PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team is back at home for the second weekend in a row, this time hosting Columbia and Cornell in a pair of important Ivy League games. The Quakers are currently tied for fifth place in the standings, two games behind the Big Red and Princeton who are tied for third place. The top four teams, of course, will advance to the Ivy League Tournament at Yale the weekend of March 16-17.
 
Both of this weekend's games are the second halves of doubleheaders, as the Penn women are also at home with the Lions and Big Red. Friday's twinbill starts at 5:30 p.m., while Saturday's begins at 4:30 p.m. All four games will air live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to our new Mandarin broadcasts for the four remaining home games; click here for more information.
 
GAME 25 – PENN (15-9, 3-5 Ivy League) vs. COLUMBIA (6-16, 1-7)
Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 | 8 p.m.
Macquarie Court at The Palestra (Philadelphia)
Watch (ESPN+) | Listen (WNTP 990 AM) | Live Stats | Penn Game Notes | Columbia Game Notes
 
GAME 26 – PENN vs. CORNELL (13-11, 5-3)
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 | 7 p.m.
Macquarie Court at The Palestra (Philadelphia)
Watch (ESPN+) | Listen (WNTP 990 AM) | Live Stats | Cornell Game Notes
 
NEW IN 2018-19: The Ivy League on ESPN
Both of this weekend's games, and 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.
 
Ivy Weekend 4 – Friday
  Dartmouth (2-6) at Yale (7-1), 7 p.m.
  Harvard (6-2) at Brown (3-5), 7 p.m.
  Columbia (1-7) at Penn (3-5), 8 p.m.
  Cornell (5-3) at Princeton (5-3), 8 p.m.
Ivy Weekend 4 - Saturday
  Dartmouth at Brown, 6 p.m.
  Harvard at Yale, 7 p.m.
  Cornell at Penn, 7 p.m.
  Columbia at Princeton, 8 p.m.
 
The Columbia-Cornell Home Weekend
• This marks the 60th time Penn has hosted the Lions and the Big Red on the same weekend at The Palestra. The Quakers have swept this weekend 44 times, split it 13 times, and been swept just twice (in 1968 and 2009).
 
• Penn has swept this weekend each of the last two years, four of the last five years, and five of the last seven.
 
The Columbia Series
• The Quakers and Lions are meeting for the 235th time on Friday, with Penn holding a 143-91 lead in the series after a 72-70 win in New York City on February 2. 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.
 
• Penn has won two in a row and seven of the last eight meetings with the Lions here at The Palestra.
 
The First Meeting (February 2)
AJ Brodeur led the Quakers with 24 points, while Devon Goodman scored 19 and Antonio Woods had 12. For Columbia, Gabe Stefanini had 27 points while Quinton Adlesh scored 15. Penn overcame Columbia shooting 70.8 percent from the field in the second half, though Stefanini had a game-tying shot attempt at the buzzer that was off the mark.
 
The Cornell Series
• The Quakers and Big Red are meeting for the 232nd time on Saturday, with Penn holding a 156-75 lead in the series. Penn has more wins against Cornell than any other program.
 
• Penn had won 11 in a row over Cornell and 13 of the last 14 prior to February 1, when the Big Red pinned an 80-71 loss on the Quakers in Ithaca, N.Y. That includes a sweep last year, when the Quakers took a 69-61 decision at The Palestra herein Philadelphia and followed up with a 79-71 win in Ithaca.
 
• Penn has won five in a row over the Big Red here at The Palestra, dating back to the 2012-13 season.
 
The First Meeting (February 1)
Penn led, 71-70, but Cornell scored the game's last 10 points over the final 2:13 at Newman Arena. Brodeur led four Penn players in double figures with 17 points, while Michael Wang had all 16 of his points in the second half. For Cornell, Matt Morgan—the Ivy League's second all-time leading scorer—had 25 points while Josh Warren added 19.
 
Brodeur Earns Big 5 Weekly Honors
Junior AJ Brodeur was named co-Big 5 Player of the Week on Monday, sharing the honor with Temple's Shizz Alston, Jr. Five different Penn players have earned Big 5 weekly honors this season.
 
Penn by the Numbers
1.41 • Assist/turnover ratio in Ivy League games for senior Antonio Woods entering the weekend (24/17); that is second among Ivy players, behind only Dartmouth's Brendan Barry (2.17).
 
2 • Double-doubles for Woods after he had 10 points and 10 rebounds last Friday vs. Dartmouth.
 
2 • Three-point baskets hit in a span of 1:21 of the first half by junior Ray Jerome against Dartmouth; he entered the game with two treys for his career.
 
4 • The number of overtime games played by Penn this season, most since they played five such games in 2010-11; the Quakers are 1-3 in OT this season, and 3-7 in such games in the Steve Donahue coaching era.
 
5 • NCAA Division 1 players this year from China, including freshman Michael Wang. He shares the distinction with Michael Ou (CSU Northridge), Johnny Wang (Cal State Fullerton), Kevin Zhang (Tulane) and James Zhao (Cal).
 
6 • Consecutive double-figure scoring games for junior Devon Goodman; he is averaging 17.0 ppg during that stretch.
 
10.0 • Points-per-game difference for Goodman from last year (3.8) to this year (13.8).
 
10 • Games this season in which Penn has hit more than 10 three-point shots; the Quakers have reached double figures in this category four of the last seven games and averaged 10.4 treys per game during that span.
 
12.2 • Average points per game by freshman Bryce Washington over a 10-game span before he was held scoreless last week vs. Harvard; he scored at least eight points nine times in that stretch.

15 • Field goals hit by Brodeur last Friday against Dartmouth, most by a Penn player since Hassan Duncombe hit 15 against Colgate on January 20, 1990.
 
18 • Consecutive double-figure scoring games by Brodeur entering the weekend; he has 333 points during the streak (18.5 ppg) including 312 points over the last 16 games (19.5 ppg).
 
26 • Brodeur's place on Penn's all-time scoring list, with 1,225 points.
 Dave Wohl (1,226) is 24th
 Phil Hankinson (1,236) is 23rd
 Barry Pierce (1,245) is 22nd
 Matt Maloney and Jack Eggleston (1,248) are tied for 20th
 
36 • Points scored by Brodeur vs. Dartmouth, a career high; the last 36-point game by a Penn player came February 4, 1995 when Matt Maloney scored 36 at Brown.
 
52.5 • Penn's field-goal percentage in its 15 wins this season; on the flip side, the Quakers' field-goal percentage in their nine losses is 36.2.
 
59 • Points scored by Brodeur last weekend vs. Dartmouth (36) and Harvard (23), most by a Penn player in an Ivy League weekend since Keven McDonald scored 61 at Yale (36) and Brown (25) in the 1977-78 season.