M. Cagers Tackle Ivy League Powers

It seems as if the list of college basketball giants is never-ending.

While schools like North Carolina and Michigan rule the national scene, other, lesser powers dominate their own conferences or regions.

And although these "mini giants" are often the product of overzealous ESPN programming and are stomped out quickly in postseason play, they are still formidable opponents for their regular-season victims.

Just ask the Harvard men's basketball team, which faces two such teams this weekend at Briggs Cage.

Penn (15-4 overall, 7-0 Ivy), the likely Ivy League champion, will play the role of the underdog in the NCAA tournament this March, but it is undoubtedly the favorite in tonight's game against the Crimson.

Ditto for Princeton (12-7, 4-3) on Saturday, which has represented the Ancient Eight in NCAA play for five straight years. Although Pete Carril and his Tigers probably won't get an invitation to the ball this year, they still command considerable respect.

"Obviously, it's a big weekend any time you have two teams as good as Penn and Princeton visiting," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "Hopefully, we can use it as an opportunity to generate some momentum after the really tough loss [against Brown last week]."

Sullivan and his troops shouldn't be hoping to turn their season around this weekend. The last time the Crimson played Penn, it was drilled 85-74.

Against Princeton? Even worse: 63-39.

"Against Penn, we got off to a bad start, but then we played them pretty evenly the rest of the way," Sullivan said. "And against Princeton, we just didn't shoot the ball well. It was kind of a nightmare situation, being on the road and not having our shots fall."

So what is to be done? When in doubt, rely on the stars:

Captain Tyler Rullman still ranks second in the Ivy League in scoring, and he is joined by freshman Mike Gilmore--a rapidly evolving force.

The Crimson's freshman guard has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice consecutively, with his outside shot falling much more consistently since he moved into the starting lineup for an injured James White.

Aside from Gilmore and Rullman, Harvard also boasts the top assist man in the Ivy League in junior point guard Tarik Campbell and the second best rebounder in senior center Arturo Llopis.

Throw in hard-working freshmen Darren Rankin and Terry Mann, and it doesn't seem so bad.

So why is it?

"The Crimson are probably at least a year or two away from challenging the top teams in the Ivy League," Penn basketball writer Rick Miller said. "They don't quite measure up to the more athletic teams, like Penn or Columbia."

Without a doubt, a team like Penn does possess an advantage in manpower. The Quaker guards--Jerome Allen, Barry Pierce, and Matt Maloney--represent "one of the best Division I backcourts in the East," according to Sullivan.

And with a team like Princeton, which wears down opponents with time-tested, team-oriented offensive and defensive schemes, the job doesn't get any easier.

Hopeful Harvard fans can just cross their fingers and hope.

After all, that's what Penn will probably be doing this March.