1993-94 IVY LEAGUE M. HOOPS STANDINGS: Fresh faces visit for Ivy weekend

It is no surprise that the Penn men's basketball team is the unanimous favorite to repeat as Ivy League champions. The Quakers returned every key player from a team that ran roughshod over the rest of the league last year. They are the epitome of consistency. So if Penn (12-2, 3-0 Ivy League) is the rock of the Ivy League in terms of personnel, then the two teams invading the Palestra this weekend -- Columbia and Cornell -- typify the constantly changing aspect of college basketball. The Lions lost the top six players from last year's second-place team, among them the school's all-time leading scorer Buck Jenkins. And entering this season, the Big Red found themselves with a new coach, two guards lost to graduation and the transfer of last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year to Vanderbilt. But however different the names and faces may be from last year, the Quakers know that in Columbia tonight (7 p.m., WOGL 1210-AM) and Cornell tomorrow (7 p.m., WXPN 88.5-FM, WSSJ 1310-AM, WCZN 1590-AM), they will have to fight hard to gain two more big wins en route to what Penn hopes is another Ivy League title. "We control our own destiny," junior guard Jerome Allen said. "We have to take it one game at a time and we have to respect each and every opponent." The opponent the Quakers have to respect first is Columbia (6-10, 4-0), clearly the early-season surprise in the Ivy League. The Lions, who were an overwhelming pick to finish dead last in the league, have come out of the gate quickly to take sole possession of first place, one-half game ahead of Penn. Lion coach Jack Rohan said before the season he has no idea what to expect from his team. He still feels the same way, for even though Columbia is perfect in league play thus far, a miserable 2-10 record in non-conference games including losses to Hofstra, Lehigh and Lafayette illustrates the inconsistency of this inexperienced team. "I had no expectations one way or the other coming into this season," Rohan said. "In the Ivy League we have played well. But we have a team that is still learning right now. I'm not sure whether [the games] we won were because we were underrated or because the teams we played (Brown, Yale and Cornell twice) were overrated." Whatever the case may be, the Lions have played well recently. Whether that is good enough to beat Penn will be seen tonight. Columbia's offense is centered around senior forwards Jamal Adams and J.J. Waterer and junior point guard Fred Johnson. The 6-0 Johnson has really turned it on since the Ivy League season began. In Ivy games, the Lion floor leader averages 15.2 points and 3.0 assists a game on 51.2-percent shooting from the field (50 percent from three-point land). When Johnson can't find his shot, he looks to the inside where favorite targets Adams (12.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks) and Waterer (8.4 points, 3.3 rebounds) loom. All in all this new-look Columbia team, though the beneficiary of a relatively weak Ivy schedule so far, still can cause some problems for the Quakers tonight. "I think in [Columbia's] style of play there's a certain flow to their game which I kind of like," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They're not trying to impress anybody, they're just going out there to play, and to work hard at it. So we have to be ready." A team that has not been ready for the majority of the season so far is Cornell (5-11, 0-4). The Big Red is struggling under first-year coach Al Walker. Walker brought in a new fast-paced offense that hasn't met with great success to date both in the win column and with Cornell's players. "It's taking a while to adjust," said Cornell center Justin Treadwell, whose gaudy 17.0 points and 8.4 boards place him at the top of the league in both categories. "We also don't really have the personnel to fit the profile of a transition-type team, but coach Walker really likes to run." The new offense has not paid off for Walker mainly because the Big Red relies on its inside players for most of the offense. Cornell possesses two powerful inside players in Treadwell and forward Zeke Marshall (12.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.1 steals). The Big Red has lost to Brown, Yale and was swept by Columbia -- not to mention the fact that Cornell is currently embroiled in a six-game losing skid. It has also only won one game away from Alberding Field House this season. This coming from a team that finished third in the league last year at 9-5 and was expected to perform at or near that same level again this season. One reason why Cornell has had such a disappointing season to date is because of its miserable shooting from the field. When a team shoots 41.2 percent from the field like Cornell does, it's not going to win many games. And Walker is the first to admit his team would have to play a perfect game and get a little lucky to upset the Quakers at the Palestra. "I don't know if we can beat Penn," Walker said. "Penn's one of the best teams in the country. Cornell's one of the worst team's in the country right now. We've got to show up and play great and Penn, for whatever reason, has to take a sleeping pill." If Cornell does pose a threat to the Quakers, it is inside the paint, where Treadwell, Marshall and forward Brian Kopf (7.6 points, 6.1 rebounds) roam. But it has been Penn's inside game that has been a source of strength in the Quakers' recent three-game win streak. Teams have been paying more attention to Penn's ballyhooed backcourt tandem of Allen, junior Matt Maloney and senior captain Barry Pierce, opening up the inside for Shawn Trice and Eric Moore and Tim Krug. "I think it's all mental," Trice said about his improving play. "I get up for some games, and others I just don't." Lately the Quakers have done most things well. And the fact is that even though Columbia is technically in first place in the league, everyone is chasing Penn. And as long as they play their game, the Quakers feel confident they are going to win. "We go into every game like we're going to win," Trice said. "Everybody on our team believes we can beat just about anyone in the country."

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