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EASTON, Pa. -- Pennsylvania and Yale were tied atop the standings. In their Ivy League playoff game, there was never a doubt which was the better team. Koko Archibong had 21 points and 16 rebounds as Penn advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th time, dominating Yale 77-58 Saturday night. "I knew the magnitude of the game and I knew we wanted to go to the tournament," Archibong said. Penn (25-6) has won 10 games in a row since losing at Yale on Feb. 8. The teams split their two regular-season meetings. The Bulldogs, trying to become the first team other than Penn or Princeton to win the Ivy League title since Cornell in 1988, never seemed to get in rhythm on offense. "The first two times we played Yale, they jumped out and took a little bit of a lead on us, and we had to come back fighting and scratching our way back in the game," Penn guard Andrew Toole said. "We didn't want to have that happen a third time." It didn't. The Bulldogs, who trailed 8-0 and never led, were outrebounded 39-30 in a physical game. Penn's man-to-man defense altered one shot after another. "We are obviously a little more veteran-like than Yale. Whether or not that's why we played well, I don't know," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I think it just comes down to people making shots and making plays. I thought we defended pretty well and I thought they did have some open looks and clean looks that just didn't go." Josh Hill led Yale (20-10) with 14 points, but none of his teammates scored in double digits. The Bulldogs were looking for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1962. Matt Minoff paced Yale with only five rebounds, and the Bulldogs shot 29 percent from the field. "I thought we had good looks at the basket early that didn't go in. We shot outside shots when we wanted to go inside," Yale coach James Jones said. "(The referees) allowed us to be physical inside, called it fair both ways, and we didn't take advantage of it." Ugonna Onyekwe added 16 points, and Tim Begley had 13 for Penn, which shot 55 percent from the floor, including 7-for-17 from 3-point range. Jeff Schiffner grabbed 10 rebounds. "(Onyekwe and Archibong) are talented guys and I think they did a very good job, especially setting the tone tonight," Dunphy said. "They just decided they were going to be a force inside." Penn, Princeton and Yale all tied for the Ivy title with 11-3 league records. Yale beat Princeton on Thursday night at the Palestra in Philadelphia, advancing to play the Quakers at Lafayette College for the conference's automatic NCAA bid. Penn was awarded a bye in the playoff because the Quakers had the best record among the three teams in head-to-head games (3-1). Penn, which last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2000, extended its lead to 18 with 14:24 left by scoring seven straight points. Every time Yale tried to swing the momentum, Penn had an answer, often a basket by Onyekwe or Archibong. Andrew Toole's three-point play with 5:29 left gave Penn its largest lead at 69-46. "I have to apologize to (Koko Archibong)," Jones said. "I didn't vote for him for first-team all-league. He showed me tonight that he's a first team all-league player. He played great." Penn built a 21-6 lead in the first half as Yale struggled from the field, hitting only two of its first 17 attempts. Yale finally ended a 6:35 scoreless spell when Ime Archibong hit a pair of free throws with 8:05 to go in the half. With Onyekwe on the bench with two fouls, Yale could get no closer than 11. Penn held a 37-25 lead at halftime on 16-for-28 shooting. Yale shot 31 percent. The playoff, the first in the Ivy League since Princeton beat Penn in 1996, was played in front an evenly divided crowd of 3,651 at the Kirby Sports Center. It is Yale's first 20-win season since 1948-49.
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