Penn's Big Dance cut short

Florida frosh do not act their age Florida frosh do not act their ageThe Gators' freshmen showed poise while Penn's veterans folded. SEATTLE -- The Penn men's basketball team rode veteran leadership to 21 victories and the undisputed Ivy League title. But as the Quakers tried desperately to cling to a 43-32 halftime lead on Thursday, it was Florida -- a team which relies heavily on its freshmen -- which played with poise while Penn shut down in the second half. Three of the Gators' top four scorers this season are freshmen, while Penn entered the game with four veteran starters each averaging over 11. But it was Florida's freshmen, especially point guard Teddy Dupay and forward Mike Miller, who calmly led the Gators into the second round of the NCAA Tournament while Penn forced shots, missed free throws and committed 12 second-half turnovers. Although the Quakers jumped out to a 14-3 lead, a single possession in the opening minutes foreshadowed some of what would plague the Quakers in the second half. Two minutes into the game, Geoff Owens drew a foul working inside. After Owens missed both free throws, Paul Romanczuk seized the rebound and was fouled. The senior tri-captain then missed both his free throws and Florida emerged unscathed. With the Quakers cruising behind 11 first-half threes, the four missed free throws in a span of two seconds were easy to ignore. Senior Jed Ryan and junior Matt Langel were a combined 10-of-11 from downtown while Michael Jordan, a junior, dished five assists and committed no turnovers before the break. In contrast, Florida's freshmen combined to hit just three first-half field goals as the Gators found themselves in deep water at halftime. "A lot of it had to do with our guys being in a fog to start the game -- it was the first time any of our guys had been in this situation," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Penn wasn't in this situation before [either], they hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament, but the bottom line is they're juniors and seniors, while we're dealing [primarily] with freshman and sophomores." It did not seem to be a problem in the second half, however, as Dupay and Miller led the Gators with 11 and nine after the break, respectively. Penn's veteran starting five could only muster 13 -- five of which came after the game was largely decided. "Coach has really expressed in the last month-and-a-half of basketball that we're no longer freshmen," Miller said. "We've got a whole year of basketball under our belt and we just needed to play mature." Florida had clawed to within six at 48-42 with 12:26 remaining, when Jordan went to the line looking to stop the bleeding. But the Quakers tri-captain -- who entered the game shooting over 80 percent from the line -- missed the front end of the one-and-one. Dupay answered at the other end with a two-handed, high-arching floater to cut the lead to four. Jordan was then fouled on a drive of his own and went to the line for a one-and-one. With another chance to stall Florida's comeback, he missed. A few possessions later, Dupay drained another layup heave to give the Gators their first lead, 49-48, with 10:56 to play. Dupay then came off a screen at the top of the key to bury a three over Frank Brown at the 9:57 mark. Florida would never look back. While Jordan failed to convert his one-and-ones as Dupay drained seven points in two minutes, it is unfair to single out Penn's floor general. Romanczuk went to the line with a chance to erase the Gators' 52-50 lead. The senior tri-captain missed his first. His second shot, also a miss, does not figure in Penn's game total of 5-of-14 from the line, as a Jordan lane violation voided the shot before it even hit the rim. "We missed two one-and-ones [and Romanczuk's pair], so essentially we go 0-for-6 from the foul line on that one stretch where we needed to weather the storm," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "The mentality that you need to have, you need to hit those foul shots. I thought that was as big a key to the second half as those jumpers [Florida hit]." But for all the jumpers Miller and Co. drained, the veteran Quakers had no answer. In the second half, Romanczuk and Owens combined to register just one missed field-goal attempt, while Ryan was held scoreless. "It's very difficult? we had a great opportunity but we let it slip away," Dunphy said. "I feel badly for Jed and Paul and all of our seniors. You want to play the best possible game you can, especially with it being your last game. And we didn't play well in the second half. It's disappointing, no question about that. These times are precious." And in the most precious 20 minutes of the season, Penn's veterans came up short while a young Florida squad kept its NCAA hopes alive.

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