A Penn Athletics press release earlier today announced that the football game this year at Princeton will be moved to Friday November 7th from Saturday the 8th. (Actually I just read the Princeton Athletics release and it’s more detailed). The reason for the change? So it can be aired live on ESPNU. The meeting will be the 100th between the schools.

The Quakers’ previous game is Saturday the 1st home against Brown, so the short week should not be that big of a deal. Princeton, meanwhile, will be disadvantaged more by the short week. They play at Cornell on the 1st.

But The Tigers are used to playing under the lights on a national TV audience on Friday night. They beat Brown 17-3 two years ago and Cornell 34-31 last year, both Friday ESPNU games.

This would be the first non-Saturday game the Quakers have played since Thursday October 10 at Villanova in 2002.

What are your thoughts about the change? Post in the comments below.

First off, what a game last night. Even though the Quakers didn’t come away with the “W,” they came awfully close — even closer than they did in Ithaca a few weeks ago. For the second consecutive game against the best team in the league, Penn rose up to the challenge when it could have just as easily folded after last Saturday’s devastating loss to Brown. This has to be a big confidence-builder for the team going forward, and it should also give them a little extra motivation when Cornell comes to the Palestra next season.

And say what you will about bad calls and no calls (evidently Friday night referees in the Ivy League are the worst in the business with other conference tournament games going on around the east coast), last night’s game was the third straight very exciting Penn-Cornell contest. Dating back to last year’s fierce battle at the Palestra, we have seen the beginnings of what could likely become a very fun and heated rivalry between the Quakers and the Big Red over the next few years. Cornell is young and talented; Penn is young and talented and should be a much more successful team next season. With Princeton in the cellar, I can certainly see the potential for a great Penn-Cornell rivalry in the immediate future. Not to take anything away from the greatness of the Penn-Princeton rivalry — the two teams will always compete in entertaining games no matter what. But as far as league importance and quality basketball is concerned, Penn-Cornell might be the real attraction going forward.

Speaking of the Tigers…they somehow managed to pull off a win over the Lions last night, 75-64, earning their third Ivy League win of the season (and sixth win overall). An interesting note from that game, aside from the fact that John Baumann and Niko Scott combined for 41 of Columbia’s 64 total points, is that K.J. Matsui saw only seven minutes — more than 12 below his season average.

The Tokyo-native is somewhat of a secret weapon for Columbia. He started the first two Ivy League games of the season and has since been used as a perimeter threat off the bench. Penn fans know this all too well. Earlier this season against the Quakers, he played 31 minutes off the bench and went 5-8 from behind the arc, ending up with 17 points. Matsui is an even 50-100 from downtown this season, leading the league with his 50% clip.

Given how good Matsui was against Penn last time the two teams met — and given how much trouble Penn tends to have guarding against the three — I’d have to imagine that he sees a lot more than seven minutes tonight. Tonight, the Quakers will have to do a better job of containing him and Niko Scott around the perimeter without losing sight of Baumann.

• Tonight’s game marked the first time in Brian Grandieri’s career that Penn lost an Ivy League contest at the Palestra.

• As a team, the Quakers shot 9-17 from downtown, hitting three more triples than the Bears. The difference was the play inside. Despite Brown’s smaller size, the Bears etched out 30 points in the paint (compared to Penn’s 24) thanks to a number of smooth backdoor cuts. More importantly, the Bears got to the free throw line 26 times — Penn was 2 of 6 from the charity stripe. Brown’s 61.5% clip wasn’t impressive, but it was good enough.

• Grandieri overcame his recent shooting woes tonight, going 9-15 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arc. He was the Quakers’ only reliable option in the second half — especially with Kevin Egee on the bench in foul trouble — and hit a number of clutch shots down the stretch.

• Cameron Lewis did not see any action tonight, and though Remy Cofield did see 12 minutes, he left the Palestra wearing a Tom Brady-like protective boot.

Tomorrow’s game against Yale has been moved up to 6 pm. If you can’t make it to the Palestra, ESPN Classic will be televising the game. Stay tuned to The Buzz for more coverage.

P.S. Jack Eggleston was a guest earlier this week on UTV’s DP Roundtable and was asked about the incident with Noah Savage at the end of the Princeton game. With Princeton inbounding the ball under its own basket down by 3 with 9 seconds to go, Savage took a swing towards Eggleston’s groin area and was called for a technical foul, essentially ending the Tigers’ chances. On an earlier possession, Savage missed an important shot that would have put his team in better position to win. On the show, Eggleston said that right before Savage picked up the “T,” Eggleston — who played with Savage a lot over the summer — said something to him about the missed shot, prompting the hot-headed reaction. Zidane, anyone?

I hope all two dozen of you who went enjoyed the game last night. Attendance issues aside, it was a great game to watch with plenty of twists and surprises. My recap is here, and three of my colleagues’ takes on the game are here, here and here. A couple other papers chime in here and here.

You can also watch video of the post-game press conference by clicking here.

Since a few people have already inquired about the source of Noah Savage’s technical foul with nine seconds left, I’ll address it. My vision was partly obstructed by another player, but I saw the play.

Savage was smarting from missing an open three-point attempt with 10 seconds to go. It would have put Princeton up 66-64. Instead, Remy Cofield hit two free throws (after Zach Finley’s and Brian Grandieri’s technicals cancelled) to give Penn a 66-63 lead. As Savage and Jack Eggleston took their positions for the next inbounds play, Savage threw something — an arm, an elbow perhaps — at Eggleston. Both players knew it was a ‘T’ right away. Eggleston hit one free throw. Four-point Penn lead; ballgame.

Around the Ivies, Phil Kasiecki of Hoopville offers an Ivy notebook today, the Sun writes about Cornell’s success at the free-throw line and the Ithaca Journal is already looking ahead. In the Big 5, the Inquirer tries to bring some closure for ‘Nova fans still sore over that iffy loss to Georgetown.

FINAL: Penn 70, Princeton 65

In-game updates can be found after the jump.

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You can see highlights of Saturday’s game here.

In-game updates of Penn’s 7-0 win over Princeton can be found after the jump.

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If you haven’t noticed, and if you’re reading this post you have, the blog has changed its look a bit. Most of the items in the right rail are still there, just in a slightly different order. We’ve added archives by month, as well as tags that will show what’s popping up most frequently on The Buzz.

Send any comments along to scurria@sas.upenn.edu.

In today’s football news, the Boston Globe does a fine profile of Harvard linebacker Peter Ajayi, which is almost enough for me to excuse them for snubbing Saturday’s Penn-Princeton game from their Friday preview rundown. The Brown Daily Herald briefly previews Yale’s tester against the Bears.

Today’s DP carries previews of the Princeton game and the weekend in the Ivy League along with our regular opp spot.