Gamecenter: Princeton 35, Penn 48

1st 2nd Final
Princeton (10-11, 1-6 Ivy) 19 16 35
Penn (15-8, 6-1 Ivy) 27 21 48
The Palestra – Philadelphia, PA Boxscore
 
Postgame audio
Princeton: Joe Scott
Penn: Glen Miller/Brian Grandieri/Mark Zoller
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Princeton took advantage of a Penn scoring drought lasting 7:31 to tie the game at 29 on a Lincoln Gunn free throw at the 11:24 mark of the second half — but the Quakers came right back. A Steve Danley layup put Penn back on top to stay, and after Princeton missed two threes on its next possession, Kevin Steuerer sent Mark Zoller to the line, where the senior cashed in two free throws. Neither team scored over over two minutes until Darren Smith found Zoller for a layup to stretch the margin to six. An over-the-back call on Kyle Koncz resulted in two Brian Grandieri free throws, before Grandieri made it a double-digit game with a jumper in the paint. After the two teams traded misses, Ibby Jaaber jumped out on a Justin Conway pass to the top of the key and took it the other way for a two-handed slam to ignite the home crowd and cap off a 12-0 Quaker run that made it 41-29 with 5:07 left.
Key sign it was over The Tigers eventually scored with 4:03 left to end their own 7:21 scoring dry spell, and a second straight bucket cut Penn’s lead to eight with 3:10 to play. The Quakers broke the press, and Grandieri drove and dished to Zoller for an easy layup. Smith hit one of two free throws with 1:31 remaining to push the Penn lead to 44-33, and after a Marcus Schroeder turnover, Danley’s two-for-two performance at the line gave the Quakers a 46-33 lead with just 73 seconds on the clock.
Key performance Zoller. The senior forward continued his strong stretch in Ivy play with a 17-point (6-for-10 field goals), eight-rebound performance. Zoller paced Penn with 11 first-half points and chipped in four during the decisive 12-0 run midway through the second half.
Key statistic Although Penn shot only 65.2 percent from the free throw line, the Quakers had 17 more free throw attempts and 12 more points from the line than the Tigers. Penn was content to pound the ball inside all night, finding itself in the bonus just under eight minutes into the second half. Princeton would draw only 11 personal fouls on the night, while being called for 21 themselves.
Notes

– Gunn was the top scorer for Princeton with eight points, despite shooting just 3 of 10 from the floor and 1 of 7 from three.

– Grandieri chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds for the Quakers, and while Jaaber’s shooting woes continued with a 3-for-11 night and only eight points, he did have six steals and three assists.

– Koncz did not start, but came off the bench to play 20 minutes, finishing with six points on 2-of-6 shooting (2 of 5 from three) and a career-high seven rebounds.

– Tuesday’s game marked the third time in seven Ivy games that Princeton had finished with 3 points. The Tigers’ scoring output was the lowest total by a Penn opponent since 1972 and their 0.62 points per possession was the second-lowest offensive efficiency by an Ivy team this year (Dartmouth’s 0.50 at Kansas is the lowest).

– After shooting 1-for-10 in Saturday’s win over Harvard, Penn only attempted eight three-pointers against Princeton. Darren Smith hit the only Quaker three just 11 seconds into the game.

– Princeton’s bench outscored Penn’s 15-2. It was the Quakers’ second-lowest bench total of the season, next to the scoreless performance by Penn reserves against Drexel.

– The Tigers rebounded at 24.2 percent offensively, but held the Quakers to a mere 17.6 percent at their offensive end, outscoring their hosts 5-3 in second-chance points.

– Princeton lost the turnover battle 17-8.

– The Ps will host the Cs this weekend, with Penn and Columbia (13-9, 4-4 Ivy) hooking up on Friday, February 16 at 7:00 pm ET, and Princeton welcoming Cornell (13-9, 6-2 Ivy) to Jadwin Gym at 7:30 pm ET.

Daniel McQuade

Daniel McQuade wrote 21 posts

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