7-3) enters the weekend still in the running, as well, but needs help given the Crimson does not see Cornell again this season. With that in mind, Harvard must sweep at home Friday against Brown (4-6) and Saturday vs. Yale (4-6) to stay in the race. Dartmouth (1-9) hosts the Bulldogs Friday night and the Bears Saturday.

Quaker Notemeal
* When Penn shot 16-of-23 from the foul line last Saturday against Yale, it marked the Quakers' worst foul-shooting performance in 10 games; prior to that, Penn had shot 70 percent or better in nine consecutive games and 13 of its last 14.

* Penn's assist/turnover ratio for the last five games is 1.34 (79 assists/59 turnovers); in the five games prior to that, it was 0.62 (49/79).

* Sophomore Zack Rosen, who leads all Ivy League players in conference scoring at 19.1 ppg, has hit double figures in nine straight games; prior to that, he hit double digits in 11 straight games before being held to eight against Saint Joseph's on January 25. That was the longest stretch of double-figure scoring games by a Penn player since Mark Zoller ended his college career with 11 such games in 2006-07.

* In three games last week, Rosen had 19 assists against five turnovers, a 3.8/1 ratio.

* Junior Jack Eggleston has scored in double figures in nine of Penn's last 10 games -- including the last six in a row -- and collected his fourth double-double this season last Saturday vs. Yale.

* After scoring 27 points in the Quakers' first ten games -- and a combined 20 in his first two seasons before that -- junior Dan Monckton has knocked down 112 in the last 13 contests; he has six double-figure outings during that stretch.

* Sophomore Rob Belcore has scored 41 points in the last five games, after scoring a combined 34 over a 13-game span from Dec. 8 to Feb. 6; he has also grabbed at least four rebounds in each of the last eight contests.

* Senior Darren Smith has been shut out in five of Penn's nine Ivy League games, but scored a combined 17 points the last time the Quakers faced these teams (8 vs. Cornell, 9 vs. Columbia).

* Senior Justin Reilly has started the last two games at center; after hitting 10 straight shots over a four-game span, he has gone a combined 5-of-18 from the field.

Notemeal From Brown/Yale...
* Penn scored 81 points against Yale, its best output in an Ivy League game since a 94-92 loss to Cornell on March 7, 2008.

* Sophomore Zack Rosen scored a combined 56 points, the most by a Penn player in an Ivy League weekend since Bruce Lefkowitz scored a combined 57 in Penn's opening Ivy weekend of 1986-87 (33 at Harvard, 24 at Dartmouth); Ibrahim Jaaber had 60 points in consecutive Ivy games in 2005-06 -- 29 at Cornell, 31 vs. Harvard -- but they came on separate weekends.

* Rosen scored 29 points against Brown, the most in an Ivy League game by a Penn player since Ibrahim Jaaber dropped 31 on Harvard on Feb. 24, 2006.

* Rosen also had a career-high 10 assists against Brown, the most by a Penn player since Harrison Gaines had 12 against The Citadel on Nov. 20, 2007.

* Juniors Dan Monckton (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Jack Eggleston (13/10) both had double-doubles against Yale; the last time two Penn players had double-doubles in the same game was Jan. 14, 2004 (Mark Zoller 14/10, Adam Chubb 11/11 vs. La Salle).

* Monckton made his first collegiate start against Yale; senior Justin Reilly also made his first two starts of the season (they were the ninth and 10th starts of his collegiate career).

* Senior Darren Smith came off the bench for the first time this season against Yale.

The Injury Report...
Junior Conor Turley (fingers) was injured two weeks ago against Cornell, and after having surgery last week he is done for the season ... Preseason projected starters Tyler Bernardini (foot) and Andreas Schreiber (shoulder) have missed the last 21 games and are done for the season ... Sophomore Larry Loughery (hip) has missed the last 20 games and is done for the season.