Quakeaways from No. 14 Penn men’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament loss to No. 3 Illinois

by
The Penn men’s basketball team and supporters take in the scene after Penn’s 105-70 loss to Illinois in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. on March 19, 2026. (Ian Wenik/Ivy Hoops Online)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Undermanned and outgunned, No. 14 Penn men’s basketball put up a fight against No. 3 Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the better part of a half.

But that was all the Quakers could muster in what wound up as a 105-70 defeat.

The Quakers (18-12) entered Thursday night’s matchup against the Fighting Illini with its two best players compromised. Leading scorer Ethan Roberts had been ruled out earlier in the week after suffering his second concussion of the season, while TJ Power, the hero of last week’s Ivy League Tournament, fell ill in the days leading up to the game and needed what coach Fran McCaffery estimated were four or five IVs to even be able to play.

“TJ wasn’t himself,” McCaffery said during a postgame press conference. The junior forward — who rarely comes off the floor — went back to the locker room twice during the game and was too ill to join his teammates as they showed their appreciation to a strong contingent of Quakers fans.

“When I took him out that last time, I was not going to put him back in the game,” McCaffery said of Power. “It would not have been fair to him.”

As for the action on the court itself? It was no surprise that the size of Illinois, the nation’s tallest team by average height, dictated the game. Penn actually outshot the Fighting Illini in the first half but entered the locker room down 10 points because Illinois had racked up 16 second-chance points and a plus-14 rebounding margin.

The Quakers cut the deficit to nine with about 16:45 to play after wing Michael Zanoni bounced in a straightaway three, but Illinois immediately responded with a 14-2 run which effectively ended the game.

For Penn, the book is officially sealed on its 2025-26 season. What did Penn fans learn from its final chapter?

Read more

Columbia and Harvard women’s basketball cruise over St. John’s, Navy in WBIT opening round

by

After two straight losses to Harvard women’s basketball derailed Columbia from regular and postseason Ivy League titles, senior guard Perri Page made her feelings known moments after being knocked out of the Ivy League Tournament.

“We all got to be bought in and go all into whatever we do,” the First Team All-Ivy and Defensive Player of the Year told assembled media last Friday night. “We are winning the WBIT. I can tell you that right now.”

Page and her teammates put the rest of the tournament on notice Thursday night, jumping out to a quick lead and cruising to a 74-26 rout of St. John’s at Levien Gymnasium.

The opening-round win improves the No. 4-seeded Lions record to 21-8 (11-4 Ivy League) on the season and a game on the road at North Dakota State, the No. 1 seed in their quadrant, on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

For its part, Harvard notched a comfortable WBIT opening-round home win of its own simultaneously Thursday night, dispatching Navy, 73-52. The win for the Crimson (19-11, 10-4) over the Midshipmen (22-9, 15-2 Patriot) set the victors up for a second-round matchup hosting Eastern Kentucky at a time to be determined Sunday.

Read more

2025-26 IHO Men’s All-Ivy Awards

by

The Ivy League announced its major men’s awards Wednesday. But we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2025-26 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the 2026 Ivy League Tournament:

Read more

2025-26 IHO Women’s All-Ivy Awards

by

The Ivy League announced its major women’s awards last week. But we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2025-26 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the 2026 Ivy League Tournament:

Read more

Factors favoring No. 14 Penn men’s basketball and No. 3 Illinois in their NCAA Tournament matchup

by

There is no sugarcoating it: It will take a truly special effort for Penn men’s basketball to pick up its first NCAA Tournament win since 1994 when it squares off with Illinois in Greenville, S.C. Thursday night.

The Vegas line opened with the Fighting Illini favored by 20.5 points and was quickly bet up to a 23.5-or-24.5-point spread, depending on where you looked. For context, the biggest outright Round of 64 upset ever by Vegas odds was Fairleigh Dickinson’s triumph as a No. 16 seed over No. 1 Purdue as a 23.5-point underdog in 2023. Purdue was ranked sixth in KenPom at the time, while FDU was ranked 299th.

For the Quakers, the KenPom gap between themselves and Illinois is not nearly as daunting. Illinois is No. 7, while Penn now sits at No. 150 thanks to its Sunday upset of Yale in the Ivy League title game. That comes with the caveat that the gap between the top teams in college basketball and the rest of the sport has grown dramatically in recent years due to transfer portal movement.

There will be plenty more to discuss ahead of Thursday, but to tide you over, here’s an early look at the matchup:

Read more

AP No. 23 Princeton women’s basketball draws NCAA Tournament No. 9 seed, will face No. 8 Oklahoma State

by

Princeton women’s basketball learned Sunday night it has drawn a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Oklahoma State Saturday in Los Angeles in the Tigers’ seventh straight NCAA Tournament berth dating back to 2018.

Princeton and Oklahoma State will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.

The Associated Press-ranked No. 23 Tigers will play the AP-unranked Cowgirls in the UCLA quad and would play the host No. 1-seed Bruins if the latter win their Round of 64 game against No. 16-seed California Baptist.

Read more

Penn men’s basketball draws a No. 14 seed, matchup with No. 3 Illinois in NCAA Tournament

by

 

Four hours after it secured its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 on Sunday, Penn men’s basketball learned it’s a No. 14 seed in the Big Dance and will play No. 3 Illinois in Greenville, S.C. in the tournament’s South region.

Penn and Illinois will tip off at 9:25 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C., with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call on TNT.

In that previous NCAA Tournament appearance, Penn controversially drew a No. 16 seed and a matchup in Wichita, Kan. with No. 1 Kansas, to whom it lost, 76-60.

Read more

Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball’s Ivy League Tournament final win over No. 3 Yale

by

ITHACA, N.Y. – Penn men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years after outlasting Yale in overtime, 88-84, in one of the greatest games in recent Ivy League history Sunday at Newman Arena.

The Quakers (18-11) needed a transcendent performance from forward TJ Power to pull off the Ivy League Tournament final upset with leading scorer Ethan Roberts back in Philadelphia, sidelined with a concussion.

Boy, did Power deliver. The junior had a 44-point detonation, which matched Hassan Duncombe for the program’s single-game scoring record since it joined the Ivy League in 1954. Power personally erased what was a four-point Penn deficit with 12 seconds to play by simply dribbling into three-pointers on consecutive possessions.

The last of those threes, a contested shot from the right wing, tied the game at 75 with a second to go in regulation. Yale guard Trevor Mullin (who had hit two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three before Power’s heroic shot) nearly sank a three-quarter-court heave as the buzzer sounded, but it clanged off the back iron.

In overtime, Power — whose free-throw shooting struggles this season have been well-documented — put the Quakers ahead for good with 3:02 left in the extra session following two makes from the charity stripe. He got a ton of help from senior guard Cam Thrower, who had a five-point scoring burst in a 40-second span to give the Red and Blue some critical breathing room.

In his first campaign running his alma mater, coach Fran McCaffery has pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in recent college basketball memory.

What should Penn fans hold onto from an afternoon of unbridled joy?

Read more

TJ Power lifts No. 3 Penn past No. 1 Yale in instant classic Ivy League Tournament final to earn NCAA berth

by
Penn men’s basketball celebrates its 2026 Ivy League Tournament championship at Newman Arena on March 15, 2026.  (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

ITHACA, N.Y. – Now that’s a super Power.

In a game for the ages, junior TJ Power tallied 44 points to lead Penn men’s basketball past Yale in overtime, 88-84, to an improbable Ivy League Tournament championship at Newman Arena and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Power’s 44 points were a career high and tied an Ivy Madness record set a year ago when Harmoni Turner also tallied 44 points to lead Harvard women’s basketball to its first Ivy League Tournament title.

Power drilled seven of Penn’s 14 three-pointers in the monumental victory.

But the last one should never have happened.

Leading by three with five seconds left on the clock, Yale coach James Jones called timeout to set his defense as Penn prepared to inbound the ball under its own basket.

Everyone, including Penn coach Fran McCaffery, assumed the Bulldogs would foul rather than let Power shoot a three.

They were wrong.

Guarded by Yale swingman Casey Simmons, Power quickly dribbled the ball up the court and pulled up just beyond the arc on the right side and let the ball fly. It swished the net to tie the game at 75 with two seconds to go. After a last-second heave by Yale guard Trevor Mullin barely missed, the teams headed to overtime.

Read more