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Rosen, Penn pummel Princeton, 82-67

Clearly, Zack Rosen doesn't want to leave Penn without some Ivy League hardware. Rosen was nearly unstoppable Monday night, scoring 28 points to go with five assists to lead Penn to an 82-67 victory over rival Princeton at the Palestra.

Penn forward Henry Brooks dunks over Princeton's Denton Koon for two of his eight points on Monday night. The Quakers trampled the Tigers, 82-67, to remain unbeaten in the Ivy League.
Penn forward Henry Brooks dunks over Princeton's Denton Koon for two of his eight points on Monday night. The Quakers trampled the Tigers, 82-67, to remain unbeaten in the Ivy League.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

Clearly, Zack Rosen doesn't want to leave Penn without some Ivy League hardware.

Rosen was nearly unstoppable Monday night, scoring 28 points to go with five assists to lead Penn to an 82-67 victory over rival Princeton at the Palestra.

"I was just taking opportunities as they presented them," said Rosen, who finished two points shy of his career high. "We did a good job of executing what we practiced the last four days."

The victory moved Penn to 11-9 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, and kept alive the Quakers' title chances in a league where even one loss would be a huge blow to Penn's hopes with powerhouse Harvard already 4-0.

Penn, which is second only to Princeton's 26 Ivy titles with 25, hasn't finished atop the Ivy League since 2007, the season before Rosen arrived on campus.

After games at Yale and Brown this weekend, the Quakers will host the Crimson on Feb. 10. To keep pace with Harvard, Penn likely will have to remain perfect until then.

But Rosen said Penn can't afford to look past its next game.

"[A 3-0 record] is great but we're trying to win one game 14 times," Rosen said.

Princeton (10-9, 1-2) certainly didn't make it easy for Penn to stay perfect in the league.

The Quakers upped their eight-point halftime lead to 11, 52-41, with 15 minutes remaining on Rosen's three-point play that gave him 21 points for the game and moved him past coach Jerome Allen into eighth all-time on the Quakers' scoring list.

The Tigers kept it close for most of the half but never could get within five points down the stretch. Rosen put the contest away with another three-point play that put the Quakers ahead 70-59 with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left.

"We really had no response or answer for Zack Rosen," Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said. "His understanding of tempo is special. He's a really good player."

Allen isn't one to throw around superlatives and responded to a question about Rosen's outing by asking, "You thought he played well?

"It's my responsibility to push him to play a perfect basketball game," said Allen, who like Rosen played point guard. "He's an unbelievable person, unbelievable player. I'm extremely hard on him and he takes the criticism. He makes tough shots but I'm not surprised when he makes them because he spends so much time in the gym. . . . He did a solid job.

"We can't rest right here," Allen added. "I'm not here to sing his praise. I'm here to focus on Friday night."

Tyler Bernardini had 14 points and Miles Cartwright and Steve Rennard added 10 for the Quakers, who ended a five-game losing streak against Princeton while winning their fifth game in their last six.

Bernardini also climbed up the Penn scoring charts, passing Bob Morse to move into 12th all-time.

It was the 225th meeting between the two schools, who have combined for 51 Ivy League titles and 47 NCAA appearances. Penn upped its advantage in the 109-year rivalry to 123-102.