Penn’s First Round Loss Completes Ivy Season
by Jay Pearlman
With a No. 14 seed, one slot ahead of last year, and a ten-game winning streak coming into the NCAA Tournament, the Penn faithful harbored some hope coming into Thursday’s first round match-up against Texas A&M. With an opponent not as formidable as last year’s Texas (a No. 2), Penn folks thought they had a shot.
That turned out to be more of an illusion. No matter that the committee, chaired by an Ivy AD in Princeton’s Gary Walters, treated this Penn team more kindly than last year’s, no matter that Jaaber and Zoller were now seniors, no matter even that Penn took a 39-37 lead on A&M with thirteen minutes left. From what this writer could see (well, hear), the Quakers never had a chance.
Thursday was a long-distance travel day for this reporter, so my window to the first full day of play was Westwood One, as Dave Sims and Dave Gavitt brought me Penn-A&M when I was in range of a station, and when that game was featured. While Sims was properly excited during Penn’s comeback (I think he’s a Philly guy, and play-by-play guys love underdog runs), Gavitt never sounded convinced. So even discounting for his Big East (and big conference) bias, I agree with Coach Gavitt that even when they took the lead, Penn never had a chance. A&M was simply sleepwalking, thinking of Louisville on Saturday and travel plans to a Sweet Sixteen venue. And consistent with Gavitt’s sense, after that two-point lead, Penn was outscored 31-13, and A&M won by as many as it wanted to.
That brings us to a key moment in time, specifically for Penn and generally for all of the Ivy League. The last three years, this league has had Jaaber, Zoller, and no one else posing even the slightest threat. Princeton now has the worst talent in America, Leon Pattman (Dartmouth) has been mostly injured, Ben Nwachukwu (Columbia) a disappointment, as were Stehle/Cusworth when together at Harvard. Casey Hughes (Yale) is athletic but a partial player, and McAndrew (Brown) is just a zone-buster. That leaves only Cornell, and I’m reminded that conference Rookie of the Year Ryan Wittman managed to lose twice to Harvard, both games coming after Cusworth’s graduation.
On the recruiting front, nothing is assured but death, taxes, and increasing Ivy tuition. Add in that Penn has three starters to replace. And unless first-year coach Glen Miller surprises on the road (actually, unless he already has and we’re not aware), or Cornell’s successive freshmen of the year surprise on the court, I think we’ll be looking back at this year’s Penn team as the last non-sixteenth seed for a while, maybe ever. And as un-winnable as it was, we’ll also be looking back on this year’s Penn-A&M game as eminently winnable. Just an illusion.
