ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team became the first team to clinch a bid into the Ivy League Tournament on Saturday night as the Quakers defeated Cornell, 79-71, at the Big Red's Newman Arena.
 
With the win, Penn improved to 19-7 overall. More importantly, the Red and Blue moved to 9-1 in Ivy League play, and the win means that only two teams—Harvard and Yale—can catch the Quakers over the last two weeks. The Red and Blue is also tied atop the Ivy standings with the Crimson, who clinched their Tournament berth with a win over the Bulldogs later Saturday night in Cambridge.
 
Notes
*Penn has now won 11 in a row and 13 of the last 14 games against Cornell, and has taken seven games in a row at Newman Arena.
 
*Penn has won seven of its last eight, ten of 12, 14 of 17, and is 19-5 since starting the season with a pair of losses.
 
*Penn knocked down 11 three-pointers on Saturday night, the ninth time this season the Quakers have hit double digits in that category but the first time since January 13.
 
*Penn shot 26-of-50 from the field (.520 percentage), the eighth time the Quakers have shot 50 percent or better in a game this season.
 
*Penn had 20 assists on its 26 baskets on Saturday, one night after having 19 assists on 26 buckets at Columbia.
 
*Penn won for the first time this season when wearing their grey "Quakers" uniforms (previously 0-3).
 
*Penn is now 17-2 when leading or tied at halftime this season; they are 37-6 in such games in the Steve Donahue coaching era.
 
*Penn is 17-1 this season when shooting a better field-goal percentage than its opponent (Penn 52.0, Cornell 50.0).
 
*Penn is 11-0 when making more free throws than its opponent (Penn 16, Cornell 11) and 13 when taking more foul shots than its opponent (Penn 29, Cornell 13).
 
*One night after matching a career low with just two points at Columbia—coincidentally, the Quakers' final two points in their win over the Lions—sophomore Ryan Betley tied a season/career high with six three-pointers and led all scorers with 23 points.
 
*It was Betley's seventh game this season with 20 or more points, and his team-high 22nd double-figure scoring game in 2017-18.
 
*Sophomore AJ Brodeur had another stellar night, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
 
*Brodeur has three games with 20 or more points this season, and seven in his career.
 
*Brodeur went 8-of-9 on two-point shots on Saturday, making him 36-of-44 (81.8 percent) on such shots dating back to the second half against Princeton on February 6.
 
*Senior Caleb Wood knocked down three treys on Saturday and finished with 13 points, his 11th double-figure scoring game this season. He finished the weekend with 29 points.
 
*One night after scoring a career-high 23 points, sophomore Devon Goodman played 26 minutes and finished with four points. He also tied his season high (set last night) with five assists, without a turnover.
 
How It Happened
Ryan Betley hit a pair of three-pointers and that was followed by a Caleb Wood trey, a 9-0 run that pushed Penn from a 6-4 deficit to a 13-6 lead. The Quakers never expanded its first half lead beyond that margin, but held it for several minutes before a modest 5-0 Cornell run pushed the Big Red into a 27-26 lead. The teams traded leads the rest of the period, and ended the half in a 31-31 stalemate.
 
Cornell's Steve Julian scored the first points of the second half, but Betley followed with back-to-back treys and then Antonio Woods dialed it up from distance to push Penn in front, 40-33. The Quakers would never trail again in the contest, keeping Cornell at bay when they needed to.
 
Penn's lead extended to double digits near the midway point of the second half, when Darnell Foreman hit a three-pointer to make the score 56-46. The largest margin was 13, at 69-56, when Betley hit his sixth trey with 5:18 to play.
 
Cornell got within five points in the final two minutes, and had a pair of chances to get within one possession of the Quakers. However, both efforts were off the mark, and eventually Penn was able to open up a cushion through a foul-line parade. Cornell continued to miss on its shots in that final minute and could not close the gap any more.
 
Up Next
Penn is home for its final two games next weekend, hosting Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m.; there will be a Senior Night presentation prior to Saturday's game with the Crimson.