M. Hoops | Third weekend the charm?

The Quakers are all but out of the title race. Tonight's opponent is a long shot, too, meaning there is no spoiler role to play. It seems that the stakes of Penn's matchup with Yale are mostly restricted to the intangibles of pride and reputation.

But that's no small potatoes for a program that's gotten used to topping the conference year after year, coach Glen Miller said.

"Here, there are big expectations for the program, so I think naturally guys feel as though we haven't achieved at the level we'd like to achieve at," he said. "So there's a little extra pressure when you play at home under those circumstances."

The Quakers (8-15, 4-5 Ivy) have yet to win an Ivy game at the Palestra in four tries this year, but they have owned Yale (11-3, 6-4) lately, winning the last four contests in the series.

Each side will enter the game with a clear advantage. Penn has the quicker guards. Yale has the bigger bodies. It's a safe bet that whichever team exploits its edge more effectively will win.

In New Haven, Conn., two weeks ago, it was the Quakers' shooters that carried the day in a 68-63 victory. Penn never trailed but never led by more than 10, and sophomores Harrison Gaines and Tyler Bernardini and freshman Zack Rosen combined for 44 points.

Yale coach James Jones said that the loss didn't give him much insight into how to beat Penn, aside from an obvious imperative to guard the guards.

The Bulldogs' strength, conversely, lies in their size. Yale's leading scorer may be shooting guard Alex Zampier, but its frontcourt triumvirate is where most of the production lies. Senior Ross Morin is a powerfully-built forward, Travis Pinick is a talented slasher and a perpetual threat to dunk and Garrett Fiddler is a steady center who shoots over 50 percent from the floor.

"With their size in the frontcourt and how physical they are, that was a concern last game, and it will be a concern tonight," Miller said.

The Bulldogs are unusually one-dimensional; they have hit a measly 27 percent of their three-pointers this year, yet they have been so deadly on two-point shots that their overall shooting percentage is 43.6 percent, higher than Penn's mark of 41.5.

As for defense, Yale's bulky frontcourt could encounter mismatches from Penn's perimeter players. It will bode well for the Quakers if they can goad Yale's forwards into racking up some early fouls.

Jones said that his team would not focus on shutting any one Penn player down, although Gaines would seem to be a good candidate for a double-team after he dropped 19 points in the teams' last meeting.

"But as soon as you start paying attention to one guy, you turn around and [sophomore Jack] Eggleston's put up 22 on you," Jones said.

That may be a bit generous, considering Eggleston's career-high point total is 19. But after having lost four straight to the Quakers, Jones could be excused for thinking in terms of the worst-case scenario.

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