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Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball defeating No. 2 Harvard to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Penn men’s basketball is 40 minutes away from its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years after outlasting Harvard in a 62-60 overtime thriller to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final.

Sophomore point guard AJ Levine — more on him later — played the hero after he blew by Harvard sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath off the dribble for a scoop layup with 6.1 seconds to play in the extra session.

With the Crimson in scramble mode, Levine got a hand in Harvard guard Tey Barbour’s face as the sniper put up a three-point attempt to win the game.

Barbour’s shot was off line to the right and a wild celebration ensued.

The Quakers (17-11) are now in a position that few expected them to be in back in November. What did we learn about this team as it preps for an empty-the-tank game against Yale for a conference tournament championship?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard

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PHILADELPHIA — Merry clinchmas, Quakers fans.

Penn ended its three-year Ivy Madness drought with a weekend sweep at the Palestra of Dartmouth and Harvard. The Quakers (15-11, 8-5 Ivy) are locked into the three seed and a rubber match with Harvard (16-11, 9-4) in two weeks.

Unsurprisingly, the road to that aforementioned sweep was anything but linear. The Quakers needed to erase halftime deficits against both Dartmouth (11-15, 5-8) and the Crimson. On Friday, junior forward TJ Power pretty much singlehandedly carried the team over the line against the Big Green, dropping a career-high 38 points as the Quakers notched a closer-than-it-looked 80-71 win.

One night later, Penn played an excellent half of complementary offensive and defensive basketball to flip a 31-21 Crimson halftime lead into a 64-61 triumph.

Of course, any game against Harvard these days has to come with some late drama. The Crimson had a wide-open shot from deep to tie the game at the buzzer for elite shooter Tey Barbour after senior guard Cam Thrower slipped and fell while attempting to either foul or guard the Harvard guard.

Any Penn fan who’s been around long enough to remember the “Bryce Aiken game” in 2019 had to expect Barbour’s shot was going down. But maybe — just maybe — Barbour’s shot clanging off the rim is a sign that things have truly turned around for this program.

What else could Penn fans hold onto from one last successful homestand?

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Princeton men’s basketball outmatched at home by Merrimack

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Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reports on a 59-56 loss for Princeton men’s basketball (3-10) to Merrimack (6-6) at Jadwin Gym Wednesday:

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s Big 5 Classic loss to Villanova

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PHILADELPHIA — What briefly looked like an opportunity for Penn to snatch a signature win in Fran McCaffery’s first season as head coach spiraled over the course of a half-hour into a nightmare that recreated the worst moments of the Quakers’ last two nightmarish seasons.

Just like last season, Penn played Villanova competitively on Saturday for about 15 minutes of game time. Once again, the game devolved into a blowout. This time, the Wildcats put up 1.36 points per possession in a 90-63 rout that delivered Villanova a Big 5 title.

After junior wing Lucas Lueth tied the score at 27 with an open catch-and-shoot three from the left wing, Villanova (7-1, 3-0 Big 5) went on a 17-2 run to break the game open, which was capped off by two runout layups off turnovers in the final 15 seconds of the first half. The Wildcats were never seriously threatened after that.

The final score, though, was ultimately a secondary concern. The season itself for Penn (5-4, 3-1) is at a crossroads after senior wing Ethan Roberts went down with a scary-looking injury early in the second half. Roberts took an inadvertent high hit while being called for a foul, seized up for a few moments while crumpled in a heap on the ground, and then looked visibly unsteady returning to his feet before walking off the floor under his own power.

McCaffery did not comment on the specific nature of Roberts’ injury but said his player was headed to the hospital.

Roberts’ injury brings back bad memories of the ankle sprain Clark Slajchert suffered in a blowout loss to powerhouse Houston just before New Year’s in 2023. By the time Slajchert returned, Penn was in too deep of a hole to seriously compete for an Ivy Madness spot.

Where do the Quakers go from here?

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Yale men’s basketball holds off Akron to win Paradise Jam Tournament

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22-for-22.

You read that right. Yale men’s basketball (6-1) was 22-for-22 from the free-throw line and held off a furious Akron (5-2) charge to win the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Tournament, 97-94, Monday night.

“I thought our guys were really connected against a really difficult opponent,” Yale coach James Jones said.

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Nick Townsend powers Yale men’s basketball to Paradise Jam Tournament final

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It was the Nick Townsend show Sunday evening at the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The senior forward posted a career-high 32 points plus eight rebounds to lead Yale into the tournament final with a decisive 74-63 win over the College of Charleston.

“They let him (Townsend) go one on one, and he took advantage of it,” coach James Jones said.

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s big Big 5 win over Saint Joseph’s

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PHILADELPHIA — With 15:51 to play last night, Penn held a 48-46 lead at the Palestra on Saint Joseph’s and former coach Steve Donahue. The Quakers entered Monday as a six-point underdog, but the small lead clearly wasn’t enough for Penn coach Fran McCaffery — or anyone on the bench, for that manner.

One benefit of my seats behind the scorer’s table is that I can pick up bits and pieces of what’s said on the Penn bench or in the huddle. You can see players get coached up as they come off the floor, or hear an assistant demanding someone on the court cut or help.

I didn’t pick up a ton of what McCaffery was saying during that timeout, but one sentence aimed at the Hawks came through perfectly clear.

“They ****ing can’t defend!”

A few minutes later, Penn proved its new coach right. A 5-0 Penn run — capped by a wing three from Ethan Roberts in transition — would force Saint Joseph’s into a timeout and help lift the Quakers to a thrilling 83-74 win.

Penn (2-2, 1-0 Big 5) was physically overwhelmed by Saint Joseph’s (2-2, 1-1) on the same floor last year, the first big red flag in a season that got Donahue fired. Not so on Monday. The Quakers put up 1.11 points per possession and played at times brilliant offense against an ostensibly superior opponent.

Where do they go from here?

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Yale men’s basketball notches road rout of Quinnipiac

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Yale men’s basketball dispatched preseason MAAC favorite Quinnipiac (1-2) in Hamden, Conn. last night, 97-60. Yale (2-0) was down early and grabbed a 24-23 lead over the hosts (1-2) and the Bulldogs were off to the races.

“It was a great team performance. Our kids played really well together,” said coach James Jones.

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