PRINCETON GAMEDAY: WIN OVER PENN GIVES TIGERS PIECE OF IVY TITLE
WHO: Penn (17-11, 9-4) at Princeton (18-8, 9-4) WHEN: Saturday, Noon, Jadwin Gymnasium
TV/ RADIO: ESPNNEWS; ESPN+/ Princeton Sports Network
LAST TIME OUT:
Princeton def. Harvard, 58-56; Penn def. Dartmouth, 89-79
STREAK: Princeton W1; Penn W8
SERIES HISTORY: Penn leads, 126-120. The Tigers have closed the gap in the all-time series in recent years with seven wins in a row and a 23-6mark dating back to the 2008-09season. That includes a 72-60victory on Jan. 16at The Palestra.
KENPOM RANK: Princeton 123; Penn 131 NCAA NET RANK: Princeton 117; Penn 139 WHAT’S AT STAKE: The winner earns themselves at least a share of the Ivy League title and no worse than the No. 2seed for the Ivy Tournament. The path for the Princeton/Penn winner to the No. 1seed is by winning the regular-season title outright, and that can only happen if Brown beats Yale (19-7, 9-4) in a game that tips off at 7:30p.m. The Princeton/Penn loser is the No. 3 seed. The tournament field will be rounded out with either Brown (14-12, 7-6) or Cornell (1610, 6-7) in the No. 4 spot. The Bears are in the driver’s seat and can clinch a top-four spot for the first time by beating Yale. If Brown loses, that opens the door for Cornell, but Brian Earl’s team must be last-place Columbia in a 2p.m. tip.
This is the final home game for seniors Tosan Evbuomwan, Ryan Langborg, Keeshawn Kellman, Jacob O’Connell and Konrad Kiszka. Evbuomwan is bidding for back-to-back Ivy Player of the Year nods. The forward out of Newcastle, England is averaging 14.5points, 6.2rebounds and 4.8assists. In 13 confrence games, he’s putting up 16.4points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.7assists. … Caden Pierce was Ivy Rookie of the Week for the fourth time after he scored nine points and hauled down eight rebounds against Harvard. He is averaging 7.7 points and 6.7 rebounds for the season and is in the running for Rookie of the Year. … The Tigers held on for a victory over Harvard last time out when they held the Crimson to 32.8% shooting for one of their better defensive performances of the season. Those had been hard to come by for a team that had given up 82 points or more in five of seven games before last Saturday’s victory. SCOUTING PENN: There’s no hotter team in the Ivy League than Steve Donahue’s Quakers. Penn has ripped off eight straight victories since it lost back-to-back games against Princeton and Yale in January. In six February wins, the Quakers scored 80or more points four times. … Guard Jordan Dingle may be slightly ahead of Evbuomwan in the Ivy Player of the Year race. The junior is averaging 23.4points, which ranks second nationally to Detroit Mercy scoring machine Antoine Davis (Davis came up three points shy of matching Peter Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record of 3,667). Dingle has scored in double figures in 35consecutive games, including 21games of 20or more this season. … In the first meeting between the teams, the Quakers failed to make a 3-pointer, going 0-for-12