Road sweep would give men's basketball Ivy League crown

Over the years, more often than not, the Ivy League title has not been decided until the final Tuesday of the season, turning the second Princeton-Penn clash into an epic battle nearly every year.

But if the men's basketball team has its druthers, there will be no such instant classic in the near future. Princeton (17-7 overall, 10-1 Ivy League) would like nothing more than for next Tuesday's game with the Quakers to be utterly meaningless.

Luckily for the Tigers, they control their own destiny. A road sweep of Harvard (4-21, 3-9) and Dartmouth (2-22, 1-11) this weekend, would guarantee Princeton the Ivy League crown.

"We don't want to give Penn a second life," senior guard Ed Persia said. "We know we've got to finish the deal this weekend."

RPI ineptitude

On paper, at least, the Tigers would appear to be enormous favorites. According to the most recent rankings determined by collegerpi.com, the Big Green are ranked No. 325 in the country — out of 326 teams in Division I. The No. 309 Crimson are barely better. But, as ESPN announcer Chris Berman says, "games aren't played on paper, they're played inside of televisions."

In other words, don't expect Harvard and Dartmouth to go down without a fight. In fact, the Crimson, whom Princeton will play Friday night, nearly knocked off the Tigers the last time the two met, taking them to double overtime before eventually losing, 58-50.

Freshman forward Harrison Schaen was the hero for Princeton that night, hitting a game-tying shot with 23 seconds left in regulation, blocking a shot to preserve the tie at the end of the first extra period and making two critical steals in the second.

Harvard was carried offensively by Jason Norman and Matt Stehle, who scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, despite combining to commit an embarrassing 13 turnovers.

Princeton did not have nearly as much trouble in its first contest with Dartmouth, grabbing a 39-15 halftime lead and coasting to a 61-45 victory. Although it seemed irrelevant at the time, the Tigers' offensive sloppiness in the second half began a trend that continued into the next two games.

Saturday night's game in Hanover will be different, however. The game will be Big Green head coach Dave Faucher's last — three weeks ago he announced his resignation, effective at season's end — after 13 years at Dartmouth. An emotional celebration, featuring many of Faucher's former players, will be held before the game.

Of the Big Green's current players, point guard Leon Pattman is easily the most dangerous. The speedy freshman scored 18 points against Princeton the last time around.

Injury update

For the second straight weekend, the Tigers will be without Persia, who is still sidelined by a deep thigh contusion sustained against Brown. Most likely, freshman guard Max Schafer will start in his place again.

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"The recovery is going very slowly. I'm trying everything in my power to get ready for Tuesday, but that's being optimistic," Persia said. "There's a big knot, and it's still really stiff."

Princeton will, however, have the services of junior guard Will Venable, who strained his back in the second half of Saturday night's game against Cornell. After not practicing Monday or Tuesday, Venable has practiced each of the past two days and pronounced himself fully fit.