Final, 78-65 Penn
Just as it looked like Penn might be in for a repeat of last night, the Quakers snapped out of their funk and went on a 28-3 run, playing the most inspired stretch of basketball they’ve played all season. The key to the game was Penn’s great inside play, which started to free up open looks from the perimeter later on in the game. Glen Miller has to be very pleased with this win against a somewhat talented Yale team. On the whole, a tremendous team effort for the Quakers.

A few quick notes:

• Yesterday I told you that Remy Cofield left the Palestra in a Tom Brady-like protective boot. He was not on the floor for the pre-game warmups tonight and didn’t see any action.
• Cam Lewis, who didn’t play last night, saw 4 minutes tonight.
• Mike Kach did not play.
• Penn got to the free throw line 20 more times than it did last night, going 22-26.
• Harrison Gaines had 5 assists in 12 minutes with only one turnover. For the game, Penn had 18 assists and 12 turnovers.

In-game updates can be found after the jump.

(more…)

With a few minutes left in the Penn-Brown game, it looked like the winner would have a great shot of challenging Cornell for the title.

The Big Red were surprisingly down, as Harvard used a 19-5 run to build a nine-point second-half lead. The Crimson were still on top by that margin with seven minutes left, and maintained a five-point advantage with under 30 seconds to go after a Jeremy Lin three.

But everything that could have gone wrong for the home side did.

Cornell’s Alex Tyler connected on a shot that cut the deficit to 71-68 with 25 seconds left. Then on a long inbounds pass, Lin fell out of bounds (without a foul call) to give it right back. The Big Red gave the ball right back to their big man, as Tyler scored again, getting a goaltend from Evan Harris.

The Harris tried to inbound the ball, but was whistled for a five-second call. Cornell, with under 10 seconds to go, used a screen and misdirection to find Tyler open under the basket to finally re-take the lead, 72-71. Drew Housman’s bid to win the game for Harvard missed, and Cornell’s undefeated record (7-0) remains intact. Box score

Meanwhile, the Quakers were left at 3-3 after the loss, and a long way away from a fourth-straight title. It’s still possible, though, but if the Red and Blue lose tonight to Yale, they are finished.

Wondering why tonight’s game is at 6 p.m.? It’s on ESPN Classic. I kept seeing advertisemnets for tonght’s doubleheader (Villanova plays St. Johns, and yes it is also a national broadcast) in between watching Cheap Seats and old Duke-Maryland games. You won’t find Classic in the Quad, but Comcast cable off-campus gets it, and it’s in my appartment on Hotwire cable. Yes, that’s actually the name of my cable company, and yes it’s real ghetto.

Some news stories to keep you busy before the game tonight.

• Columbia’s paper gives another perspective on the financial aid issue.
• The Yale Daily chronicles ‘Attrition and the Yale Athlete.’
• The NCAA is considering tweaking with some penalties in college football.

Check out these betting lines: Brown is a four-point favorite at Penn, Cornell is a five-point favorite at Harvard, Columbia a two-point favorite at Dartmouth and Yale a 1.5-point favorite at Princeton.

What’s so remarkable about that? I believe today is the first time any road team has been favored all year. And the first time it happens, all four road teams are favored!

I think the best bet is for the Big Red to cover the spread at Harvard.

For those who want to keep an eye on 6-0 Cornell’s run for the Ivy League title, check out the Times’s ongoing coverage of their roadtrip through New England.

And if you can’t make it to the Palestra for the Brown game tonight, check back here for live updates. Until then, here’s the Providence Journal’s preview of the game and here is the DP’s.

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.