AT COURTSIDE: Maloney keys crucial run

BY Joshua FriedmanBY Joshua FriedmanDaily Pennsylvanian Sports Writer Then Penn coach Fran Dunphy, shocked at what he was witnessing, called a timeout. He told his squad it had to play better defense. The five seniors had to run the offense better. He wanted his players to focus. That was all it took. The Quakers picked up their intensity, played suffocating defense and poured in points on the other end. After Penn outscored the Big Red 20-2 over a four-minute, 36-second span, Cornell coach Al Walker was left befuddled and confused. "What happened?" Walker asked his starting point guard, DeShawn Standard, after the the Big Red fell to Penn 101-71. "They started running. They were clicking with their passing. They started hitting threes," Standard answered. "It seemed like they hit every shot they took during that stretch." Standard was almost right. The Quakers did hit 75 percent of their shots during the run. Penn guard Matt Maloney did dish out four assists in four minutes. And Penn did score on the break. But what Standard failed to realize was the scoring did not happen on its own. In fact, the spurt that buried Cornell for good actually began on the other end of the floor. Penn's guards -- Maloney and Jerome Allen -- played stifling defense. As the duo turned up the heat on the Big Red guards, Shawn Trice and Eric Moore closed off the passing lanes. That combination led to quick steals, Cornell turnovers and easy transition baskets for Penn. "It was done on the defensive end," Maloney said. "We just wanted to apply pressure and get out on their shooters. We picked up the intensity." Maloney provided the heart of the run. Just 35 seconds after the timeout, he brought the ball up. Maloney blew past Brandt Schuckman, only to find a wall of Big Red defenders. So he calmly brought the ball back out. To Maloney's surprise, Schuckman backed off, expecting a pass. The senior marksman nailed the three-pointer, and the run began. A minute later, Maloney laid the ball into Moore's sure hands in the post. On the very next possession, Maloney found Moore once again for an easy basket. Timeout Cornell. But Walker had no magical solution. "I said, 'Hang in there.' What else could I say?" But the Quakers' explosion was far from finished. After the timeout, Maloney stole a Schuckman pass and found Allen for another easy transition layup. Then Trice turned up the defensive pressure and forced Eddie Samuel to turn the ball over. Allen added his own touch with a beautiful baseline pass to Moore, who found a way to get open down on the blocks. Then Allen found Moore again streaking down the middle of the lane on a fast break. But rightfully so, the game-clinching run came to an end just like it started -- with Maloney. The point guard stole an errant Samuel pass and started the fast break. Maloney led the Quakers down court and gave the ball to Trice trailing on the break for a routine layup. Penn 67, Cornell 42. Although the clock showed over 14 minutes still remaining in the game, a 25-point lead was more than enough to do in Cornell. "They're so much better than everybody else in this league," Walker said of the Quakers. "They're 30 points better than us in their house on this night." Dunphy has been preaching defense, heart and hustle all his life. The five starting seniors have heard it throughout their illustrious careers. Although it took 21 minutes Friday night, the Quakers finally got the message after Dunphy's timeout 1:16 into the second half.