City of Basketball Love

Zach Drapkin (@ZachDrapkin)
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When Princeton spoiled the Palestra’s 90th anniversary and dropped Penn’s conference record to 0-6 on Feb. 7, Quakers head coach Steve Donahue said there was still “a lot of basketball left to be played.”

Boy, was he right about that.

Penn won its next five Ivy League games, and after a short two-game skid, the Quakers sunk Harvard on Saturday in a do-or-die situation to advance to the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, where they will have a second shot at Princeton on their home floor.

This time, however, a trip to the tournament final is on the line.

“This was always the motivation,” Donahue said. “Knowing that the tournament was in our building, the possibility of not being in it would have been really heartbreaking.”

Holding the tournament at the Cathedral of College Basketball only adds to the mystique of installment number 237 in the third-oldest NCAA Division I rivalry, the historic, century-spanning brawl between the Ancient Eight’s top basketball powers.

Princeton has won the last seven meetings, including both of this year’s regular-season contests, and has yet to lose a game in the Ivy League this season.

That means Penn (13-14, 6-8), in addition to exacting revenge and, more importantly, making it to the NCAA Tournament, has its sights set on taming a giant and a bitter rival.

“When we sell the program, we talk about games like this,” Donahue said. “We’ve not talked about a playoff before, but Penn-Princeton with so much on the line, in this building -- that’s why these kids come here. You’ve got the stage you want, you’ve got national TV, you’ve got obviously the NCAA tournament on the line. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Every game has been a must-win for the Quakers since their loss to the Tigers (21-6, 14-0) early last month, and their game has thrived as a result, giving them the confidence to rattle off those five straight wins.

With their backs against the wall, the Quakers have stepped up, and when they come out onto the court on Saturday afternoon, they’re confident they’ll be able do so once again.

“It’s really just clear how much more we want it now, how much crisper we are, how much cleaner we are, and playing like that going forward,” freshman AJ Brodeur said, “I think that Princeton is going to be seeing a different team this weekend.”

Penn, however, will not be seeing much of a changed Princeton team at all. Ivy League Coach of the Year Mitch Henderson comes in with his tried and tested lineup of Ivy League Player of the Year Spencer Weisz (10.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.6 spg), unanimous All-Ivy First Teamer Steven Cook (13.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.6 spg), Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Myles Stephens (11.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg), All-Ivy honorable mention Devin Cannady (13.7 ppg), and Pete Miller (2.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg), along with sixth man Amir Bell (6.3 ppg).

The Tigers’ roster features 12 upperclassmen and a group that has developed very strong chemistry the last couple of season, a characteristic which has helped it throughout the season.

“[Princeton] outplayed us pretty handily, I thought, both games. We did not play well, we didn’t execute well,” Donahue said. “We didn’t play anywhere near where I think we’re capable of playing.

“Teams have played them well and they figured out ways to win. With the veteran group they have, that’s the poise that they play with,” he added. “It’s probably the key thing that makes them win.”

Au contraire, underclassmen have been the key for Penn. Brodeur has led the Quakers with 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, earning Second Team All-Ivy honors along the way, while fellow freshman Ryan Betley (11.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg) has also emerged as a top offensive threat.

Devon Goodman’s role has increased as the season has progressed as well, with the freshman averaging 9.1 ppg over the final eight games of the season as a reserve.

“They’re just really good freshmen,” senior Matt Howard said.” They’re really mature, they’re not afraid of the big moment, and that’s really helped us this season.”

It was Howard (12.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg), however, who starred for Penn in the 75-72 win over Harvard. The veteran wing, playing his 100th game in red and blue, went for 24 points and 12 rebounds to keep it neck-and-neck, and with the game tied at 72 and 6.3 seconds to go, another underclassman, sophomore Jackson Donahue, drained the game-winning three.

The momentum Penn takes from that game and their miraculous end-of-season run into the uncharted waters of Ivy Madness will be monumental in determining their fortune, not just against Princeton, but against the winner of the Harvard-Yale game as well if the Quakers get that far.

Over the final eight games, the Quakers acquired a certain swagger, a verve, one that can only come from making it out of the doghouse in the way they did.

Now, it’s time to put that confidence to the test.

“Coach always says that we should play our next game how we played when we were 0-6, because we really came out with a certain type of fire, a certain type of passion,” Brodeur said. “We’re confident that we can hang with and beat every team in this conference.”

“We definitely sense how big of a game this is and how historic or how big this moment is, but we’re ready for it,” Howard added. “Once the ball tips off, it’s just a basketball game.”

As much as Penn will try to play it down, this tournament is the culmination of an incredibly strenuous trek. It’s not just any occasion; it’s March Madness.

It’s a chance to make it to the big dance.

“This is what we worked for,” Donahue said. “Let’s go.”

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Brief Look at Harvard-Yale
Postseason action at the Palestra is familiar activity for both the second-seeded Harvard Crimson and the third-seeded Yale Bulldogs, who faced off in Philadelphia for a one-game playoff in 2015 to decide which team would advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Both teams have changed since then, but their level of competition has remained the same, with Harvard just a game ahead of Yale in the Ivy League standings.

The Crimson took home the W the first two times these two programs met this season, but with Yale riding a three-game win streak and Harvard coming off a pair of losses to Penn and Princeton, the momentum is swinging in the Bulldogs’ favor this time around.

It’s the first time anyone’s ever encountered Ivy Madness; who knows what could happen?

Here’s a look at the two sides heading into Saturday:

No. 2 Harvard: After a down year last season, Harvard returned to the top half of the conference, riding three separate five-plus-game win streaks over the course of the season. Freshmen Bryce Aiken (14 ppg) and Seth Towns (12.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg) led the team in scoring -- Aiken picking up Ivy League Rookie of the Year and All-Ivy First Team honors -- and Siyani Chambers (10.1 ppg, 6.1 apg) put in a fourth strong year to cap off his senior year. The Crimson should be favored against Yale after winning by a combined 21 points over

No. 3 Yale: The Bulldogs lost a lot of players before the season even started -- Justin Sears and Brandon Sherrod graduated and Makai Mason suffered a broken foot -- but managed to put together a solid campaign which included wins over Washington and Lehigh in the first two games. Freshman and All-Ivy Second Team selection Miye Oni (13 ppg, 6.4 rpg) stepped up big time while senior Sam Downey (11.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg) was an all-league honorable mention. Yale has an uphill battle to return to the NCAA Tournament, but on the heels of wins against Dartmouth, Cornell, and Columbia, now would be the time for the Bulldogs to heat up.

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Players to Watch
Bryce Aiken (Fr./Harvard): The first freshman to lead the Crimson in scoring since 1987-88, Aiken has been incredibly difficult on opposing defenses, dropping 14 ppg en route to being named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and an All-Ivy First Teamer.

AJ Brodeur (Fr./Penn): Steve Donahue struck gold with Brodeur, the Quakers’ 6-8 big man and Second Team All-Ivy selection. Brodeur led Penn with 13.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 2.4 bpg in his first collegiate season; he possesses a solid arsenal of inside moves but can shoot from midrange and even three-point land if called upon.

Siyani Chambers (Sr./Harvard): After missing out on last season due to a torn ACL, Chambers returned as a senior to lead the conference in assists (6.1 apg) and help Harvard to a second-place regular season finish. An All-Ivy First Team selection, Chambers also scores 10.1 ppg and is no stranger to the postseason, having played in the NCAA Tournament in each of his three previous seasons.

Miye Oni (Fr./Yale): For a Yale team devastated by the loss of Makai Mason after it graduated three key seniors from last year’s NCAA Tournament run, Oni’s emergence was crucial. The 6-6 rookie led the Bulldogs to a 9-5 record in conference play with 13 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 2.8 apg.

Myles Stephens (So./Princeton): A sophomore on a team full of upperclassmen, Stephens broke into the rotation and proved this season he’s a monster all over the court, earning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and All-Ivy First Team honors. Averaging 11.9 ppg, he has shot at least 50% from the field in 19 of Princeton’s 27 games.

Spencer Weisz (Sr./Princeton): The Ivy League Player of the Year and a unanimous All-Ivy First Team selection, Weisz was monumental to the Tigers’ 14-0 regular season record. He ranks 13th on Princeton’s all-time scoring list with 1,210 points and fourth in program history in assists with 370 over his career.

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Tournament Schedule
Semifinal 1: No. 4 Penn vs No. 1 Princeton -- Sat., Mar. 11, 1:30 PM
Semifinal 2: No. 3 Yale vs No. 2 Harvard -- Sat., Mar. 11, 4:00 PM
Final: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner -- Sun., Mar. 12, 12:00 PM