Remember When…

Princeton-Penn was “The Game” when it came to Ivy League hoops?

I do but it seems like it was eons ago that the Tigers mattered in the Ivy League while the Quakers have only recently been going through a downturn. For what it’s worth — and it’s not worth that much this season — the two sides went at tonight at the Palestra in a game that seems like it was more mixed martial arts then hoops as the two sides combined to commit 52 fouls and take 57 freebies in slugfest won 70-65 by the Quakers.

According to the Penn website, the 1.2 fouls committed per minute weren’t even the strangest part of this latest go-round between Ivy League powers in decline. Considering what went on, maybe it wasn’t:

*Penn’s Brian Grandieri was ejected from the game after not one but two technical fouls; they were the first two of the senior’s collegiate career.

*Princeton had not one but two players credited with six fouls in the game, as they were hit with technicals AFTER fouling out of the contest.

*Penn notoriously poor three-point shooting team had more treys on the night (5) than Princeton (3). To put that in perspective, the Tigers entered Tuesday night’s contest averaging nearly eight threes per game, while the Quakers were averaging less than five.

*The Tigers had a chance to tie the game on a final possession with 9.3 seconds left on the clock, but never got the ball inbounds because they were called for an intentional technical foul 65 feet away from where the ball was.

*Just three nights after combining for 42 points at Cornell, Andreas Schreiber and Harrison Gaines were shut out against the Tigers.

*Juniors Kevin Egee and Aron Cohen, who between them had two double-figure scoring games in their collegiate careers — one each — combined for 29 points, 15 for Egee and 14 for Cohen (both were career highs).http://www.hoopsjunkie.net/blog718/wp-admin/post-new.php
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But maybe the most bizarre aspect of the Quakers’ win? Penn, the worst foul-shooting team in the Ivy League entering the contest, won this game at the charity stripe. They did not miss a free throw in the first half, going 15-for-15, and ended the night 31-of-36 (86.1 percent).

I guess the Quakers and Tigers might still be worth watching even if it’s not “The Game” in Ivy League hoops this season. That contest will actually take place on Saturday February 23 when league-leading Cornell (14-5, 6-0) hosts second place Brown (12-8, 4-2).

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