PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team got off to a fast start and never looked back on Friday night, easily defeating Dartmouth at The Palestra, 74-46. With the win, the Quakers remain atop the Ivy League standings at 10-1, and at 20-7 overall they have won 20 regular-season games for the first time since 2006-07.
 
The stage is now set for tomorrow night's showdown with Harvard, which needed overtime on Friday but defeated Princeton, 72-66. Both the Quakers and Crimson are 10-1 in the league, so while a regular-season championship won't be decided on Saturday there will be seeding implications for the Ivy League Tournament. That takes place two weeks from now at The Palestra.
 
Notes
*The win was Penn's biggest in an Ivy League game since February 4, 2011, when the Quakers defeated Dartmouth, 78-47.
 
*Dartmouth was the second Division 1 opponent this year held below 50 points, as Navy scored just 45 against Penn on November 15.

*Penn improved to 13-0 when making as many or more foul shots than its opponent this season (Penn 8, Dartmouth 8), improved to 18-1 when shooting a better field-goal percentage than its opponent (Penn 47.5, Dartmouth 33.9), and is now 16-2 when leading a game at the half this season.
 
*Dartmouth went 0-for-17 on three-point shots on Friday night, the eighth time a Penn opponent has been shut out beyond the arc and the first since UMBC on November 11, 2011.

*Dartmouth's three-point shooting night was the worst by a Penn opponent since the three-point shot was introduced in 1986-87. Prior to Friday, the worst performance had come from Penn State, which went 0-for-14 in a 62-37 Quakers win on November 23, 2002.
 
*At the other end, Penn went 10-of-31 beyond the arc, the second-straight game and tenth time this season the Quakers have reached double figures in that category.
 
*Just two weeks after being outrebounded by Dartmouth in Hanover, 43-34, Penn dominated the glass on Friday night with a 45-30 advantage.
 
*Penn had 18 assists on its 28 baskets, giving the Quakers 57 assists on 80 baskets over the last three games (a 71.3 percentage).
 
*Senior Caleb Wood and sophomore Ryan Betley shared scoring honors for the Quakers, with 12 points each. For Betley, it was his team-high 23rd double-digit scoring game this season, while Wood did it for the 12th time (and the third in a row).
 
*Junior Max Rothschild scored 11 points, his 11th double-figure scoring game this season.
 
*Senior Darnell Foreman was held scoreless for the first time this season, but he made up for it with a career-high 11 rebounds. That was three above his previous career best.

*Sophomore Devon Goodman scored nine points, giving him 36 in the last three games after he scored a combined 35 in Penn's first 24 contests; he also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 19 minutes.

*Junior Jackson Donahue saw just his second action in the past 10 games but made the most of it, hitting a pair of three-pointers en route to eight points in seven minutes.

*Junior Collin McManus matched his season high in points (2) and his season/career best in rebounds (2) while also dishing off an assist.

*Junior Antonio Woods had four assists, one shy of his season high, and also recorded five points and two boards.
 
How It Happened
The Quakers jumped all over the Big Green early on Friday, scoring the game's first nine points and forcing Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin to take a timeout. That seemed to settle the Big Green down, and they got as close as 11-6 before the Quakers were able to continue taking control. The lead was double digits before the first half reached the midway points, and an 11-0 run near the end of the period extended the Red and Blue to a 39-19 advantage by halftime.
 
Miles Wright scored the opening points of the second half for Dartmouth, and then Chris Knight answered an AJ Brodeur bucket. That was as close as the Big Green got in the period, 18 points, and Penn really put it away with a 6-0 run early in the period that made the score 52-27. The Red and Blue's largest lead on the night was 33 points, and it happened three different times down the stretch as head coach Steve Donahue was able to sub liberally and get his regulars a breather ahead of tomorrow night's showdown.
 
Up Next
Penn and Harvard will tip off at 7 p.m. on Saturday.