City of Basketball Love

Zach Drapkin (@ZachDrapkin)
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Although the Palestra celebrated 90 years on Tuesday night, Penn wasn’t able to celebrate a victory, falling 64-49 to Princeton and dropping to 0-6 in Ivy League play.

At First…

Princeton hopped out to an early 22-10 lead thanks to a seven-minute Penn scoring drought midway through the first half. The Tigers were feeling it from long range, going 9-for-14 on three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes, and the team took a 39-27 lead into the break, behind 14 points from Spencer Weisz, who went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first, and 10 points from Myles Stephens.

Turning Point…

With Penn unable to cut the deficit to single digits, another 13-4 Tigers run brought the lead up to 19, 54-35, with 9:49 remaining in the contest. It was a coast to the finish from there, as Princeton never gave the Quakers a chance to claw back into the game, holding Penn to just 22 points over the course of the second half. In the end, Princeton took home a 64-49 victory to improve to 6-0 in Ivy League competition.

Standout Stars…

Weisz’s shooting was on the money for Princeton; the 6-4 senior forward made six of his 10 three-point attempts en route to a 22-point performance to lead the Tigers. His stellar night was coupled with a great showing from Stephens, who finished with 16 points.

The Quakers were led by AJ Brodeur (10 points, six rebounds) and Darnell Foreman (11 points). Sam Jones had 10 points and Max Rothschild added six points, five rebounds, and four assists as well for Penn.

Noteworthy Numbers…

90: Penn didn’t play too well on Tuesday, but the story of the night was still the celebration of its historic arena, the Palestra, which celebrated its 90th birthday.

64.3%: The Tigers were able to jump out to an early lead thanks to lights-out shooting from beyond the arc. Princeton shot 9-for-14 (64.3%) from deep in the first half to take a 12-point advantage into the break.

Up Next…

Penn (7-12, 0-6 Ivy) vs Columbia (10-9, 4-2 Ivy) -- Fri., Feb. 10, 7 PM

Princeton (13-6, 6-0 Ivy) vs Cornell (6-15, 2-4 Ivy) -- Fri., Feb. 10, 7 PM