Penn Faces Huge Test Vs. #25 Harvard
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's the game of the weekend in the Ivy League and it will be at the Palestra tonight as Penn hosts #25 Harvard.
The Quakers are coming off a split last weekend in Ancient 8 action as they lost at Yale before rallying the next night on Friday to beat Brown. That improved their mark to 12-10 and 4-1 in the Ivy League and head coach Jerome Allen liked the way his team didn't let the loss to the Bulldogs stick with them against the Bears.
"I applaud our guys somewhat for just bouncing back Saturday night and having the right focus and fortitude about them. Just (wanted) to go out, short turnaround, and try to really perform better on the defensive end and I thought for the most part we got that done on Saturday night."
Listen to KYW's Matt Leon's interview with Jerome Allen:
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The Quakers will need a high quality performance tonight as they host the 20-2 Crimson. Harvard is ranked #25 in this week's AP Top 25 poll and they are alone in first place in the Ivy league with a perfect 6-0 record. Allen says it's not hard to see why they are so successful.
"They do an excellent job of defending and making it tough for teams to get into their offense. They finish possessions, they rebound the ball fairly well on the defensive end. And they have a sense of selflessness about them, they really share the ball, they really play for one another."
That Harvard defense really is very good. The Crimson hold opponents to just 54 points a game and 40% shooting from the field. Allen breaks down what makes it so tough to score against Harvard.
"They really deny ball entry, they do an excellent job of playing post defense. They fly all over the place."
Penn and Harvard will tip-off at 7:00pm at the Palestra.
