GREAT GAMES IN PENN HISTORY1993: Penn finally tops Tigers

The DP, Feb. 1, 1993 -- If you ever had anything against Princeton, the Palestra was the place to be Saturday night. This one was for anyone who's ever received a rejection letter from the Princeton Admissions Office. This one was for anyone who's sick of the national media fawning over coach Pete Carril and his seemingly infallible ballclub. Most of all, this one was for a Penn team that's been prodded and picked apart in the wake of consecutive blowout losses to Temple and St. Joseph's. The Quakers (10-4, 3-0 Ivy League) silenced their critics and asserted themselves as the premier Ivy team in handing the four-time defending league champs their worst Ivy loss in six seasons. The Tigers (10-5, 2-1), celebrated as one of the most fundamentally sound squads in the land, appeared mere mortals as Penn sliced them apart on defense and denied them visiting rights on the backboards. "We played great defense -- especially in the second half," said Penn coach Fran Dunphy, who notched his second win in seven tries against the Tigers. "We rebounded every ball we possibly could have. I'm just real proud of how we played. Hopefully, it's put us back on the right track." You could make a case for that. Penn committed just four turnovers, all in the game's first 12 minutes. The Quakers played tenacious, swarming defense. And after being outrebounded, 54-35, by St. Joseph's last week, Penn controlled the boards Saturday to the tune of 34-18. Sophomore forward Shawn Trice, making his first start of the season, was one of three Quakers to haul down five rebounds. Princeton was rarely afforded a second shot, as the Tigers picked up just two offensive rebounds. "One thing we all knew we had to do was rebound," said Penn forward Barry Pierce (14 points), whose three-pointer pulled the Quakers to within one, 26-25, at intermission. "They weren't crashing the boards like they customarily do. We were able to take advantage of that. Everyone boxed his man out. Basically there were a lot of floor boards. That was the key for our break and to keep the tempo in our favor." For his part, Carril had few answers after the game, one of the most heavily anticipated in Ivy circles in years. He opted to gush over the Quakers. "Penn ain't that bad," the 26-year Princeton mentor said. "[Sophomore guard] Jerome Allen, he's terrific. That other guy, [sophomore guard] Matt Maloney, he transferred from Vanderbilt. Does Vanderbilt give scholarships to bad players? They killed Villanova. They killed La Salle. It's a hell of a good team. "We got tired, collapsed a little bit. It's happened a couple of times this year already. I'm at a loss to figure out what to do about it." Princeton simply didn't look like Princeton when it counted. The Tigers shot a ghastly 35 percent from the field in the second half. They hit just two three-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Those infamous back-door cutters? They found the back doors bolted. "Our defense was as good as it can get," Dunphy said. "When you play Princeton, you prepare so much for them you sometimes forget about what you're supposed to do. I was pleased -- particularly in the second half -- with how we responded as to how our offense is supposed to run." The Quakers put on a basketball clinic in the final 20 minutes to surge ahead in what had been a tight, well-played game. When Tiger junior guard and Philadelphia native Chris Mooney (team-high 15 points) hit a layup with 13:42 remaining in the game, it was 32-31, Penn. Princeton didn't score another basket in the next 10 minutes. During this stretch, the Quakers had runs of 14-0 and 19-1 to open up a 56-36 lead with 3:36 left. Central to this 10-minute stretch was the play of Maloney, Allen and freshman forward Tim Krug. Maloney (game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting) seems to have shaken off his forgettable outings against Temple and St. Joe's. He canned 4 of 5 treys Saturday and dished out five assists. His 16-footer on Penn's final possession of the second half gave the Quakers their first lead of the night, 27-26. Allen (11 points, seven assists) performed superbly, outplaying the culprit who stole last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year title from him -- Princeton center Rick Hielscher, who finished with a scant four points and one rebound in 25 minutes. But it was Krug who seemed to ignite the sellout crowd, the first at the Palestra since 1984. The fresh-faced, 6-foot-9 forward scored a career-high 12 points in 20 minutes. He electrified the crowd with a dunk (off a Maloney assist) and a rejection of Hielscher, who had slipped behind him. "Probably goaltending from where I was sitting," observed Dunphy. Either way, the swat set up a Maloney trey at the other end. 44-34, Penn. Timeout, Princeton. Pass the earplugs. The noise in the acoustic-happy Palestra was deafening all evening. Fans were dancing in the aisles. People were high-fiving strangers. Someone even got the Wave going. "The emotion of the game makes you go after rebounds more than you usually do," Dunphy said. "The crowd was into it, it was loud as hell. Great credit goes to the crowd and the atmosphere." OK, so the "Ivy Champs! Ivy Champs!" chant was a bit premature. But you might say every Quaker's agenda was met on Saturday.

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