M. hoops looks to solidify league lead with win over Quakers

For 15 years, only one letter has mattered in the Ivy League — 'P.'

Princeton and Penn have combined to win every men's basketball championship since 1989. Twice a year, the twin titans of the Ancient Eight clash on a Tuesday night as the rest of the league watches and learns.

So when the opening tip floats into the air at 8 p.m. tonight at Jadwin Gym, throw out the records. A title, not to mention a trip to the NCAA tournament, is at stake.

"I'm not too good at roaring speeches, but I don't think we need one," head coach John Thompson '88 said. "This is one of the best rivalries in college basketball."

For now, at least, the road to the throne still goes through Penn (9-8 overall, 2-2 Ivy League), the two-time defending league champions. But the Quakers, who lost four starters from last year's team, have proven to be mortal, falling to Brown and Yale on consecutive nights.

Meanwhile, Princeton (11-6, 4-0) — the only Ivy squad yet to suffer a league loss — has again established itself as the early favorite to unseat Penn. To do so the Tigers will likely need to beat the Quakers at least once — something they have failed to do each of the last two seasons. But once the game begins, of course, each squad has a tabula rasa.

"What's happened in the past does not matter," Thompson said. "This is a new year, two new teams."

Still, the consequence of the contest remains consistent. In 12 of the past 13 seasons, the team that claimed victory in the first Penn-Princeton game has also walked away with a win in the second. The Tigers can grab a stranglehold on the league race with a win; a loss, on the other hand, would waste their early advantage.

For Princeton, the key to breaking its four-game losing streak in the series is simple: shut down Penn's shooters. The Tigers learned this the hard way last season, when the Quakers shot a blistering 68 percent from the field in their second meeting. This year, Penn boasts a pair of long-distance specialists, one of whom is Jeff Schiffner, the only starter left from last year's squad that went 14-0 in league play.

After shooting 49.3 percent from beyond the arc and being named to the All-Ivy team last season, the senior swingman struggled to find his stroke early on this year as defenders focused on him. But Schiffner caught fire in the Quakers' annihilation of Harvard last Friday, hitting six threes.

If Schiffner is Penn's number one, the junior Tim Begley is one-A. Begley has actually shot better than Schiffner has this year — 48 percent from downtown — en route to averaging 13 points per game. Joining the potent pair on the perimeter is senior point guard Charlie Copp. Freshman Ibrahim Jabbar, one of the fastest players in the league, is first off the bench.

"They have two of the best shooters in the league, possibly the country," Thompson said. "They shot an incredible percentage last year, but hopefully they won't make as many shots this year."

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Thompson was unspecific in discussing defensive matchups, but the same type of tight man-to-man strategy he employed against the dangerous shooters of Brown and Yale is probably to be expected. Judging from prior games, junior guard Will Venable and senior guard Ed Persia will likely draw the assignments of Schiffner and Begley, respectively.

Unlike last year, Princeton should be able to exploit the Quakers' interior, thanks to the graduation of back-to-back Ivy League player of the year Ugonna Onyekwe '03 and his classmate Koko Archibong.

"Their guys [this year] aren't necessarily as explosive [as last year]," Thompson said, "but [senior center Adam] Chubb is extremely effective down there and they've gotten contributions from a bunch of guys."

Chubb has done the most to fill the void, chipping in 11 points and seven rebounds a game. Still, Princeton should have the advantage down low. Don't be surprised if the Tigers increasingly look inside for offensive production as the game progresses, as they did in their tight win at Yale. Of the Tigers' big men — junior centers Judson Wallace and Mike Stephens and junior forward Andre Logan — one of them is bound to have a big game.

In both of last year's contests, the score was tied late in the second half before Penn took over down the stretch.

This year, it's the Tigers who are more experienced. And while last year's home game against Penn was played in front of a sparse crowd with Princeton already out of the league race, the zealous 'Jadwin Jungle' may have finally made Jadwin Gym an intimidating place to play.

"We've been in tough, tight situations before," Thompson said. "The pre-season was by design, and hopefully it pays off."