On a day when Cornell, Harvard, and Yale all enjoyed stellar offensive games, Penn failed to go along with the trend, turning in its second-worst offensive performance of the season in a disheartening loss to Saint Joseph’s. Tonight Princeton looks to avoid breaking another ignominious record in its — and the Ivy League’s — final non-league game of the regular season.
Quakers fold down the stretch
Should Penn make the NCAA Tournament this season as appears likely, the Quakers almost certainly won’t be given anything better than a 14 seed — even if they go 14-0 in the Ivy League. Last night’s loss saw to that. Penn wasted a stellar defensive effort by missing open shot after open shot, then fouling repeatedly down the stretch to keep the Hawks in the game when they couldn’t buy a field goal. Penn shot 28.0 percent and registered just six assists as a team — the lowest team assist total since a five-assist night at Kentucky back on November 17, 2000. But even with the offense sputtering, the Quakers found themselves leading late, only to allow an 8-0 Saint Joseph’s run to end the game.
Cornell guards exact revenge
After losing in heartbreaking fashion last weekend in Ithaca, Adam Gore and Graham Dow made certain there would be no repeat this time around in Manhattan. The Big Red guards exploded for a combined 47 points as an emotional Cornell team won its first game after Khaliq Gant’s injury.
Harvard and Yale take care of business
We’ve seen Jim Goffredo blow up once already this season when he dropped 33 on Dartmouth in the first league game of the season. Brown fans at The Pitz had to endure an even more impressive shooting performance by the Harvard junior, who drilled seven straight three-pointers at one point and singlehandedly led Harvard on a decisive 16-3 run. Meanwhile, Dartmouth stuck around for most of the game in New Haven, but Yale’s hot shooting was too much for the Big Green. Yale’s sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth sets up a huge upcoming roadtrip at the Ps next weekend.
Sharing is definitely better
This Princeton team is already guaranteed of a share of the school record for fewest non-league wins in the Ivy League Era. A loss tonight at Davidson gives this year’s Tiger squad sole ownership of that dubious distinction and lets the 1961-62 team off the hook. Joe Scott has had a long time to try to figure out a solution to his teams’ struggles. Princeton is coming off a two-week layoff for exams and hasn’t played since the home loss to Cornell back on January 14. The host Wildcats are 12-7 on the year and are coming off a blowout win over Elon, their main competition for the Southern Conference automatic bid. Princeton’s going to need to figure out a way to score, because Davidson is a Top 75 club offensively. And fouling would be a bad idea, as the Wildcats rank third in the nation in free throw shooting at 79.2 percent.
