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Penn vs. Villanova Men's Basketball Credit: Alex Neier , Alex Neier

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Battles are won and lost before they are waged.

At least that’s what legendary Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu proclaimed in his seminal work The Art of War.

From the way Penn men’s basketball coach Jerome Allen spoke about the low post play in the Quakers’ 73-65 loss at Villanova on Saturday, it seems like he agrees.

“When you do your work early, especially when you play down low, that’s half the battle,” Allen said.

The Quakers didn’t do their work early, giving up an 8-0 run to open the game and going into halftime down by 18.

They had not positioned themselves properly for the second half, so even late-game three-point heroics from seniors Zack Rosen and Tyler Bernardini were not enough to salvage a victory.

Nor did the Quakers seem totally ready for the physical struggle they would encounter in the paint.

“I don’t know if [the team] was timid or just not ready to play from a posture standpoint,” Allen said.

Despite playing without red-shirt junior center Maurice Sutton, the Wildcats dominated near the basket.

Indeed, it looked like the Red and Blue big men had not prepared thoroughly enough for the other Villanova center, Mouphtaou Yarou.

The junior from Natitingou, Benin, had his way inside for the majority of play, racking up 21 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of action.

Yarou’s improvement from previous years — both in his game and his physical presence — made a big impression on Allen and the Quakers.

“To his credit, I thought he worked on his body,” Allen said. “He’s done a tremendous job of getting better in the offseason, and you can see the results of that now.”

Yarou used his improved stature to muscle his way through relentless pressure from a variety of defenders.

Fran Dougherty was tasked with guarding Yarou for most of the first half, but after the break that responsibility fell largely on the shoulders of sophomore Cameron Gunter.

Gunter and Penn’s inside players did a good job making Yarou’s job as difficult as possible, but his preparation showed in his ability to battle through constant contact.

“[Penn’s big men] are physical,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I thought he did a great job playing through their physicality.”

Yarou pointed to the amount of physical punishment he routinely takes from his teammates in practice as the main factor in his success.

He was ready for all of the “banging” Penn was throwing at him, because he’s been through that type of gauntlet plenty of times before.

“They always do a good job in practice, banging me around,” Yarou said. “So I’m used to it.”

Yarou’s breakout game was forged in the fires of practice and the offseason.

His battle was won before it was waged.

ELI COHEN is a senior philosophy major from Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at dpsports@theDP.com.

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