BOSTON -- Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe scored 30 points against one of the nation's best defenses Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was not enough for the Penn men's basketball team, however, as for the third time in Onyekwe's illustrious career, the Quakers were one-and-done in the Tourney, this time losing to Oklahoma State, 77-63.
The game was not nearly as lopsided as the final score would suggest. Penn was down 67-63 with just under three minutes remaining and was tied at 55 with a little more than eight minutes to play.
"It seemed like we could never get over the hump," Penn senior Andrew Toole said. "It stayed at six or eight for what seemed like a while in the second half."
Penn committed 18 turnovers in the game, none as critical as senior David Klatsky's failed inbound lob to Onyekwe with four minutes to play. Had they connected it would have trimmed Oklahoma State's lead to two.
With the score tied at 55 after a Koko Archibong three-pointer, Oklahoma State's Tony Allen hit his second consecutive three to put the Cowboys back ahead. Allen scored nine consecutive points for Oklahoma State.
"Tony Allen came on at just the right time to put the dagger in our hearts," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.
Then the wheels came off for Penn offensively.
With eight minutes remaining, Tim Begley was bumped by Victor Williams just over halfcourt and the sophomore guard went down not to return. Klatsky committed an intentional foul to prevent a breakaway layup on the ensuing play. While the made free throw only gave the Cowboys a four point lead, momentum had swung. The Quakers would only score one field goal after the 7:53 mark.
"I thought the Oklahoma State crew played a great second half," Dunphy said. "They turned the screws up a little bit defensively down the stretch. I thought they did a great job."
Part of the great defensive job that Oklahoma State did was containing First Team All-Ivy guard Jeff Schiffner. The junior was the nation's leading three-point shooter during the regular season. Against the Cowboys he was held to four points on four shots, one of which was a made three-pointer. Oklahoma State put its defensive stopper, the athletic 6 foot, 5 inch sophomore guard Melvin Sanders on Schiffner. Against Oklahoma on Jan. 13, Sanders held Hollis Price, an All-American performer, to six points on 2-for-14 shooting.
"One person who never gets enough credit is Melvin Sanders," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. "Melvin doesn't score a lot of points but he is a great perimeter defender and I thought one of the keys to the game was not letting Schiffner have a great afternoon cause that guy can shoot the ball as well as anyone we've seen all season."
As impressive as Onyekwe was, he could not hold back the more physical Cowboys on the boards. Onyekwe had four rebounds to lead Penn, but Oklahoma State had 11 offensive boards. Two of those came after missed free throws with under three minutes to play and ensured Penn's defeat.
Onyekwe's production was matched almost point-for-point by Williams, who had 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting.
Onyekwe was "one of the best I've seen all season," Sutton added. But if the Ivy Leaguers were more athletic than Oklahoma State expected, they were not immune to mental errors either.
With 2.4 seconds remaining in first half, Klatsky was on the floor giving the Quakers six men on the court. The resulting technical foul shots -- of which Williams made one -- gave the Cowboys a 36-35 halftime lead. Penn would never regain the lead after halftime break.
"Even the Ivy Leaguers, I guess can make some mistakes," Sutton said.
"My abacus got stuck," Penn coach Fran Dunphy deadpanned after the game.
Despite that moment of levity, the Penn postgame press conference was a somber affair. Six Penn seniors -- four of whom combined for 54 of Penn's 63 points -- laced up for the final time for the Quakers. Senior guard Andrew Toole had 14 points for Penn.
Despite being one of the most successful classes in Penn basketball history, the sextet was unable to notch a tournament win in their careers.
"I guess it wasn't meant to be," Onyekwe said.
