Ivy League Rivals Clash in Philadelphia: Yale at Pennsylvania

Yale Bulldogs at Pennsylvania Quakers, The Palestra, Philadelphia, PA
Friday, January 28, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: Comcast Network
Opening Line: Penn -5
Current Line: Penn -5
Opening Total: 129 1/2
Current Total: 128 1/2
Money Line: Penn -230 / Yale +190

college football lines — Penn and Yale meet again at the famous Palestra. Penn is a 5 point favorite against their Ivy League rivals at home.

The Yale Bulldogs are 9-7 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League, after sweeping Brown in a home and home. They travel to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers. Penn is 6-8 overall and this is the Ivy League opener for them. Yale has losses to Quinnipiac, Providence, Illinois, Vermont, Sacred Heart, Stanford and Lehigh. They have won four straight after a 3 game losing streak. Yale has wins over Boston College, Army, Albany, and Holy Cross on the season. They beat Brown 59-51 in New Haven last Saturday in their last game. Penn has losses to Manhattan, Drexel, Pitt, Villanova, Marist, Kentucky, LaSalle, and Temple on the year. The Quakers have wins over Davidson, Lafayette, Army, Delaware, and St. Joseph’s. Penn beat St. Joseph’s 73-61 Saturday for their only win against the Big 5 Philadelphia area schools. Penn holds a 143-69 advantage in the series against Yale. The teams have split the season series the last 2 years, and 3 of the last 4. Yale won at the Palestra in 2009 but hadn’t won in Philadelphia since 1997 before that. Yale is 11-2 ATS in the last 2 seasons versus teams with winning records. Penn is 3-13 ATS as a favorite the last 3 seasons, and 8-19 ATS at home in the same span.

Yale has no significant injuries. The Bulldogs are led by forward Greg Mangano. He is averaging 14.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks a game. He leads the team in all three categories. Guard Austin Morgan averages 13.3 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists to lead the team, and 1 steal a game. Guard porter Braswell averages 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists a game. Guard/forward Reggie Willhite averages 9.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals a game to lead the team. Yale is outscoring opponents 69-67 on the season. The Bulldogs are shooting 44.2% from the field and 35.2% from 3-point range. Yale is holding opponents to 40.8% shooting from the field. Yale makes 72.4% of their free throws. Yale averages 34.8 rebounds a game and gives up around 35 rebounds a game as well. Yale averages 12.9 assists and 14 turnovers a game. They force 13 turnovers a game on defense. Yale averages 5 steals and 4.2 blocks a game.

Penn reserve center Andreas Schreiber has been out since December 8. He only played 9 minutes a game, so the loss isn’t that great. Penn has 4 players averaging double digit scoring. Guard Zach Rosen averages 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals. He leads the team in scoring and assists. Forward Jack Eggleston averages 12.7 points, 8.1 rebounds to lead the team, 2.4 assists, 1 steal and 0.8 blocks a game to lead the team. Guard Miles Cartwright averages 11.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 steals a game to lead the team. Guard Tyler Bernardini averages 11.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.1 steals a game. Penn is being outscored 69-65 on the season. The Quakers are shooting 45.1% from the field and 35.5% from 3-point range. Quaker opponents are shooting 47.3% from the field. Penn makes 69.9% from the free throw line. Penn averages 28 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of -4.0. Penn averages 12.9 assists and 14.1 turnovers a game. The Quakers are forcing 14 turnovers a game on defense. Penn averages 6 steals and 2.1 blocks a game.

It was only a few years ago that Penn and Princeton dominated the Ivy League. From 1989 to 2007, Either Penn or Princeton won the title. (In 2002, there was a three way tie between Penn, Princeton, and Yale.) Cornell won the last two titles but they lost a lot of talent this year. Both Penn and Princeton have fallen off recently talent wise and this year Harvard appears to be the class of the league. Yale is probably a notch below Harvard. Penn is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country and they struggle to stop teams on defense. however they have played a very tough schedule with games against Pitt, Villanova, and Kentucky, all currently in the top 15 in the country. Even Temple was ranked in the top 25 earlier in the season. Penn is tough at home, but Yale is the better team.