Penn Visits Princeton Saturday For Ivy Opener

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The Penn Quakers will finally play their first game of the 2015 calendar year on Saturday and it will also be their Ivy League opener as they visit rival Princeton.

The 3-7 Quakers haven't played since losing to La Salle back on December 30th. Head coach Jerome Allen talks about how they've tried to handle the long layoff.

"Trying to kind of balance the eagerness to get back on the court and compete again with having an appreciation for the time that we do have to grow and get better and cover some of the details that we need to work on," Allen tells KYW Newsradio.

Listen to Jerome Allen with KYW's Matt Leon:

Penn is being led in scoring once again by junior guard Tony Hicks and his 14.3 points per game. Another junior, center Darien Nelson-Henry, is second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and leads it in rebounding at 6.3 a game. The Quakers are also getting great contributions in a lot of areas from a talented freshman class which includes guards Darnell Foreman and Antonio Woods and forwards Mike Auger and Sam Jones. Allen is very pleased with their development.

"I'm extremely happy," Allen says. "I think the biggest thing with this group is they want to be led, they want to be coached, they want to be held to the highest standard. They don't allow the amount of game experiences that they've put underneath their belt to be a crutch for why we haven't had more success in terms of the wins and losses. So that's exciting to see. I see them getting better each and every day and hopefully they'll continue to do that."

Princeton is 6-9 heading into Saturday's game, but they are 5-1 at home and Allen says they pose a tough challenge.

"I think Coach (Mitch) Henderson, he's got his guys playing pretty good basketball right now," Allen says. "They defend, they keep you out of the paint, they make you take contested shots. And they are patient and deliberate and aggressive, if all of those things make sense, just in terms in how they execute their offense. For us it's going to be a challenge, just in terms of how disciplined we'll be defensively and if we're able to impose our will and kind of get them out of their stuff. Hopefully we don't struggle with turnovers and just play a solid basketball game that gives ourselves a chance at winning."

This will be the 231st meeting in this storied rivalry. Penn leads the series 124-106. The two teams split their two meetings last season, each winning at home.

Saturday's game at Jadwin Gym in Princeton tips off at 5:00pm.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw

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