IVY NOTES PG.1

[Old School]

BROWNGETTING INSIDE
It's tough enough to win in the Ivy League, but it's even more painful when a team goes on the road, rallies from early deficits to make it a game and then loses down the stretch.

Multiply that by two and it tells the story of Brown's weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth. The Bears lost 56-52 at Dartmouth on Friday and 92-88 at Harvard on Saturday, falling to 6-12 overall and 1-3 in the Ivy League.

"When you're that close, it's always frustrating just because you know it's a game you can win," junior guard Damon Huffman told the Brown Daily Herald. "That's part of the way the Ivy League works, and you always have to keep your head up because the Ivy League is basically a 14-game tournament."

The best possible news for Brown at this point is that it returns home for two games this weekend. The tough news for the Bears is that those games will be played against Penn and Princeton, the Ivy League's two perennial powers.

The Bears need to increase their chances of winning by getting off to better starts instead of waiting to make a late rally.

"We need the confidence as a team that when we step on the floor, we want to impose our style of play on the opposing team," junior guard Mark McAndrew said. "It's all about (coming) out of the gates knowing that your style and your ability to play basketball is better than theirs. I think some of those guys are now coming around and realizing that this is how we have to do it."

NOTES, QUOTES
?Brown shouldn't need any extra motivation to beat Penn and Princeton this weekend, but the Bears will get some anyway when they play their former coach. After seven years at Brown, coach Glen Miller left Providence last spring to become the head coach at Penn. Friday's game will be Miller's first game at the Pizzitola Center since his departure. "It's definitely a game we've been looking forward to since we get to play our own coach," junior guard Drew Huffman told the Brown Daily Herald. "It's a motivating factor, but you have to control your emotions. If you get too amped up, you won't play as focused as you should."

?While the Bears showed some toughness by rallying from deficits to get back in both games last week, they still lost primarily because they got off to such slow starts. The Bears fell behind 46-37 midway through the second half at Dartmouth and trailed 50-38 at Harvard with 10:01 left in the game.

?Brown did a good job getting to the free-throw line at Dartmouth, making 22-of-25 free throws, but it wasn't enough to overcome 18 turnovers. They got to the free-throw line again at Harvard, making 22-of-26 free throws, but it wasn't enough to overcome Harvard's 61.2 percent shooting from the floor or the Crimson's 25-of-30 free-throw shooting.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "The first trend (we need to reverse) is getting out to a better start. We put ourselves in a hole the first three minutes of (each) game. We need to come out with the mentality that we need to play hard all the time, not just when we're losing." ? Brown guard Drew Huffman.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Brown lost its leading scorer when 6-7 junior Keenan Jeppesen left the team on Dec. 1. At the time of his departure, Jeppesen was scoring 10.4 points per game. The Bears lost 6-10 junior forward Mark MacDonald, who left the team after averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. "They lost their passion to play," Brown coach Craig Robinson said. "I get along with both of those guys. They've both been in to see me and expect to stay at Brown."

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Mark McAndrew, G Marcus Becker, G Damon Huffman, F Scott Friske and C Nathan Eads. Key Subs ? G Chris Skrelja, F Sam Manhanga, F Matt Mullery, G Steve Gruber.

GAME REVIEW:

Brown 76, Yale 71

Dartmouth 56, Brown 52

Harvard 92, Brown 88

GAME PREVIEW:

Vs. Penn, Friday, Feb. 2

Vs. Princeton, Saturday, Feb. 3

At Cornell, Friday, Feb. 9

At Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 10

KEYS: The Bears were bigger than one player before Jeppesen left and they're still capable of competing when they use their combined efforts and talents, along with patience and persistence, to run their cutting-and-passing Princeton offense and their zone trap defense. That makes for long possessions on both ends of the court so building depth and hitting the 3-pointer are big keys for Brown. The Bears can really start helping themselves by getting off to better starts.

ROSTER REPORT: Junior guard Mark McAndrew came through with a big weekend for Brown, scoring 25 points against Dartmouth, making 5-of-11 field goals and 12-of-12 free throws. He came back the next night with 16 points against Harvard, knocking down 6-of-6 free throws. McAndrew has now connected on 20 consecutive free throws over the past three games.

Junior guard Damon Huffman and McAndrew have often carried the Bears this season. Huffman struggled at Dartmouth, scoring only eight points, but came back the next night at Harvard and scored 26 points, including 13-of-14 free-throw shooting.

Bench support has often been a shortcoming for Brown, but the reserves got the job done at Dartmouth, outscoring the Big Green bench, 32-16, with 18 points from Scott Friske and 10 from Colin Aldridge. At Harvard, the Bears slipped back into their old habits with just seven points off the bench.

_____________________________________________________________

COLUMBIA
GETTING INSIDE
Fortunately for Columbia, the Lions won't have to play Cornell again this season.

After losing 49-45 at home to Cornell the week before, the Lions travelled to Cornell and experienced a similar result, losing 56-51.

"Down the stretch they were able to make some plays ? a couple of loose balls, a couple of rebounds ? and they made a couple of big shots," Columbia coach Joe Jones told the Columbia Daily Spectator. "We're getting better, we're playing better, (but) we just had a tough time finishing the game off tonight."

Two close games and two closes losses later, the Lions are 10-18, 1-3 in the Ivy League and looking for a way to turn things around quickly.

It won't be easy this weekend with road games at Harvard and Dartmouth, especially for a Columbia team with a 2-5 road record.

NOTES, QUOTES
?Columbia's strength is its frontcourt with juniors Ben Nwachukwu and John Baumann giving the Lions a solid foundation. That base didn't hold up against Cornell last week when Nwachukwu and Baumann often double-teamed Cornell center Andrew Naeve and he still managed to score 11 points and grab 11 rebounds, with most of his production down the stretch in a close game. "He hurt us last game, so we were going to try to control the inside," Baumann said. "It was a focus of ours, but we didn't do a good enough job because we didn't win."

?In a game with 45 fouls, Columbia came out on the short end with 26 fouls. The Lions found themselves in the bonus with 12:22 left in the game, which allowed the Big Red to shoot 11 more free throws in the second half. For the game, the Lions made 11-of-19 free throws while Cornell made 17-of-30. "It was like Ali/Frazier at halftime of this game," Columbia coach Joe Jones said. "We went neck-and-neck, toe-to-toe, but they were able to withstand our punches, and we didn't get it done."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "You're just frustrated with the result. It's the second week in a row we've gone toe-to-toe with these guys, and we haven't come out on the better end." ? Columbia forward John Baumann.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Columbia returned all five starters from the 2005-06 season, but the Lions still don't have any seniors and currently have 10 freshmen or sophomores on the 16-man roster. Of the 10 players seeing the most minutes, five are juniors, two are sophomores and three are freshmen.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Mack Montgomery, G Niko Scott, G Brett Loscalzo, F John Baumann, C Ben Nwachukwu. Key Subs ? G Justin Armstrong, G Kevin Bulger, G Patrick Foley, G K.J. Matsui, F Jason Miller.

GAME REVIEW:

Penn 69, Columbia 43

Cornell 49, Columbia 45

Cornell 56, Columbia 51

GAME PREVIEW:

At Harvard, Friday, Feb. 2

At Dartmouth, Saturday, Feb. 3

Vs. Yale, Friday, Feb. 9

Vs. Brown, Saturday, Feb. 10

At Penn, Friday, Feb. 16

At Princeton, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: The Lions are at their best when they can work inside-out, building off the play of center Ben Nwachukwu and forward John Baumann to open up perimeter shots and driving lanes for their guards and wings. Now they need to do a better job of rebounding as a team and taking care of the ball in tight situations.

ROSTER REPORT: Columbia junior forward John Baumann continues to lead the Lions in both scoring and rebounding. With 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in 27 minutes in the loss to Cornell, Baumann leads Columbia with 12.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In four Ivy League games his scoring average is down to 11.3 points per game, but he's also grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting .548 from the field.

Baumann's post sidekick, junior center Ben Nwachukwu, averages 9.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game but continued to struggle against Cornell. After playing only 12 minutes and finishing with no points, four rebounds, two turnovers and three steals the previous week, Nwachukwu took only five shots last Friday at Cornell and finished with six points and six rebounds.

Working through the combination Baumann and Nwachukwu works well when the two post players get help from their teammates on the perimeter. They didn't get much help from starters Mack Montgomery, Niko Scott and Brett Loscalzo in the first game against Cornell, combining for just 11 points. Montgomery scored nine points in the second game against Cornell, but Scott and Loscalzo both went 0-for-4 from the field and combined for two points.

_____________________________________________________________

CORNELL
GETTING INSIDE
After winning 49-45 at Columbia the week before, Cornell returned home last week understanding what it would take to beat the Lions one week later.

"Playing the same team for the second time is more of a mental test," senior center Andrew Naeve told the Cornell Daily Sun. "Both teams know what the other is going to do. The game is going to be decided by hustle plays and mental toughness."

Cornell turned that understanding into a 56-51 win over Columbia.

"I think we realized how much of a mental game the second (game in the series) is," Naeve said. "This year I just saw a huge difference in our team from what we've been through losing games at the end when we should have been winning them."

With three consecutive Ivy League victories, the Big Red appears to be traveling a different path this season. At 10-8 overall, 3-1 in the Ivy, Cornell finds itself tied with Yale for second place in the league standings behind perennial Ivy power Penn at 2-0.

The next two steps on that path will take place this weekend when Cornell plays at Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday.

NOTES, QUOTES
?With a home win over Princeton and two consecutive victories over Columbia, Cornell's travel partner in the Ivy League, the Big Red is off to a strong start in its Ivy League schedule. Cornell also went 6-1 in January, its best month since going 8-0 in February 1988, so this could be the Big Red's year to make a run at the league title. Cornell won the league title that year, making it the last team other than Penn or Princeton to earn the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. "History tells you that you can't afford too many losses with teams outside Penn and Princeton," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said.

?Cornell had limited four of its past seven opponents to less than 20 points in at least one half. In wins over Colgate, Ithaca, NJIT, Princeton and Columbia, the Big Red defense has held those teams to 34 percent shooting (99-of-292) from the floor, 26 percent from 3-point range (25-of-97) and forced 88 turnovers while outrebounding its opponents 205-160.

?Although Cornell made only 56.6 percent of its free throws against Columbia, the Big Red was at its best down the stretch by making nine of its last 12 free throws and now leads the Ivy League in free-throw percentage at .747.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think it's been a growing process all year. Early in the season, we struggled late in games. We didn't know what it took to close. Lately though, we have started to turn the corner. Last weekend, we really did it on the defensive end. If we play defense like that, we will be in every ball game and be able to finish." ? Cornell senior guard Graham Dow.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
After scoring 12.9 points per game, sinking a school-record 83 3-pointers and earning Ivy League rookie of the year honors as a freshman in 2005-06, sophomore guard Adam Gore was off to a strong start this season with 20 points in the season opener, only to suffer a knee injury in the final 30 seconds of the 64-61 win over Northwestern. Gore will now miss the remainder of the season. The Big Red is also playing without senior Jason Hartford forward/center (offseason foot surgery). Foot and wrist injuries limited Hartford to 21 games in 2005-06, his first at Cornell after transferring from a junior college. Coach Steve Donahue recently confirmed that Hartford will sit out the rest of the season but could still play in 2007-2008 if the Ivy League approves his petition for an extra season of eligibility.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Graham Dow, G Louis Dale, F Ryan Whittman, F/C Brian Kreefer, C Andrew Naeve. Key Subs ? G Jason Battle, G Conor Mullen, F/C Pete Reynolds, F Jason Mitchell, F Ugo Ihekweazu, G Kevin App.

GAME REVIEW:

Cornell 55, Princeton 35

Cornell 49, Columbia 45

Cornell 56, Columbia 51

GAME PREVIEW:

At Dartmouth, Friday, Feb. 2

At Harvard, Saturday, Feb. 3

Vs. Brown, Friday, Feb. 9

Vs. Yale, Saturday, Feb. 10

At Princeton, Friday, Feb. 16

At Penn, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: With five freshmen and sophomores among the team's top six scorers, Cornell has to be continue to be patient, smart and take care of the ball so it can keep games close and give itself a chance to get over the hump down the stretch. They're also shooting a lot of free throws and shooting them well, which can't hurt.

ROSTER REPORT: Cornell's freshman combination of forward Ryan Wittman and guard Louis Dale continue to play key roles for the Big Red and have practically taken ownership of the Ivy League rookie of the week award, combining to win the award nine consecutive weeks. This week it's Wittman, who won the award for the fourth time after scoring a game-high 15 points, grabbing four rebounds and hitting a key shot in the final minute of a 56-51 win over Columbia. Wittman sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with 46 seconds left and made 4-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-7 on 3-pointers. Wittman continues to lead Cornell in scoring (15.5 points per game) and leads the Ivy League in 3-point field goals (59) and free-throw percentage (.950).

Dale didn't have his best game in the re-match with Columbia, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds but committing five turnovers with no assists. Still, he's won the rookie of the week award five times and continues to do his part with 12 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

After senior center Andrew Naeve produced 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots in the first game against Columbia, the Lions focused their defense on him and often doubled him with their frontcourt duo of juniors John Baumann and Ben Nwachukwu. Naeve struggled with foul trouble in the first half of the re-match, but came back to finish with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Naeve, who added two steals and two blocked shots, is now averaging 8.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and leads the team with 33 blocked shots.

_____________________________________________________________

 

[Old School]

IVY NOTES PG2

IVY NOTES PG2

DARTMOUTH
GETTING INSIDE
For most of 40 minutes at home last Saturday, Dartmouth gave itself a chance to beat Yale. In a period of about 90 seconds, the Big Green tossed that opportunity away.

One night after taking care of business down the stretch in a 56-52 home win over Brown, Dartmouth earned another chance to win late by rallying from a 36-27 halftime deficit and grabbing a 51-50 lead over Yale with 9:05 left in the game.

From 8:38 to 7:07, Yale scored eight consecutive points and never trailed again on the way to a 71-64 victory at Dartmouth's Leede Arena.

"When you have a young team, you're going to have peaks and valleys," Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn told the Valley News. "But when you have an opportunity to put someone away or win a game, possessions become so, so important. Hopefully we learned what we needed to learn in order for this loss not to hurt us in the next game."

Despite the missed home opportunity, the Big Green (7-10) is still 2-2 in the Ivy League and still involved in the league championship race. To stay in that race the Big Green must take advantage of its home games, starting with Friday's against Cornell and Saturday's against Columbia.

"We've become a pretty decent defensive team. Now we've got to become more consistent in our scoring," Dunn said. "There can't be lulls in a half where we go five to six minutes and not score. Conversions become really important and possessions become really, really important as the conference starts. A possession here or a possession there could be the difference between winning and losing."

NOTES, QUOTES
?Dartmouth shot only 43.8 percent from the field and just 27.3 percent from 3-point range against Brown, but still won by holding the Bears to 36.1 percent shooting and 23.5 percent 3-point shooting. Brown did manage to make 22-of-25 free throws, but the Big Green countered that by forcing 18 turnovers.

?Dartmouth's defense wasn't nearly that effective against Yale the next night. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the field and made 6-of-13 3-pointers. While the Big Green shot only 14 free throws, Yale shot 23 free throws and made 17.

?With 251 free throws, only one Ivy League team (Princeton) shoots fewer free throws than Dartmouth. The Big Green's 69.7 free-throw percentage would be strong in many leagues but is only good for sixth place in the Ivy League.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Playing back-to-back on Friday and Saturday nights is hard and I think the team that has the most depth will probably have a great advantage. I'm hoping with the depth we have we can decrease the amount of minutes our starters are playing and try to keep them as fresh as possible and still be effective." ? Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn, who has 10 players averaging at least 15 minutes per game.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Senior guard Leon Pattman (high ankle sprain), junior forwards Johnathan Ball and Brian McMillan (broken nose), sophomore forwards Adam Powers (Achilles) and Dan Biber (broken left hand), and sophomore G Marlon Sanders (knee) all missed playing time with injuries early in the season. Of that group, Ball, Pattman and Sanders returned early in December while McMillan and Biber have been back for the past nine games. Powers finally played his first game of the season three weeks ago against Harvard. When the season opened, Ball, Pattman, Sanders and McMillan were all seen as likely starters.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G DeVon Mosley, G Leon Pattman, G Alex Barnett, C Elgin Fitzgerald, F Jason Meyer, F Johnathan Ball. Key Subs ? G Marlon Sanders, G Michael Giovacchini, C Jarrett Mathis.

GAME REVIEW:

New Hampshire 65, Dartmouth 61

Dartmouth 56, Brown 52

Yale 71, Dartmouth 64

GAME PREVIEW:

Vs. Cornell, Friday, Feb. 2

Vs. Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 3

At Penn, Friday, Feb. 9

At Princeton, Saturday, Feb. 10

KEYS: After struggling through injuries, inexperience and a tough schedule early in the season, the Big Green has won seven of its past 11 games but only one of its last four games. The Big Green is giving itself a chance with defense in most games, but remains too inconsistent on offense.

ROSTER REPORT: Junior forward Johnathan Ball came through with two strong performances last week. In a 56-52 win over Brown, Ball scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor to go with eight rebounds and two assists. In the following night's 71-64 loss to Yale, Ball produced the first double-double of his career with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. He added two assists, two blocks and two steals.

While Ball played at a high level last week, senior guard Leon Pattman struggled, but not without reasons. Pattman entered the week leading Dartmouth with 17.8 points per game after scoring 20.3 points per game in his four previous games. Against Brown and Yale he combined for 23 points while making just 9-of-27 shots and 1-of-7 3-point shots. Part of his problems have been attributed to a nagging back problem. "He's been hurt all his career," Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn said. "It is what it is. You just have to do the best you can."

In addition to Ball, sophomore wing Alex Barnett has also stepped up in recent games. After averaging 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in Dartmouth's four previous games, Barnett combined for 28 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals in last weekend's games.

Sophomore forward Jarrett Mathis has missed the past five games because of a knee injury.

_____________________________________________________________

HARVARD
GETTING INSIDE
Harvard wasn't about to let senior center Brian Cusworth leave with a loss in his last game.

After losing 88-78 at home to rival Yale on Friday, the Crimson came back the next night to beat Brown 92-88 at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion.

In the process, Cusworth completed his college career with yet another strong performance. Cusworth missed his sophomore year with a stress fracture, but because the Ivy League doesn't allow athletes to redshirt, he sat out one semester as a sophomore so he could play one more semester this season. He played in Harvard's first 18 games and did his part as a scorer and rebounder to lead the Crimson to a 9-9 record, 2-2 in the Ivy League.

"Putting the nametag in this bag is probably one of the hardest things I've done since I've been here," Cusworth said as he finished packing his Harvard gym bag for the last time. "It's tough, very tough. I think it'll hit me a little more when I'm sitting at home, and I'm listening [to Harvard's games] and watching on the internet."

As tough as it will be for Cusworth, just imagine how challenging it's going to be for Harvard to play without its best player over the final 10 games of the season, all of them against Ivy League opponents.

After playing two home games against Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday, the Crimson must play four consecutive games against Princeton, Penn, Brown and Yale. How well Harvard handles this stretch without Cusworth will go a long way toward determining their eventual Ivy League fate.

NOTES, QUOTES
?Harvard entered this past weekend with two home opportunities to get ahead in the Ivy League race and failed to take advantage of both when it played one of its most disappointing games of the season on Friday in an 88-78 loss to rival Yale. In the process, Yale wounded both Harvard's record on the court and its pride with some harsh comments. "I wouldn't say that there's too much of a home-court advantage here (at Harvard)," Yale point guard Eric Flato told the Harvard Crimson newspaper. "Our students (at Yale) are right on the floor, and we usually get a pretty big turnout at the Harvard game. (At Harvard) once you get more students you get a better home-court advantage." The game drew 1,512, and according to the Harvard Crimson about half of those in attendance appeared to be Yale fans.

?While it would be easy to blame the lack of fan support at home games, Harvard's real problem against Yale was its defense. Playing its first game after a 13-day layoff for exams, the Crimson allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 62 percent in the first half and 58 percent for the game. Harvard is now sixth in Ivy League games in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing league opponents to shoot .498 from the field.

?When Harvard beat Brown the next night, it wasn't with defense. The Crimson allowed Brown to shoot 50.9 percent from the field and the Bears scored 22 points off turnovers, but Harvard won because it shot 61.2 percent from the field, made 7-of-15 3-point shots and 25-of-30 free throws. Harvard now ranks second in the Ivy League in field-goal percentage at .484 and is now shooting .748 from the free-throw line.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "This game was nearly identical to our first game out of the exam break last season. We never really had our legs or got into a rhythm. Ironically we had one of our best defensive 3-point shooting games but put an opponent on the line more than we got there ourselves." ? Harvard coach Frank Sullivan, whose team lost 88-78 to Yale in its first game back from a 13-day break for exams.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Harvard will play the rest of the season without its best player, 7-foot senior center Brian Cusworth. Cusworth, who has now completed his degree requirements in biology, played so well in the two final games of his career that he finished as the Ivy League's player of the week. In two games he averaged 23.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, shot .731 from the floor on 19-of-26 shooting and sank 8-of-10 free throws. Cusworth completed his Harvard career as the league's second-leading scorer this season, with 18.9 point per game, and its leading rebounder, with 9.1 rebounds per game. "I really can't put into words how much that meant to me. It was hard to fight off the tears and stay looking like a man out there," Cusworth said. "I'm really glad I could put on somewhat of a show the last couple of games and get a victory."

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Drew Housman, G Jim Goffredo, G Andrew Pusar, F Evan Harris, C Brian Darcy. Key Subs ? G Jeremy Lin, F Brad Unger, G James Lambert.

GAME REVIEW:

Harvard 77, Dartmouth 71

Yale 88, Harvard 78

Harvard 92, Harvard 88

GAME PREVIEW:

Vs. Columbia, Friday, Feb. 2

Vs. Cornell, Saturday, Feb. 3

At Princeton, Friday, Feb. 9

At Penn, Saturday, Feb. 10

At Brown, Friday, Feb. 16

At Yale, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: Harvard is at its best when it's taking care of the ball and winning with defense, but now it's going to need a lot more help from the perimeter with the loss of senior center Brian Cusworth. No one player is going to replace him so it's going to take a group effort to improve an uncertain defense and take care of the boards.

ROSTER REPORT: If a suitable replacement for Cusworth existed, he would have been playing already. Instead, coach Frank Sullivan will most likely go with a combination of Brian Darcy and Brad Unger, depending on the situation. Darcy, a 6-8, 235-pound senior, started six games last season when Cusworth was injured and is averaging just 1.6 points and 0.9 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game. Unger, a 6-8, 245-pound junior, has played a more regular role this season, with 4.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 15 minutes per game and brings more versatility to the post. In games against guard-dominated teams, such as Cornell, or teams such as Brown and Princeton that take away the entry past to the post, Harvard might go with more perimeter players on the court at the same time.

Cusworth hasn't been Harvard's only effective scorer this season, but senior guard Jim Goffredo and sophomore guard Drew Housman might have to take on a bigger scoring role the rest of the way. Goffredo already enters the week tied for fourth in scoring in the Ivy League in scoring with 15.5 points per game while Housman is tied for ninth with 12.8 points per game. Goffredo led the way for Harvard against Brown, scoring 20 points by sinking 3-of-4 3-pointers in the second half and making 4-of-8 3-pointers overall.

Sophomore forward Kenyon Churchwell has been limited by heart problems and sophomore point guard Erik Groszyk is still trying to recover from a concussion. Churchwell, who hasn't played since Dec. 28, remains sidelined indefinitely after undergoing tests to determine the nature of his problem. Groszyk has not played during the past 10 games since suffering a blow to the head on Dec. 9 and has been forced to take a leave of absence from school.

_____________________________________________________________

PENNSYLVANIA
GETTING INSIDE
Finishing 2-2 in the Big 5 is more positive than negative for Penn, but in the long run it doesn't really get the Quakers any closer to their ultimate goal.

Penn (11-7) played three Big 5 teams in the past two weeks, beating LaSalle 93-92 and Temple 76-74 before losing 84-74 to St. Joseph's on Saturday.

Add a December loss to Villanova and the Quakers can't be too disappointed with their results against four of the better teams on their schedule.

What really matters now for the Quakers now is the next six weeks and 12 consecutive games against Ivy League opponents.

Penn entered the season as the favorite to win the league title, but it has played only two league games ? winning both ? while eight other league teams have played four games. Princeton, Penn's Ivy League travel partner, also has played only two games.

The Ivy League race might go all the way to the finish line but the Quakers can make a big move over the next three weeks, starting with Friday's game at Brown and Saturday's game at Yale followed by five consecutive home games.


NOTES, QUOTES
?After 17 years as Penn's coach, Fran Dunphy moved across town to Temple last spring, knowing full well he would have to face his former players in Big 5 games. That time came last week when the Quakers beat Temple 76-74 at The Palestra. Dunphy's return drew a mix of reactions, with some fans cheering him and some jeering him. One sign in the stands read: "Thank you, Fran Dunphy. 17 years, 310 wins, 10 Ivy League titles." Another, borrowing from a popular beer commercial and supporting first-year Penn coach Glen Miller, read: "Man Law. Don't be a traitor. Miller ... Good Call." Following the loss, Dunphy said, "It was a lot of fun. I'm so proud of our guys... I'll root for (Penn). I just wasn't rooting for them to play quite as well as they did tonight. ... I like the game to come down to [the players]. I'm just a coach. A privileged, privileged guy. When you can be involved in something like this, this intense, going back and forth, it's a wonderful opportunity I'm blessed with. I cherish it."

?The game also had to provide a big boost for Miller, who still has a lot to prove after coming to Penn following seven years at Brown. Miller inherited one of the Ivy League's most talented teams and one of the league's most successful programs, but he also inherited some big shoes that can only be filled by prolonged success, starting with an league title this season. "I thought my guys showed poise and a lot of courage," Miller said. "They believed in our system, and each other, and they came back. We didn't talk about (the situation). I've coached against (Dunphy) for 7, 8 years now. I knew it was a difficult night for him, coming into this building, against players he cares about. My heart goes out to him. But when the ball goes up, it's us against them. I'm very pleased with (the win)."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I would like to one day coach offense the way that Glen Miller has been able to coach offense with that team. My head was spinning from watching tape and trying to figure out what the plays were, what the calls were." ? St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli on Penn coach Glen Miller after St. Joseph's ended Penn's five-game winning streak with an 84-74 defeat of the Quakers in last week's Big 5 game.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Senior Ibrahim Jaaber has made a positive adjustment to his new role as a point guard under a new coach. Soon after former coach Fran Dunphy left for Temple and former Brown coach Glen Miller took over at Penn, the Quakers lost starting guard guard David Whitehurst for the entire 2006-07 season for academic reasons. That thrust Jaaber into the unfamiliar role of running the offense from the point. Jaaber, the preseason Ivy League player of the year, is third in the Ivy League with 16.4 points per game. He's third in the Ivy in field-goal percentage (.534) and first in assists (5.61 per game) and steals (2.89 per game). In three Big 5 games over the past two weeks, Jaaber averaged 21 points, four rebounds, eight assists and 2.3 steals per game.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Ibrahim Jaaber, G Brian Grandieri, G Kevin Egee, F Mark Zoller, C Steve Danley. Key Subs ? F Michael Kach, F Brenna Votel, G Darren Smith, G Aron Cohen, G Adam Franklin, F Tommy McMahon.

GAME REVIEW:

Penn 93, LaSalle 92

Penn 76, Temple 74

St. Joseph's 84, Penn 74

GAME PREVIEW:

At Brown, Friday, Feb. 2

At Yale, Saturday, Feb. 3

Vs. Dartmouth, Friday, Feb. 9

Vs. Harvard, Tuesday, Feb. 13

Vs. Columbia, Friday, Feb. 16

Vs. Cornell, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: Penn can create offense, but it proved last week that it's hard to beat when it plays strong defense. Improved offensive execution against the zone should also help, but the Quakers will only go as far as their defense will take them.

ROSTER REPORT: Jaaber entered last week as the Ivy League leader in shooting percentage. He finished it ranked third, in large part because his teammate, senior forward Mark Zoller, passed him with a strong week. Zoller combined to score 35 points and finished with 14 rebounds and six assists and now leads the Ivy League with 18.9 points per game and a .522 field-goal percentage. He also ranks second in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game. Zoller showed his experience and poise in the Temple game when he stepped up and sank all three free throw attempts with 1.4 seconds left in the game, giving the Quakers a 76-74 win over the Owls and former Penn coach Fran Dunphy.

The trio of Jaaber, Zoller and junior guard Brian Grandieri gives Penn the Ivy League's strongest trio on one team. Grandieri doesn't always get as much credit, but he does average 13.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game after a big week against two Big 5 opponents. He recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals against Temple and came through with a career-high 23 points to go with five rebounds against St. Joseph's. For the week, Grandieri shot 15-of-24 from the field (62.5 percent) and hit 4-of-5 3-point shots.

Penn coach Glen Miller played only eight players against St. Joseph's and nine against Temple and the Penn bench produced only 14 points in those games last week. Sophomore wing Tommy McMahon scored 12 of those points.

_____________________________________________________________

PRINCETON
GETTING INSIDE
After his team completed a 16-day break for exams, Princeton coach Joe Scott liked the idea of getting back on the court with a road game against Seton Hall.

"I think it's a good game for us," Scott said. "They play a little differently. They press. They try to do different things. It's good for what our guys need. We have to take care of the ball. It's going to be a situation where we have to figure out at times what to do. It's a good game for us to come out of exams. We're not tricking anybody. We have to be tough and execute."

Princeton wasn't tough enough and didn't execute enough to overcome Seton Hall in a 79-41 loss.

While losing a non-conference game to Seton Hall doesn't really keep Princeton from its goal of winning the Ivy League title, it doesn't do anything to help the struggling Tigers, either.

The Tigers (9-7, 0-2 Ivy) have lost three consecutive games for the first time in a year and must now try to get back on track in the Ivy League when they play at Yale on Friday and at Brown on Saturday.


NOTES, QUOTES
?Of Princeton's 12 remaining games, all will be played against Ivy League opponents and seven will be played at home, where the Tigers are 3-1 this season. Princeton's annual showdowns against first-place Penn will come on Feb. 13 at Penn and March 6 at home.

?Before the Tigers can take advantage of those home games, they must play two more road games at Yale and Brown this weekend. Princeton is 0-2 in the Ivy League with both losses on the road at Cornell and Columbia. ?With a 79-41 loss at Seton Hall on Monday, the Tigers have scored only 76 points in their past two games and have averaged 48 points per game over the past six games. The Tigers haven't scored more than 60 points in a game since a 61-45 win over Marshall on Dec. 16.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It comes down to teams getting better now ? the teams that get better in late January, early February and March. That's hard to do. We have three straight road games coming back and it's going to be hard as hell." ? Princeton coach Joe Scott.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Princeton's starting lineup includes two freshmen and a senior former walk-on (Justin Conway) who had played one career minute prior to January 29, 2006. Luke Owings' 54 career starts and 94 career games are the most on the team. Noah Savage is second on the team in games played with 72.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Marcus Schroeder, G Lincoln Gunn, F Kyle Koncz, F Luke Owings, C Justin Conway. Key Subs ? C Zach Finley, F Michael Strittmatter, G Edwin Buffmire, F Noah Savage.

GAME REVIEW:

Columbia 64, Princeton 56

Cornell 55, Princeton 35

Seton Hall 79, Princeton 41

GAME PREVIEW:

At Yale, Friday, Feb. 2

At Brown, Saturday, Feb. 3

Vs. Harvard, Friday, Feb. 9

Vs. Dartmouth, Saturday, Feb. 10

At Penn, Tuesday, Feb. 13

Vs. Cornell, Friday, Feb. 16

Vs. Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: The Tigers don't score a ton of points but they usually don't need to when they're playing defense for the full 35 seconds and making opponents do the same on the other end. That hasn't happened in their past three games, all road losses. The Tigers are young and still adjusting to coach Joe Scott's offensive system, but they won't get things turned around in the Ivy League until they play better defense and execute better on offense.

ROSTER REPORT: Playing better defense and executing on offense doesn't get any easier without junior forward Kyle Koncz in the lineup. Koncz, who is Princeton's leading scorer with 9.6 points and arguably the team's most valuable player through the first 16 games, struggled due to the lingering effects of a stress fracture in his foot in losses at Columbia and Cornell on Jan. 12-13. Despite an extended break between games, Koncz was not able to play on Monday at Seton Hall and remains out indefinitely. "He was such an integral part of what we had been doing," Princeton coach Joe Scott said. "Game after game, 30 minutes out there, making shots. We have some tough guys, but Koncz is a little different tough guy. He bangs shots. We have to figure out how to replace that. Maybe the extra time helps that."

With Koncz out, Scott went with three freshmen in the starting lineup at Seton Hall, going with Zach Finley at center to go with guards Lincoln Gunn and Marcus Schroeder. Finley started for Koncz at Cornell and scored a season-high 12 points against Cornell, sinking 6-of-8 shots from the field in 26 minutes. He wasn't as effective against Seton Hall, finishing with six points, five rebounds and four turnovers in 23 minutes, but Scott said Finley has earned a chance. "I think it's the right thing to do," Scott said. "It's not just (Zach). The other guys see it, too. What he shows in practice is he deserves to be out there. Not that he needs 40 minutes, because we have to figure out where Mike Strittmatter plays and gets minutes. Kyle getting hurt plays into this. We have to figure out how are we going to play. How are we going to go on the road and score? Zach is going to play and hopefully keep playing well. I feel pretty good how it's going to proceed. If Kyle can play and contribute the way he was, that's an added bonus."

The Tigers continued to get decent production out of their starting backcourt of Gunn and Schroeder, particularly in light of their youth and inexperience. Gunn and Schroeder know each other well, having both started together at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif. Schroeder leads the Ivy League with 38.8 minutes per game and has now played 40 minutes in each of the past three games. As a duo, Gunn and Schroeder combine for 12.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.4 turnovers and 2.5 steals per game.

_____________________________________________________________

YALE
GETTING INSIDE
If there's any team that appears capable of giving Penn a run for the Ivy League title this season, Yale may be ready to stand up and accept that role.

After going on the road and beating both Harvard and Dartmouth last week, the Bulldogs are in a good position to contend for the title.

"It is critical to start gaining some momentum now," sophomore forward Travis Pinick told the Yale Daily News. "We're in a 14-game tournament, and every slip-up can cost you a shot at the title. We've got to take it game by game, not look ahead to anyone, and just keep concentrating on what we're doing right now."

Forget that Yale is 7-10 overall or tied with Cornell for second place in the league standings behind 2-0 Penn. It's the fact that Yale is 3-0 in Ivy League home games that has the Bulldogs on a roll.

After opening its Ivy League schedule with a 56-42 win at Brown on Jan. 13 Yale lost to Brown at home on Jan. 20. Then the Bulldogs won 88-78 at Harvard on Friday and 71-64 at Dartmouth on Saturday.

"That's been our M.O. We haven't been able to win that consistently on the road," junior point guard Flato said. "We're doing it this year. We've just got to take care of business at home."

For Yale to be true contenders for the league title the Bulldogs may have to sweep this weekend's home games against Princeton on Friday and Penn on Saturday.

NOTES, QUOTES
?With a 3-0 road record in the Ivy League, Yale is now 4-6 on the road this season. At the same time the Bulldogs are 0-1 at home in Ivy League and just 3-4 at home this season. For all Yale has gained with its road success, the Bulldogs are not going to make a run at Penn for the league title without winning at home. Starting with this weekend's home games against Princeton and Penn, Yale will play six of its next eight games at home in John J. Lee Amphitheatre.

?Yale started off slow at Harvard, falling behind by as much as 13 in the first half and trailing 40-37 at halftime. In the process of rallying for the lead in the second half, the Bulldogs did a good job of forcing the issue, drawing foul after foul and going to the foul line 31 times in the second half, making 25 free throws. Yale may be sixth in the Ivy League with a free-throw shooting percentage of .663 but only one team (Harvard) has shot more free throws than Yale's 98 attempts against league opponents. When the teams met last Friday, Harvard attempted only 27 free throws compared to Yale's 43.

?The combination of Yale's increased experience and Dartmouth's relative inexperience was evident last Saturday when the Bulldogs turned a 51-50 deficit with 8:38 left to play into a 58-51 lead in just 90 seconds. Yale never trailed again on the way to a 71-64 win.

?Last weekend marked Yale's first road sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth since the 2002-03 season.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We were fortunate a little bit. The ball bounced the right way. We felt we had some opportunities where we didn't get fouls called, which hurt us. But we were fortunate to knock down a couple of shots that really changed the momentum of the game and gave us some cushion toward the end." ? Yale coach James Jones following the win at Dartmouth.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Yale is forcing 15.8 turnovers per game, second best in the Ivy League, but the Bulldogs are committing 16.5 turnovers per game, also second in the league. Some of that can be attributed to the lack of a pure point guard. Current point guard Eric Flato is a natural shooting guard playing the point because point guard Chris Andrews is injured, allowing teams to put more pressure on Flato when he has the ball or simply working to keep him from getting the ball and keeping it in the hands of his teammates. Andrews suffered a season-ending knee injury in the offseason. The Bulldogs have cut their turnovers to 15.5 per game in Ivy League games but they're also forcing fewer turnovers, at 14.5 per game.

PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? G Eric Flato, G Caleb Holmes, F Casey Hughes, F Ross Morin, C Matt Kyle. Key Subs ? F Sam Kaplan, F Travis Pinick, G Nick Holmes, F Jason Abromaitis, G Alexander Zampier.

GAME REVIEW:

Brown 76, Yale 71

Yale 88, Harvard 78

Yale 71, Dartmouth 64

GAME PREVIEW:

Vs. Princeton, Friday, Feb. 2

Vs. Penn, Saturday, Feb. 3

At Columbia, Friday, Feb. 9

At Cornell, Saturday, Feb. 10

Vs. Dartmouth, Friday, Feb. 16

Vs. Harvard, Saturday, Feb. 17

KEYS: The Bulldogs have to do a better job taking care of the ball, but they're doing a better job of keeping their poise and making good decisions on the offensive end, especially at the end of the game.

ROSTER REPORT: Junior guard Caleb Holmes is Yale's third-leading scorer behind point guard Eric Flato and forward Casey Hughes, but he was the Bulldogs' most productive player in two big road wins last week, averaging 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and making all 17 free throws. Against Harvard, Holmes scored 14 of his career-high 19 points in the second half. The next night against Dartmouth, Holmes made all eight of his free throws, including six in the final 55 seconds. He finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.

When Flato struggles with his shooting, he's still capable of making a difference in other ways. That was evident in the Harvard game when he missed 10-of-11 shots from the field and 4-of-5 3-point shots but still squeezed out 11 points to go with five assists and three steals. The next night at Dartmouth he got his shot back and finished with 20 points. Flato continues to lead the Bulldogs with 14.4 points per game, 15.3 points per game against Ivy League opponents.

Hughes, a 6-5 senior wing, is at his best on the defensive end as Yale's primary stopper, but he continues to be a key contributor on offense as well. With 23 points in two games last week, Hughes is Yale's second-leading scorer with 10.2 points per game.

 

[Old School]

CONFERENCE NOTES..

CONFERENCE NOTES..

USA TODAY...GOOD STUFF..