It seems there are two distinct types of Penn-Princeton games: exciting, down-to-the-wire thrillers and boring, one-sided affairs. There is rarely any middle ground. Last night’s contest at The Palestra definitely fits into the latter category. Usually there are one or two memorable plays that stay with you, but it’s hard to come up with a single one from last night.

Largely unwatchable
The first half was ugly, but that was more the work of the high-energy defenses and struggling offenses than the officials. However, it looked like the officiating crew realized at halftime that it was going to fall well short of its foul quota and decided to take over the game. The only problem was that they missed some calls (like Mark Zoller’s trip of a driving Luke Owings) and got some others wrong (like David Whitehurst’s foul on Scott Greenman). The end result of this change in officiating philosophy was a parade to the free throw line. The two teams attempted more free throws (35) than field goals (34) in the second half and countless Quaker and Tiger fans undoubtedly had to endure derrogatory comments from disinterested significant others.

Costly missed opportunities for Princeton
Princeton missed a number of wide-open three-pointers and some decent inside looks in the first half. As a result, instead of being right there with Penn at halftime, the Tigers went into intermission down 10. Princeton couldn’t get within single digits the rest of the way, as Ibby Jaaber made big plays both times the Tigers pulled to within 10 points.

Win extends Penn’s recent dominance
With last night’s win, the Quakers have now won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the two schools. Since Princeton’s miraculous 27-point comeback in 1999, the Tigers have won just the two games in the 2000-01 season and the overtime finale in 2003-04. And given the way things look right now for the two programs, it’s hard to imagine Penn not making it 14 of 17.