Penn-Princeton Game Notes in PDF Format
PHILADELPHIA - Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Game 21 - Penn (14-6, 6-0) vs. Princeton (7-12, 5-1)
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 ? 8 p.m. EST ? The Palestra
TV: CN8
Radio/Internet: WXPN (88.5 FM) and www.pennathletics.com
Brian Seltzer, PBP; Vince Curran, analyst
When a 16-member media panel was polled prior to the 2005-06 men's basketball season -- two representatives from each of the eight Ivy League institutions -- it unanimously picked Penn to defend its Ancient Eight crown and earn its 10th title since 1993.
Princeton? A youthful Tigers squad was an afterthought, picked third behind the Quakers and a veteran Harvard team.
So here we sit, the Quakers and the Tigers reaching the halfway point of the Ivy League campaign with tonight's tilt at The Palestra. And -- surprise, surprise -- they stand first and second, respectively, in the standings, a good distance ahead of the rest of the pack.
Penn has done what it was predicted to do -- six wins in six outings, in emphatic fashion. How emphatic? Consider their average margin of victory (23.8); the fact that they have trailed a total of 45 seconds out of 120 second-half minutes; and that, in every game, the Quakers held a lead above 20 points at some juncture.
Princeton, on the other hand, has been the surprise. After a non-conference season that, to put it kindly, did not meet expectations, the Tigers have revved it up in Ivy play and won four in a row the last two weekends to move to 5-1 overall. Perhaps most impressive was this past Friday, when Princeton knocked off Harvard in the Crimson's Lavietes Pavilion, 60-59, then came back to fend off Dartmouth, 52-49, in the Big Green's Leede Arena.
Thus the stage is set for yet another classic Penn-Princeton game. It is well known that either the Quakers or the Tigers have won a share of the Ivy League title and/or represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament every year since 1988, and all but two years dating back to 1962. It might well be the most impressive display of dominance in college basketball during the last half-century. Heading into today's game, it looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Series with Princeton
? Tonight's meeting between Penn and Princeton is the 213th in men's basketball; the Quakers lead the series, 116-96.
? Penn head coach Fran Dunphy is 19-14 against the Tigers, including a 9-7 mark at The Palestra; surprisingly, he has a better record against Princeton at the Tigers' Jadwin Gym (10-6). He was the losing coach the one time these teams played on a neutral court, when Princeton took a 63-56 overtime decision in a 1996 playoff game to determine the Ivy League's NCAA representative.
? A classic rivalry? Yes, four games in the 17-year Dunphy era have gone to overtime. But you may be surprised to know that just nine of the other 29 games have been decided by single digits, and the average margin of victory during the Dunphy era has been 11.4 points.
? The last two games here at The Palestra have been decided in overtime. Two years ago, Princeton bested Penn, 76-70; last year, the Quakers returned the favor with its 70-62 win after erasing an 18-point, second-half deficit. Penn then beat Princeton at Jadwin, 64-56, in last year's finale.
? Under Dunphy, Penn has swept Princeton eight times, been swept by the Tigers five times, and split the season series three times.
Download: MBK Notes 21 (Princeton).pdf
