You could call it the Ivy League game of the year or a heavyweight fight between two of the three Ivies.
But it will probably always be remembered as the Jalen Gabbidon show.
The Yale senior captain poured in a career-high 32 points to lead his Bulldogs to an 81-72 home win against Penn.
Yale coach James Jones called it “a really good college basketball game.”
“Penn is a really good team,” Jones said.
Gabbidon scored both inside and out.
“I feel like offensively I have a lot of tools,” Gabbidon said.
He used them all Friday night, as he shot 12-for-20 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
Gabbidon was also tasked with primary defensive duty on Ivy leading scorer Jordan Dingle. Dingle was held to 10 points on 4-for-19 shooting, including 1-for-10 from long range.
Dingle was averaging 20.3 points per game in the Ivy entering the contest.
The first half was close throughout, with Yale leading by as many as six and Penn by three.
Yale (15-9, 9-1 Ivy) opened up a 64-54 lead at 9:24 on an Azar Swain jumper. The second leading Ivy scorer was held to 15 points.
Penn (11-13, 8-3) then went on a 9-1 run, culminating with a Jonah Charles three to grab a 71-70 lead.
Yale then finished the game out on its own 11-1 run, with five coming from Gabbidon and two key free throws from EJ Jarvis.
Jarvis contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of play.
Clark Slajchert led Penn with 18 points and Max Martz and reserve center Nick Spinoso each had 11.
Yale was 15-for-18 from the charity stripe. Penn was only 5-for-9.
The Bulldogs have now won 10 out of the last 12 meetings between the team in New Haven.
Yale plays Princeton at home Saturday while Penn travels to Providence to take on Brown.