Men's basketball travels to Philadelphia with Ivy League lead at stake

Though you won't find it in any textbook, the second law of intercollegiate athletics clearly states that a school's biggest rival is always the conference opponent of closest geographic proximity. (The first being that the referee is always biased against your team).

Understanding this concept will help shed light on the street-fight that will go down behind the train tracks in western Philadelphia tonight, when the men's basketball teams from Princeton and Penn clash for the 203rd time.

The Tigers and Quakers simialr in many ways — including identical first place conference records, and suprising losses last Friday — so that the Schuykill River which separates the their respective states seems to serve more as a looking glass than a murky waterway.

Princeton (10-8 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) has struggled to find a consistent group of starters due unforseen player departures and injuries.

Penn (8-13, 5-1) has endured sloppy and erratic play caused in part by three forseen graduations.

"We're still searching for who we are as a team," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "[That's] our biggest problem."

The Quakers strength, as well as experience, resides in its frontcourt, where its three probable starters — six-foot, eight-inch forwards Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong, and 6-11 center Geoff Owens — are taller than any member of Princeton's starting five.

. "They're huge," Walton said of Penn's front three. "Obviously you have to worry about them inside. And then you have to worry about [guard Lamar] Plummer hitting the outside shot if you collapse."

While Penn's trio of big men share the wealth in the paint — each is averaging more than 10 points per game — Plummer paces the team with 16 points per game, while shooting 41-percent three-point from three-point territory.

The outcome of this Ivy rumble could well hinge on Walton's ability to contain Owens. If Walton can accomplish that feat, it will force Penn into matchups in which height is less of a factor.

"I don't think [the Tigers] get enough credit for how well they defend," Dunphy said. "They challenge you, they contest every shot as well as any team we play against."

The Quakers have been rattled by strong defenses this far this season. Harvard was able to upset Penn last Friday by disrupting the Quakers offense, which has been lacking rhythm all season. The Crimson's frenzied defense forced Penn into committing 23 turnovers in the 77-62 shocker. Earlier in the season Penn's big men turned the ball over 16 times in a blowout loss to Villanova.

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"In particular, the ball handling upfront . . . has been troubling," Dunphy said. "I'd like them to continue to attempt to make plays, but let's be a little more careful with the basketball."

On the offensive side of the ball, Princeton will need another strong performance from sophomore forward Kyle Wente. In the absence of the team's leading scorer — junior forward Mike Bechtold, whose statuts remains uncertain for tonight's game — Wente catapulted the Tigers to victory in their last game, when his 25-foot prayer at the buzzer found the bottom of the net against Harvard Saturday.

Much has been made of the Palestra — Penn's storied basketball arena — as being the ultimate environment for college basketball. With it's tight seating, and close, solid walls, any sound in the arena is amplified to a deafening decibel level. For the Penn-Princeton game, the noise reaches a deafening crescendo.

This contest marks only the third Ivy road game for the Tiger's freshmen, including starting forward Andre Logan and point guard Ed Persia. Yet, having endured the crazy confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium in the season opener, Princeton does not expect the noise to be a factor.

"[It's important to] not be intimidated," Logan said. "I've always liked that kind of atmosphere and adversity."

Indeed, the Tiger coaching staff does not expect to have to deliver a rousing speech to rally the troops.

"If you gotta tell a guy something special for this game, then we got big, big problems," Princeton head coach John Thompson said. "The atmosphere is terrific — it's a great place to play. It's a Penn-Princeton game. It's college basketball at its best."