PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team plays its only true traditional Ivy League road weekend this Friday and Saturday, and it's a big one as the Quakers make the Empire State swing to face Columbia and Cornell.
 
All three teams are 2-3 in league play and a game out of second place—with three teams holding 3-2 marks—as the conference season hits its midpoint this weekend. It has become apparent that every win will hold massive importance the rest of the way as the league appears to be a jumble in 2025-26.
 
GAME 19 – PENN (9-9, 2-3 Ivy League) at COLUMBIA (13-6, 2-3)
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 | 7 p.m.
New York City | Levien Gym
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
 
GAME 20 – PENN at CORNELL (9-9, 2-3)
https://cornellbigred.com/sports/mens-basketball
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 | 6 p.m.
Ithaca, N.Y. | Newman Arena
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
 
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Columbia Notes (PDF) | Cornell Notes (PDF)
 
Ivy League on ESPN+
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy games and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ again this season with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
Quaker Audio Network (QAN)
Fans can listen to the entire 2025-26 Penn's men's basketball season through the Quaker Audio Network, a free Internet-based audio streaming service. Matt Leon will be on the play-by-play call again this season, with Stan Pawlak providing analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Columbia/Cornell Road Trip
*Penn is making this daunting double dip for the 65th time overall; the only time the Quakers haven't made it since the start of Ivy League play was 2023-24.
 
*The Quakers have swept this trip 25 times—most recently in 2021-22, coincidentally the last time they played the Lions Friday and the Big Red Saturday—split it 29 times (including last season and 2022-23), and been swept ten times (most recently in 2010-11).
 
The Series with Columbia
*The Quakers and Lions are meeting for the 246th time overall, with Penn holding a 151-94 lead in the series.
 
*Penn has won three in a row, six of the last seven, eight of the last 10, and 11 of the last 14 matchups. In addition, the Red and Blue are 6-1 in their last seven trips to Levien Gym, the lone loss coming two years ago (84-81 on January 27, 2024).
 
*Penn swept last season's series, taking a 93-78 decision at The Palestra in Philadelphia and then a 92-87 decision at Levien. They were the Quakers' two highest-scoring games last season.
 
The Series with Cornell
*The Quakers and Big Red are meeting for the 243rd time overall, with Penn holding a 162-80 lead in the series; the Quakers have beaten Cornell and Dartmouth more times (162) than any of their other Ivy rivals.
 
*That said, Cornell has won the last four meetings and five of the last six. Penn's last win was a 92-86 decision at The Palestra on February 4, 2023, and the Quakers' last win in Ithaca came on February 5, 2022 (73-68).
 
*Cornell swept last season's games, taking an 86-76 decision at The Palestra in Philadelphia and then romping the Quakers at Newman, 90-62.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
3 - Starting lineups so far this season for Penn; the Quakers went with the same starting five in each of their first nine games; subbed Cam Thrower for an injured Ethan Roberts for three games; subbed Lucas Lueth for a sick Thrower vs. NJIT; and have been back to the original starting five for every Ivy game.
 
4 - Double-doubles recorded by junior TJ Power so far this season, one behind Dartmouth's Brandon Mitchell-Day for most among Ivy League players; he flirted with a fifth last Saturday vs. Yale, with 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
4.2 - Assists-per-game average by sophomore AJ Levine overall this season, second among Ivy League players behind Brown's Jeremiah Jenkins (5.5); Levine's average jumps to 4.6 apg in Ivy play.
 
5 - Penn players who have earned a weekly honor from the Ivy League or Philadelphia Big 5 so far this season: Power—who earned his second Big 5 Player of the Week honor of the season on January 19—Levine, Roberts, Michael Zanoni, and Dalton Scantlebury.
 
5 - Turnovers committed by Penn two weeks ago at Dartmouth, fewest by the Quakers in a game since they had just four vs. Princeton on March 9, 2024; Penn had just four in the final 31:04 of game time, and that came on a full-court inbounds play to end the first half.
 
7 - Different players who have led Penn in scoring and/or rebounds in a game this season; Levine became the seventh different leading scorer in a game with his 17 points last Saturday vs. Yale.
 
7.4 - Rebounds per game by Power, third among Ivy players behind Dartmouth's Mitchell-Day (9.2) and Yale's Nick Townsend (7.7).
 
17 - Offensive rebounds grabbed in five Ivy games by junior Augustus Gerhart, most among Ivy League players; he is seventh in total rebounds per game in league play (6.0) and sixth in rebounds per game in all contests (6.2).
 
19 - Free throws taken, and made, by Penn in its Ivy opener at Princeton; that is a program record dating back to the start of Ivy League play in 1956-57. The previous best 100-percent performance came on January 22, 2011 when the Quakers went 15-15 vs. Saint Joseph's.
 
19.5 - Roberts' overall points-per-game average this season, second behind Cornell's Cooper Noard (19.6 ppg).
 
22.2 - Roberts' points-per-game average in Ivy play entering the weekend, tops among Ivy players; Cornell teammates Jake Fiegen (21.0) and Noard (20.4) are second and third while Columbia's Kenny Noland is fifth (18.4 ppg).
 
23.2 - Foul shots averaged per game by Penn this season, tops among Ivy teams; Yale and Dartmouth are tied for second, at 21.1 attempts per game. Through five Ivy games, only Columbia (119) has taken more free throws than Penn (114).
 
38.4 - Penn's shooting percentage on three-point shots so far this season, good for 20th nationally entering the weekend; the Quakers are 34-93 (36.6 pct.) in Ivy play.
 
50 - Offensive rebounds grabbed overall this season by Gerhart, most among Ivy League players. Scantlebury is sixth among Ivy players in the category (39).
 
52 - Combined points scored by Power (27) and Roberts (25) two Saturdays ago at Dartmouth; the last time the Quakers had two 25-point scorers in the same game was November 26, 2022 when Clark Slajchert scored 33 and Jordan Dingle added 26 vs. Colgate in the inaugural Cathedral Classic.
 
93 - Points scored by Levine across Penn's last seven games (13.3 ppg), including 17 last Saturday vs. Yale which tied for game-high honors; prior to that, the sophomore had scored 41 in the Quakers' first 11 contests (3.7 ppg).
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.