Penn forward TJ Power has a name such that he had no choice but to become a college basketball hero. On Sunday, he lived up to it.
Power scored an eye-popping 44 points in the Ivy League championship Sunday, leading the Quakers to an 88–84 win over Yale and their first NCAA men’s tournament since 2018 in coach Fran McCaffery’s first year with the program.
That output included a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds left, securing the Shrewsbury, Mass., native his 38th, 39th and 40th points of the game just five seconds after he hit a three to bring Penn within one point. Amazingly, Bulldogs guard Trevor Mullin nearly drained a game-winning half-court shot at the buzzer, but the game continued.
END REG | Penn 75, Yale 75
— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) March 15, 2026
ARE. YOU. KIDDING ME!!! TJ HAS 40!!!!!#FightOnPenn 🔴🔵🏀 pic.twitter.com/oIFooCyv3x
In overtime, the Quakers briefly jumped out to a four-point lead after guard Cam Thrower sank a three-pointer with 1:59 to play. Just 13 seconds later, however, Yale forward Isaac Celiscar replied with a three of his own.
In the end, it was Power to the rescue, making two free throws with 17 seconds left to put the game out of reach. The game was a stunning coming-out party for Power, a Duke and Virginia transfer who’d only previously scored more than 30 points in a game once (on Feb. 27, in an 80–71 win over Dartmouth).
TJ Power helps Fran McCaffery make history
With Penn’s victory, McCaffery entered rare territory. He joined the short list of coaches who have taken five different programs to the NCAA tournament.
The list of programs includes: Lehigh in 1988 (he lost in the first round to Temple), UNC Greensboro in 2001 (he lost to Stanford), Siena three times, Iowa seven times, and now the Quakers. McCaffery played for Penn from 1980 to `82, starting in the NCAA tournament in his last season in University City.
Other coaches who have accomplished that feat include Steve Alford (Missouri State, the Hawkeyes, New Mexico, UCLA, Nevada), Lon Kruger (Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma), Rick Pitino (Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and St. John’s), and Tubby Smith (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech).
McCaffery went 18-11 in his first season with the Quakers, the program’s best record in seven years. Penn is the most recent Ivy League team to reach the Final Four, doing so as a No. 9 seed in 1979—the first year teams were seeded. The Quakers’ most recent tournament appearance in `18 ended with a 76–60 loss to Kansas.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Penn’s TJ Power Makes His Case As First Hero of March Madness.
