PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team led almost the entire way Saturday at The Palestra against archrival Princeton, but the Quakers could only exhale when Dalen Davis' last-second fallaway jumper slid off the front rim. That gave Penn a 61-60 victory on a festive day at the Cathedral of College Basketball.
Princeton—which hadn't led since 8-6 early in the game—had the chance to win it on the game's final possession. The Tigers put the ball in the hands of their leader, but Penn sophomore guard
AJ Levine blanketed him throughout the possession and forced Davis into a fallaway. The shot kissed the front of the rim and bounced off.
Both teams are now 4-4 in Ivy League play. Penn improved to 11-10 overall while Princeton fell to 8-15.
Quaker Notemeal
*The win was Penn's first against Princeton since the 2017-18 season, ending a 14-game losing streak to the Tigers.
*The all-time series between the Quakers and Tigers is now tied at 127-127.
*A clean game by both teams offensively, as they committed just seven turnovers each.
*Penn slightly outrebounded Princeton, 36-34, and had six blocked shots on the day.
*Junior
TJ Power led the offense, with 18 points on 6-11 shooting including a trio of treys. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
*Levine was the Quakers' other double-figure scorer, with 13 points. He also stuffed the stat sheet with three rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals.
*How about freshman
Jay Jones? He played more than 22 minutes on Saturday and led the Red and Blue with eight rebounds to go with six points and two assists.
*Another freshman,
Dalton Scantlebury, also had six points and pulled down four boards.
*Sophomore
Lucas Lueth had a productive 14 minutes with five points and four rebounds (three on the offensive glass).
*Princeton put four players in double digits, led by Malik Abdullahi who posted a double-double (12 points/11 rebounds) and dished out four assists. Jacob Huggins led the Tigers with 14 points, Jackson Hicke flirted with a double-double (10 points/9 rebounds) and Davis finished the day with 10 points and four assists.
How It Happened
Princeton led early, 8-6, but Power scored on consecutive possessions—once inside the arc, once outside—and Penn never trailed again on the day. Another Power bucket made it 16-9, but the Tigers came back with six in a row to get within one at the under-12 media.
A Davis jumper made the score 24-21 with a little more than four minutes left in the first half, but Power hit a pair of free throws and then
Michael Zanoni scored the game's next five points to get the Quakers to a double-digit lead. A Scantlebury hook shot followed, making it a 9-0 run and a 33-21 margin, and the Quakers took a 35-25 lead to the locker room.
Augustus Gerhart put Penn up by 12 early in the second, but the Tigers responded with the game's next eight points over a span of nearly three minutes the Quakers went scoreless for more than four minutes. Levine ended the drought with a nice lefty layup, and then Power followed with a triple from the left wing that got the margin back to nine (44-35) and forced Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson to call a timeout.
The margin was back to double digits (50-40) as the second half reached its midpoint, but Princeton wasn't done. The Quakers again went silent, going more than four minutes without a point, and the Tigers chipped away until they were within four. However, Lueth ended the drought with a three-pointer from the right corner and then Jones knocked down his own triple from up top to put Penn back up by eight with 5:34 left, 56-48. A minute later, Gerhart and Power played a little give-and-go that led to a Gerhart dunk for a 58-51 lead.
As it turned out, Penn would score only one more time the rest of the way. That came when Power finished a little tic-tac-toe passing from Levine and drilled a trey from the right corner with 1:19 left. (Credit Gerhart with a hockey assist on the play.) That provided some separation after Princeton had gotten within one.
Davis answered Power's three by dialing long distance as the clock went inside a minute, making the score 61-60. Penn worked the shot clock down but
Ethan Roberts was unable to convert in the paint. That gave the Tigers one final chance to steal the win, but the Quakers were able to hold on.
Up Next
Penn continues this stretch of home games with a pair next weekend, the Quakers hosting Columbia on Friday at 7 p.m. and Cornell on Saturday at 6 p.m.
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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