Time to get serious

Steve Donahue is in his seventh year coaching Cornell. In that time, Penn has lost 15 Ivy League games, but none to its former assistant Donahue. The 1984 Ursinus graduate spent 10 years in West Philadelphia under former coach Fran Dunphy, during which time the Quakers were 17-3 against the Big Red.

But tonight in Ithaca, N.Y., Donahue will be at a Penn game not involving his former boss for the first time, as Penn (7-6) and Cornell (7-7) open their Ivy League slates.

Penn coach Glen Miller, who spent the last seven years at Brown, is no unfamiliar face for Donahue. And while it's not quite his 0-12 mark against Penn, Donahue is 4-8 against Miller.

But tonight's game is not just about the coaches.

Recently, there has been discussion of a potential Ivy League postseason basketball tournament, but right now there still is none. That means the Quakers must win the "14-game tournament" to try to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row - something the school has not done in 12 years. But after losing two out of three games, Penn just wants to get back on the winning track.

To do so, the Quakers will have to beat a Big Red team that is without 2005-06 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Adam Gore, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Cornell's season-opening win at Northwestern.

To fill Gore's shoes, Cornell has relied upon two new freshmen, Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale.

The duo are Cornell's leading scorers at 15.9 and 13.2 points per game, respectively, and are shooting a combined 46 percent from three-point range.

"It seems every year that they bring in a shooter or two," quipped senior forward Steve Danley said.

It is the outside shot that has paced the Big Red this season, with nearly every player in the regular rotation being able to connect from long range - the team averages an 8-for-20 night from beyond the arc.

"Everyone on the perimeter can handle the ball and shoot," Cornell senior guard Graham Dow said.

The Big Red also does a good job getting to the free-throw line (averaging 18 trips), in large part, according to Miller and Dow, because of dribble penetration and ball-handling by its guards. And Cornell has hit on and Ivy League-best 77 percent when it gets there.

"They're a very difficult team to guard," Miller said.

Junior guard Brian Grandieri stressed that Penn needs to play good help defense and switch well, trademarks of Miller's defensive scheme which are especially important against Cornell.

Despite the trouble that Cornell may give Penn defensively, the Quakers do have this advantage - Donahue's system is fairly similar to Miller's, and the seniors like Danley, Mark Zoller and Ibrahim Jaaber have played Cornell six times already in their careers.

Penn is 25-3 in league play the last two seasons, an area that has been a comfort zone for the Quakers. But Grandieri is not ready just to bank on that.

"We can't worry about previous years," he said. "This will be a real good test for us early."

Cornell, on the other hand, will have to deal with perennial favorites Penn and Princeton to start its season, but in years past has derailed would-be Ivy contenders.

Dow understands the challenge, but is excited for the weekend slate.

"If you want to win the Ivy League you have to go through Penn and Princeton," he said.

One thing that he regrets for this weekend is that Cornell's students are not yet back from winter break, which will lessen the home crowd.

That potential edge notwithstanding, Danley was relieved that Penn will not have to change its game plan as much as it had when playing at now-No. 1 North Carolina a week and a half ago.

"We're getting back to being ourselves this weekend," he said.

For years, the Quakers being themselves has meant beating Cornell, which would be the start Penn needs as it aims for March.

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