Though the University of Pennsylvania has yet to play its first Ivy game, the Quakers (6-4) are certainly peaking at the right time for the trials of league play. Penn thumped Monmouth, a team that only lost by a buzzer beater to Princeton. Cornell, who fell to Vermont earlier in the week, won its first Ancient Eight contest of the season, taking advantage of a struggling Columbia squad.
Penn 98, Monmouth 54
The combination of Koko Archibong and Ugonna Onyekwe was worth 34 points for Penn on Jan. 18 as the Quakers coasted to a win over an overmatched Monmouth squad. In fact, it only took Archibong and Onyekwe 39 minutes combined to accumulate their total.
Blake Hamilton, Kevin Owens, and Chris Kenny all reached double digits for the Hawks, who trailed by 17 at the half.
Penn’s David Klatsky led all players with 11 assists and four steals.
Cornell 51, Columbia 38
In a battle of offensive futility on Jan. 18, Columbia (2-12, 0-1 Ivy) prevailed, shooting a mere 25 percent from the field en route to their first Ivy loss of the season. Cornell (5-8, 1-0) managed a 39 percent clip.
Someone forgot to tell the Big Red’s Grant Harrell that no one was aiming for the basket in this contest, as Harrell sank four of five 3-point attempts and finished with 15 points. Teammate Eric Taylor had 10 rebounds to go along with eight points.
Columbia’s Marco McCrotty led all scorers with 16 points. Jeremiah Boswell, who is second in scoring for the Lions this season, was colder than a morning walk up Science Hill — Boswell was 1 of 11 from 3-point range.
Vermont 66, Cornell 52
Vermont substitute Mike Goia banged six of his 11 3-point attempts to lead all scorers with 19 points, as the Catamounts won going away on Jan. 13. His team also outrebounded Cornell 39-25, while holding the Big Red to 36 percent shooting.
Vermont took a 16-point lead into the half and stayed close to even with Cornell the rest of the way to earn the victory.
Lenny Collins, Ka’Ron Barnes, and Grant Harrell led Cornell, registering 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath grabbed eight rebounds and finished just behind Goia with 16 points.