PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team put itself behind the 8-ball a bit by dropping a pair of early-season meetings with Ivy League travel partner and rival Princeton. As the calendar turns to February, the Quakers face six straight weekends of Ivy play. The first two are on the road, starting this Friday and Saturday when the Red and Blue make the New York swing and face Cornell then Columbia.
 
Friday's game with the Big Red will tip off at 5 p.m. and air nationally on ESPNU. Saturday's game with Columbia is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Both games are part of a doubleheader with the Penn women; Friday's schedule will see the men play first followed by the women, and then Saturday's schedule has the women playing first (at 5:30 p.m.) followed by the men.
 
GAME 19 – PENN (12-6, 0-2 Ivy League) at CORNELL (9-9, 1-1)
Friday, Feb. 1, 2019 | 5 p.m.
Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Watch (ESPNU) | Listen (WNTP 990 AM) | Live Stats | Penn Game Notes | Cornell Game Notes
 
GAME 20 – PENN at COLUMBIA (6-10, 1-1)
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 | 8 p.m.
Levien Gymnasium (New York City)
Watch (ESPN+) | Listen (WNTP 990 AM) | Live Stats | Columbia Game Notes
 
NEW IN 2018-19: The Ivy League on ESPN
Saturday's game, as well as all Ivy League games the rest of the season, will air on ESPN+ as part of The Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.  
 
The Ivy League's New York Road Swing
• Penn is making this road trip for the 60th time since the start of Ivy League play. The Quakers have swept the weekend 23 times, split it 26 times, and been swept 10 times.
 
• Penn swept this trip last season. Prior to that, the Quakers had split the trip five straight times, the loss coming at Columbia each time. The last time the Red and Blue went winless on this trip was 2010-11.
 
The Series with Cornell
• The Quakers and Big Red are meeting for the 231st time on Friday, with Penn holding a 156-74 lead in the series. Penn has more wins against Cornell than any other program.
 
• Penn has won 11 in a row over Cornell and 13 of the last 14. That includes a sweep last year, when the Quakers took a 69-61 decision at The Palestra in Philadelphia and followed up with a 79-71 win here in Ithaca.
 
• Penn has won seven in a row at Newman Arena, dating back to the 2011-12 season.
 
The Series with Columbia
• The Quakers and Lions are meeting for the 234th time on Saturday, with Penn holding a 142-91 lead in the series. Only Princeton (115) has more wins over Penn than Columbia.
 
• Penn earned a season sweep of Columbia last year, its first since the 2011-12 season. Prior to last season, the last time the Quakers swept the Lions in two regulation games was 2006-07.
 
• Levien Gym has proven a tough place for Penn in recent years; the Quakers are just 4-9 at Levien Gym dating back to the 2005-06 season, with one of the wins coming by two points and another by just one point (on a buzzer-beater).
 
Fun Stuff to Know
• For the first time in program history, Penn had 10 wins prior to the New Year.
 
• Penn finished 12-4 in non-conference games this season; the last time the Quakers had a better record was the 2001-02 season when they went 13-3.
 
• Penn went 4-0 in Philadelphia Big 5 play and won the city series for the first time since 2001-02 (also 4-0); prior to that, the last time the Quakers went 4-0 in Big 5 play was 1973-74.
 
• Junior AJ Brodeur has a streak of 12 straight double-figure scoring games—averaging 18.0 ppg over the last ten contests—with four double-doubles during that stretch.
 
• Nine different players have scored in double figures in a game this year; four have reached 20 points in a game; and three have had double-doubles.
 
Penn by the Numbers
25.0 • Penn's win percentage in its first 20 regular-season Ivy League games under head coach Steve Donahue (5-15).
 
75.0 • Penn's win percentage in its last 24 regular-season Ivy League games under Donahue (18-6).
 
24 • The combined number of points Penn has lost by in its last six Ivy League regular-season losses.
 
0 • Two-point baskets scored so far this season by senior Jackson Donahue (no relation to Coach Donahue); all 15 of his made field goals have come from beyond the arc.
 
2.22 • Penn's assist/turnover ratio (40/18) over the last two games, wins against Temple and Saint Joseph's.
 
3 • Points scored by junior Ryan Betley in Penn's season opener, when he drained a three-pointer on Penn's first possession of 2018-19; less than five minutes later he ruptured his patellar tendon, and so last year's leading scorer is out for the remainder of the season.
 
4 • Penn players with at least 30 assists this season: seniors Antonio Woods (49) and Max Rothschild (32) and juniors Brodeur (team-high 63) and Devon Goodman (47); another senior, Jake Silpe, has 26 assists.
 
5 • NCAA Division 1 players this year from China, including freshman Michael Wang. He shares the distinction with Michael Ou (Cal State Northridge), Johnny Wang (Cal State Fullerton), Kevin Zhang (Tulane) and James Zhao (California).
 
7 • Combined Big 5 wins for the Penn men's (4-0) and women's (3-1) basketball teams this year, a record. The previous mark of five was only achieved once, in 2001-02 (men 4, women 1).
 
8 • Games this season in which Penn has hit more than 10 three-point shots; the most recent came last Saturday vs. Saint Joseph's, when the Quakers hit 14.
 
12 • Points scored by Wang in last Saturday's win over Saint Joseph's; he was injured early in Penn's 12/29 game at Toledo and had scored just 14 points in the five games prior to the Hawks.
 
14 • Points scored by junior Kuba Mijakowski over a span of 15:33 in the first half on January 19 at Temple; he entered the game with 28 career points, just 14 of them against Division 1 competition.
 
23 • Points scored last Saturday by freshman Bryce Washington against Saint Joseph's, a season/career high; he also had season/career bests in rebounds (10), assists (4) and three-point baskets (6).
 
24 • Penn wins last season, most since the Quakers had 25 in 2001-02. All time, the Red and Blue have had nine seasons with 24 or more victories.
 
41 • Penn players who have scored 1,000 career points all-time, after Brodeur reached the mark at Toledo on December 29; he enters the weekend with 1,093 points.
 
51.8 • Penn's field-goal percentage in its 12 wins this season; on the flip side, the Quakers' field-goal percentage in its six losses is 34.6.
 
72.7 • Penn's assist-to-basket ratio over the last two games (40 assists on 55 baskets).
 
201 • Points scored by Brodeur over the last 12 games, all double-digit outings; he has 180 in the last ten contests, an 18.0 per-game average.