M. hoops seeks Ivy title at Penn tonight

The end of the Ivy League basketball season is near.

Maybe.

This evening, Princeton (16-9 overall, 11-2 Ivy League) travels to Philadelphia to take on Penn (23-6, 10-3) at the Palestra in a game that will have crucial bearing on the Ivy League championship.

If the Tigers win, they will return to Princeton with their second straight outright Ivy title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament. A loss would create a tie for the championship and a playoff to decide who goes to the Big Dance.

The task at hand — beating Penn — is monumental.

To do so, the Tigers must travel to the Palestra to take on a Quaker team that has been red-hot ever since its loss to Yale three weeks ago.

Since then, Penn has gone 8-0 and has beaten teams by an average of nearly 20 points per game, one of those games being a 24-point victory over the Tigers Feb. 12.

Not to be outdone, though, Princeton has been on a winning streak of its own, winning the last six games by an average of over 10 points per game. This weekend's close games at Cornell and Columbia — 61-57 and 49-48 respectively — were a little too close for comfort for the Tigers, though, considering that the Big Red and the Lions combine for an Ivy League record of 6-22.

If Princeton plays against the Quakers like it played against the New York cellar dwellers this weekend, Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong and Andrew Toole will run up the score on the visiting squad.

Of the games Princeton has won, this weekend's matchups against Columbia and Cornell were the two worst shooting games of the season.

Princeton averaged a mere 40 percent from the field in the two matchups, but found ways to win. Moreover, the Tigers found themselves down by double digits in both games, but managed to battle back for the victory each time.

Against Penn, though, such a shooting performance or an early double digit hole would be disastrous, especially considering Penn's hot hands as of late.

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The Quakers have been averaging 75 points per game over the last eight games and even reached triple digits against Dartmouth two weeks ago.

Ugonna Onyekwe, this week's Ivy Player of the Week and a strong Ivy Player of the Year candidate, went 10 for 10 from the floor against Cornell for a game-high 28 points.

Princeton has also had its own hot hands recently. Against Columbia, senior forward Mike Bechtold sensed the urgency of Princeton's early 11-point deficit and shot 9 of 15 on the night for 25 of the team's 49 points. Against Cornell, it was junior guard Kyle Wente and sophomore center Konrad Wysocki, who combined for 27 of the team's 61 points.

When Penn traveled to Princeton Feb. 12, the Tigers were unable to stop any Penn run and the game was out of hand well before halftime.

Obviously, it would behoove Princeton to slow the Quakers down if Penn puts a few quick points on the board. Any small run capitalized by an Onyekwe dunk would send the enthusiasm of the crowd through the roof and give Penn several minutes of jubilant momentum.

Princeton's defense has been playing well recently, but its focus in the last few games has been on teams without threatening big men — just saavy guards. For instance, Brown had Earl Hunt, Yale had Ime Archibong and Columbia had Austin.

This evening, though, Princeton will need to adjust to what is probably the most powerful combination in the Ancient Eight, Onyekwe and Archibong, who nightly have the potential to combine for 40 points.

Princeton will need huge defensive efforts from Wysocki and freshman center Dominick Martin if it plans to end the season tonight and come away with the outright Ivy Title.