PHILADELPHIA - After opening the Ivy League campaign with a split at Harvard and Dartmouth, the Penn men’s basketball team faces a critical home weekend with Columbia and defending champion Cornell. These are the Quakers’ only two home games in the first half of the conference’s 14-game round-robin slate.
GAME 17 – PENN (5-11, 1-1) vs. COLUMBIA (7-11, 2-2)
Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 * 7 p.m.
The Palestra * Philadelphia
TV: None
RADIO: ESPN 950 AM - Brian Seltzer, Vince Curran
GAME 18 – PENN vs. CORNELL (14-6, 4-0)
Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009 * 7 p.m.
The Palestra * Philadelphia
TV: None
RADIO: WXPN 88.5 FM - Brian Seltzer, Vince Curran
Penn Game Notes (PDF)
The Ivy Schedule
While Penn hosts Columbia and Cornell, Princeton (2-0) is also home with the Big Red and the Lions. In the other half of the slate, Dartmouth (2-2) and Harvard (1-3) host Brown (0-4) and Yale (2-2) – the Big Green has Brown Friday and Yale Saturday, while the Crimson is in reverse order.
Quaker Notemeal...
•The ten teams Penn has lost to this season entered the week a combined 144-64, a 69.2 winning percentage; all of them have winning records (UNC 19-2, Drexel 12-8, Penn State 17-5, Albany 13-8, Villanova 17-4, Navy 15-7, UCF 15-6, Temple 12-8, La Salle 12-8, Saint Joseph’s 12-8).
• Penn is 5-0 when leading at the half this season, and 0-11 when trailing at the half.
• Through 16 games, Penn has had six different players lead in scoring in a game (Tyler Bernardini, Kevin Egee, Jack Eggleston, Harrison Gaines, Brennan Votel and Zack Rosen) and six different players lead in rebounding (Eggleston,Votel, Rosen, Bernardini, Conor Turley and Cameron Lewis).
• Rosen, a freshman, leads the Ivy League in assists per game (5.3) and assist/turnover ratio (2.15). In the last four games, he has 29 assists and 10 turnovers, and he has scored in double figures in five of the last eight contests.
• Bernardini, a sophomore, has had two double-doubles and two 20-point games in Penn’s most recent five-game stretch.
• Gaines, also a sophomore, has had four straight double-figure scoring games (11.8 average); he missed last weekend’s contests at Harvard and Dartmouth, suffering from a virus that kept him in Philadelphia.
• Lewis, a senior, had 12 points Saturday at Dartmouth, his fourth career double-figure scoring game and second this season.
Penn vs. Columbia (Fri)
• Friday’s meeting between the Quakers and the Lions will be the 214th between these Ivy rivals; Penn leads the series, 132-81.
• These teams split a year ago, with Columbia winning in New York City (74-58) and Penn returning the favor here at The Palestra on a last-second shot by Tyler Bernardini (69-67).
• Prior to last season, Penn had won 10 of the last 11 against Columbia.
Penn vs. Cornell (Sat)
• Saturday’s meeting of the Quakers and the Big Red will be the 211th between the two; Penn leads the series, 142-68.
• Penn had won 18 in a row in the series before last season, when Cornell swept the Quakers en route to an undefeated Ivy League championship campaign. The Big Red won in Ithaca, 87-74, and then eked by the Quakers here at The Palestra, 94-92.
• Prior to last season, Penn had beaten Cornell at home every year since 1988-89.
The C/C Weekend
Penn has swept this home weekend every year but two dating back to the 1990-91 season -- in addition to last year’s split (lost to Cornell Friday, beat Columbia Saturday), the Quakers also tripped up in 2001-02 (beat Cornell Friday, lost to Columbia Saturday).
I Know You! Part I
On Friday night, the Egee parents will be the most torn people in the stands. That’s because they have sons on both benches -- Kevin is a senior for Penn, while Steve is a freshman for Columbia.
I Know You! Part II
On Saturday night, Penn matches wits with a man who knows the Quaker program pretty well -- Cornell head coach Steve Donahue served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Penn’s previous head coach, Fran Dunphy, for 10 years. One of Donahue’s assistant coaches, Nat Graham, lettered twice for the Quakers and was part of two Ivy League championship teams (both of which went undefeated).
Notemeal From @Dartmouth...
• Penn played both games over the weekend without sophomore Harrison Gaines, who stayed in Philadelphia with a virus.
• Penn’s loss snapped a 23-game winning streak over the Big Green, and was its first loss in Hanover since 1996.
• Penn tied a low in the Glen Miller coaching era with 41 field-goal attempts.
• Penn fell for the first time this season when outrebounding its opponent (27-25).
• Sophomore Tyler Bernardini scored 22 points, his fourth 20-point outing of the season and the 10th of his collegiate career.
• Senior Cameron Lewis had 12 points, his second double-figure scoring game this season and the fourth of his collegiate career.
Notemeal From @Harvard...
• Penn won for the first time this season when shooting a worse percentage from the field than its opponent (Harvard 52.1 percent, Penn 44.4 percent).
• After committing 14 turnovers in the first half, the Quakers committed just two in the second half.
• Freshman Zack Rosen had a career-high nine assists.
• Sophomore Jack Eggleston set a career high with 19 points.
• Freshman Rob Belcore had his third double-figure scoring game,with 10 points; he also set a career best with seven rebounds.
• Senior Brennan Votel set a career high with three steals.
6:13 AM
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In the MidMajority.com's daily Conference Calls feature, the site writes the following about the Ivy League:
