A great opportunity awaits the Dartmouth men's basketball program this weekend as Ivy League favorites Penn and Princeton head to Hanover to take on the Big Green at Leede Arena.
The Big Green hosts the University of Pennsylvania Quakers (9-3, 0-0) tonight at 7 p.m. in a contest that is sure to be a dogfight between these two conference foes.
Penn, under the tutelage of Fran Dunphy, in his 13th year as head coach at the school, comes into the game having already earned its best start to a season since 1974-75. That season it was Chuck Daly who coached the Quakers before going on to win two NBA championships with the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s. He led the Quakers to a school best start of 7-2 before the first day of 1975. Fran Dunphy, however, had his Quakers off to a 7-3 start before the New Year this season, and they have won two more games since.
What's even more astonishing is that a handful of Penn's victories have been over nationally-renowned programs like Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Villanova and cross-town rival Temple. Penn also stayed competitive in an early season match-up against No. 9 Illinois before falling 78-71.
Penn brings a roster of very talented players to Leede Arena this weekend, and many of these players will pose problems for Big Green defenders.
Up front, the Quakers boast two 6-foot 8-inch forwards in Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong, who are averaging 18.3 and 17.7 points per game, respectively.
"By far, this frontcourt of Onyekwe and Archibong will be the most athletic and most talented big men that our forwards and centers will match up against this year," Dartmouth center Brendan Herbert '04 said of Penn's twin towers. "Both are seasoned veterans, smart players, and prolific scorers."
Big Green head coach Dave Faucher added: "The Ivy League is very strong this year, but it is my opinion that Penn is a very special team and the most talented [because of these two players]."
Dartmouth must play a smart, hard game with more toughness and desire than the team has shown all year in order to pull off the upset against the Quakers, according to Herbert.
The weekend does not get any easier on Saturday night for the Big Green when the Tigers of Princeton University make their way into what is sure to be a packed house in Hanover.
Princeton enters the contest with a record of 4-7 on the year, having gone winless on the road in three games thus far. But do not let that record fool you because Princeton has the 22nd toughest schedule in the nation this year, according to the RPI standings.
Some of Princeton's struggles have come at the hands of national powerhouses Cal-Berkeley, St. Joseph's, No. 4 Maryland and top-ranked Kansas.
Needless to say, as Princeton continues to play difficult non-conference schedules year in and year out, its opponents only seem to toughen the Tigers up for the Ivy League season. This might explain why Coach John Thompson III and his troops are the reigning conference champions.
Big man Brendan Herbert knows exactly how Princeton operates, which has made preparation for the game slightly easier this year.
"Princeton is traditionally a team that is known for its slow-paced games, almost lulling defenses to sleep and then popping a three or getting a lay-up on a backdoor cut," Herbert said.
"Fortunately, that is exactly the type of system that is familiar to us because so many of our sets are similar to theirs."
Herbert also remembers last year's surprise win over the Tigers in Hanover: "Last year, we pulled off a huge win over Princeton, and we're poised and ready to have another great showing against them [this year]."
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
