Penn looks to stay hot against Yale

Nothing brings out the best in a good team like facing the utmost adversity, and this year's men's basketball team can attest to that fact on a first hand basis.

After traveling to Yale and Brown to start off their Ivy League season, the Quakers returned to West Philly without a win and staring up from the bottom of the league ranks.

Since then, however, the Quakers have rattled off five straight wins including road victories over Princeton, Columbia and Cornell. With their rejuvenated play, the Quakers are once again in control of their own destiny.

One reason for Penn's recent successes has been the play of emerging freshmen Ibby Jaaber and Mark Zoller.

Jaaber, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week, has been playing increasingly well in past weeks. Against Columbia and Cornell this past weekend, Jaaber scored 16 and 17 points, respectively.

Zoller has also stepped up his play over the last three weeks. In Penn's last five contests, Zoller has scored 11.4 points per game while averaging 3.6 rebounds.

Of equal importance to his improving numbers is the fact that Zoller seems to be getting more confident and comfortable with each passing start.

"Every game that they play is a learning experience, and they've done a really nice job in their learning," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "They've progressed nicely but not unexpectedly."

In their first meeting against Yale, the Red and Blue were held to just 52 points, their second-lowest point output of the season and 18 points below their season average.

"A lot of [our] guys are first year players in the Ivy League, and I think everyone sees the importance of every game now," junior Tim Begley said. "It's easy to say you want to take one game at a time but until you are put up against that wall and basically have to win out every game, I think people understand the importance a lot more now."

It was not simply the younger players who struggled against Yale.

Penn's current leading scorer and first-team All-Ivy League selection last year Jeff Schiffner was held to a season low four points while taking only five shots.

"Jeff is going to work harder to get his own shots. He's a different player today than he was a few weeks ago," Dunphy said. "He knows that the Yale defense is going to be focusing on him just like they were the last time we played. But, when they focus all of their energies on Jeff Schiffner, other people are going to be open and will be able to step up."

One of the players who was able to raise the level of his play in the first meeting was Begley.

The 6-foot-6 guard provided most of Penn's offense, as he poured in 21 points while hitting four of his five three-point attempts.

Senior center Adam Chubb was the only Penn player to score in double-digits, but struggled from the field -- shooting 4-for-11.

The last time Penn faced the Elis, the Red and Blue hit only 38.6 percent of their shots from the field. Since then, that statistic has improved steadily -- the Quakers have shot 52 percent on average in their six games following the Yale loss.

"We're taking care of the ball better on offense," Dunphy said. "Our shot selection is better, and our shooting is better as a team."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Quakers will have to focus on the Elis' shifty guard Edwin Draughan. In the first meeting, Draughan poured in 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

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