Winner in driver's seat for Ivy League title

Tonight's sellout crowd at the Palestra will witness an episode in one of the most storied college basketball rivalries. Penn and Princeton have combined to win the last 14 Ivy League men's basketball championships and together own 41 of the 46 titles in league history. The last time the Quakers and the Tigers met, Penn won 64-48, claiming its share of the three-way Ivy League title. The Quakers won both of the pair's league games in 2002, while in 2001, Princeton swept the Red and Blue on their way to the Ivy title. Penn leads the all-time series 111-95. "There's always that extra little something that you can't describe going into the game," Penn senior forward Ugonna Onyekwe said. "It's always a big game and there's always a lot of buzz around it." Onyekwe was the hottest Penn player in the weekend's two games, scoring 12 points against Cornell and pouring in a game-high 16 against Columbia. The defending Ivy Player of the Year also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds against the Lions. Although the Quakers were the victors in their road games, the scores were closer than would be expected from the teams' records. Penn bested Cornell by only three points and scored a season-low 47 against Columbia. "Obviously our goal is to be champions of the league," Onyekwe said. "We've just got to come out and try to do better than we did this weekend." The Red and Blue hope that their two sluggish weekend performances are not indicative of a trend, as seen in losses against Drexel and Delaware. Early in the season, Penn lost four of six in a stretch of more than a month. They also rattled off consecutive games against USC and Monmouth in which they scored 99 and 98 points, respectively. "We've been a spurty team," Dunphy said. "When we're good, we're very good and when we're not so good, we're not very good at all." The traditional mystique surrounding the rivalry will be supplemented this season because, like so many other seasons, the game could have a direct bearing on the Ivy championship results. "These are the two teams who usually finish one and two so to go into the game, both of us being undefeated it makes it all that much bigger," Onyekwe said. Penn and Princeton are currently in a first place tie with the surprising Brown team, which is 6-0 in Ivy League play. The historical dominance of the Ancient Eight by the Quakers and Tigers indicates that the victor should have a leg up in the title race. "We'd certainly like to play well, get off to a good start, and really set the tone for the rest of the season as well," Dunphy said. Despite Penn's clean sweep of its nemesis last season, an unexpected loss to Columbia ---- combined with losses to Yale and Harvard ---- forced the Quakers to make a late season run for their share of first place. "I don't want to be in a situation where players have to win and also rely on other teams losing," Onyekwe said. "That's a bad situation. We definitely want to be in control of our destiny." Princeton, who also claimed a share of last season's title, present an obvious obstacle in Penn's pursuit of its 21st championship. The Tigers (10-7, 4-0 Ivy) enter the game riding a six-game winning streak. Junior swingman Spencer Gloger -- who missed the last two seasons after transferring to UCLA and then returning -- leads the Tigers with 16.2 points per game. "Certainly he is their premier offensive player based on numbers and shots that he gets," Penn junior Jeff Schiffner said. "We're going to have to make sure that we keep a body on him and make sure that we limit his looks tomorrow." Gloger is the third-leading scorer in the Ivies, behind Brown's Earl Hunt and Harvard's Patrick Harvey. He also leads the Ivy league in three-point shots made and attempted. The talent on both sides indicates that the packed house at college basketball's most historic gym will be treated to a Penn-Princeton classic. Dunphy is obviously well aware of the type of game his team will play tonight at the Palestra. "I think this is going to be a hell of a contest."

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