Injuries ravage M.Hoops

WASHINGTON -- Junior point guard Andy Toole hit all four of his free throw attempts down the stretch Saturday afternoon as he helped his Quakers teammates hold off the American University Eagles.

On the day, Toole scored 13 points on 4-for-12 shooting, had three steals, two assists and two rebounds -- all with a stress fracture in his foot.

"It's a little sore right now, but I'm sure in an hour it's going to be really sore," Toole said after Saturday's game. "[During the game] you don't really feel it as much, but I'm sure I'm going to feel it later."

Last Thursday, when it was all but definite that Toole had suffered a stress fracture, Penn coach Fran Dunphy said, "It'll be up to Andy what he wants to do."

"I'm not sure yet, what's exactly going to happen," Toole said after Saturday's game.

Toole added that he expected to play at the Palestra against Villanova on Wednesday, but was unsure of his status for Penn's game against St. Joe's during Saturday's Big 5 tripleheader.

Through the season's first six games, Toole has been the sharpshooter the Quakers expected him to be. He's averaging 13.5 points a game, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 46 percent from three-point range.

As the Quakers deal with the possibility of losing one starter, they look to get one back.

Sophomore center Adam Chubb -- who has been sidelined all season with a stress fracture of his own -- was not expected to return in time for next weekend's game with St. Joe's, but he was in uniform on the Quakers bench for the first time all year on Saturday.

"There's a real good chance that Chubb could be back for St. Joe's," Dunphy said, while also hinting that the 6-foot-9 center could be back as early as Wednesday.

The Red and Blue have been outrebounded in every game this season. While the Quakers have shown improvement -- the Quakers pulled down 28 boards to the Eagles' 32 Saturday -- Chubb's return can only help them in the rebounding department. He averaged 3.1 boards in only 14 minutes a game last season.

But Dunphy cautioned not to look for too much too early from the sophomore.

"He doesn't seem to be sore at all," Dunphy said. "But you can't just throw him in there and expect to get a lot of minutes right away."

With regard to the Quakers' rebounding deficit, Dunphy argued that the totals don't tell the whole tale.

"Our biggest concern isn't with who's getting the most rebounds," Dunphy said. "What I think is the important stat is how many offensive rebounds [the opponent] is getting. In that department, we're getting better, [American] just got six today."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.