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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Penn
Players Mentioned
Penn Denies Men's Hoops' Run at History
January 31, 2012 | Men's Basketball
It would have been the wrong kind of history for the Quakers, who were in danger of becoming the first Penn team to give up four straight wins to Princeton at The Palestra.
Instead, with an 82-67 Quaker victory, Princeton's longest win streak at the 85-year-old building will remain three, and its longest winning streak over its longtime rival will remain six. Princeton would have equaled the overall longest winning streak with a victory.
Zack Rosen, a Penn senior who had won once in six tries against the Tigers, led his team with 28 points and seemed to hit a rally-stifling shot whenever Princeton tried to muster a comeback.
"We really had no response or an answer for Zack Rosen," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton basketball, said. "He was terrific tonight."
With the loss, Princeton fell to 10-9 overall and 1-2 in the Ivy League, a critical defeat in an Ivy race that is down to two undefeateds in conference. Penn is now 11-9 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy, while pace-setter Harvard is 4-0 in the league.
Despite the tough spot for the Tigers, senior co-captain Douglas Davis said the team's resolve remained strong.
"I don't think our team is shaken at all," Davis said. "It definitely puts us behind the eight ball, so now we have to find a way to get back to where we need to be."
Both Penn and Princeton will head to southern New England this weekend, Princeton starting with Brown Friday night before heading to Yale Saturday.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Henderson said. "And we're going to need some help. We know that."
Ian Hummer led Princeton in scoring with 21 points, boosting his career total to 988 while Brendan Connolly was one short of a career high with 15 and Philadelphia native Davis added 14.
Rosen was one of four Quakers in double figures on a night when points weren't so difficult to come by. Both teams shot better than 60 percent in the first half and finished better than 50 percent for the game.
The turning points of Monday night's contest, the first on a non-Tuesday in the series since 1996 and first on a Monday since 1972, were beyond the arc and under the glass. Penn made 7 of 10 from distance in the first half on the way to 10 of 18 for the game, a season-high number of 3-pointers made for a Princeton opponent. The Quakers outrebounded Princeton 33-19 including a 13-4 edge on the offensive end.
"They were just quicker to everything than us in the first half and the second," Henderson said. "Forty points in the first half, 42 in the second, and that was a real 82. We just couldn't stop them. That's supposed to be what we've been hanging our hat on."