Penn undone by Cal's athleticism

PITTSBURGH -- Late in the first half of the Penn men's basketball team's 82-75 loss to California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday, Quakers freshman guard Tim Begley planted himself between Cal guard Joe Shipp and the basket, looking to draw an offensive foul.

Instead of the charge, though, Begley was whistled for a blocking foul which sent Shipp to the line to shoot two, and gave Begley his third foul of the game. Shipp hit both free throws, and Begley went to the bench believing he'd gotten the short end of the stick not once, but twice in the first half.

"I got two cheap ones," Begley said after the game. "I dove for a loose ball [earlier in the half], and I'll guarantee if you check that replay it's not a foul. And the second one was a charge call, and I was just unlucky."

Whether Begley was the victim of a couple of bad calls or not, the fact remained that he'd picked up an uncharacteristic third foul before halftime.

Quakers fans probably knew something was wrong well before both Begley and his backcourt mate Jeff Schiffner fouled out in the second half. The two, who were rarely in foul trouble over the course of the season, had tough tasks in defending Cal's Joe Shipp and Brian Wethers, who each had big scoring days.

"They did a good job down in the post," Schiffner said. "They drew some fouls down there. Shipp really got to the line a lot. Obviously, it's something we didn't do so well on, and they really exploited that."

The Bears also put their considerable size advantage to good use, clamping down on Quakers' workhorses Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong.

Penn's two junior forwards, who stand 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9 respectively, were given fits all afternoon by Cal's two forward/centers, freshman Jamal Sampson and senior Solomon Hughes, each 6-foot-11.

"I think they pushed Koko and Ugonna to the outside more than [opponents] usually do," Begley said.

Sampson, a cousin of former Virginia standout Ralph Sampson, was especially impressive. Though he scored just three points, the freshman pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.

"His presence alone was just a huge impact," Wethers said of his teammate. "He's so long and athletic, that when he runs out to really challenge a shot, he extends to about nine and a half feet. It's difficult for people to shoot over that."

Quakers freshman Jan Fikiel certainly found it difficult. The young German forward, who, at 6-foot-10 is not exactly short, was blocked three times, and not just when he was underneath the hoop. At one point, Fikiel was blocked on a midrange baseline jumper, one of the most reliable shots in his repertoire.

"That's a shot Jan always knocks down," Begley said.

"I think we were just not used to the size of the players from the Pac-10," Fikiel said. "You don't really see [that size] in the Ivies. That was one of their advantages in this game."

Archibong and Onyekwe had their own problems with the Cal big men. Onyekwe picked up two fouls early in the first half, and only got off two shots in 13 minutes.

Archibong, meanwhile, struggled mightily. He scored three points on just 1 for 9 shooting.

"They're really tall, long shot blockers," a somber Archibong said after the game. "They made it tough to post up inside. They're tough players and they took it to us."

According to Cal coach Ben Braun, that was the Golden Bears' plan all along.

"Our post guys try to be athletic," Braun said. "They try to take away inside position, force them out on the perimeter a little bit. I thought late in the game we didn't do that as well, but early we established ourselves, and made it tougher for them to play."

Despite the defensive success his team had, Braun had nothing but praise for Archibong and Onyekwe.

"They're dynamite players, they really are," Braun said. "You can see why Penn had such a good year this year."

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