After a dismal five-game losing streak, Penn bounced back with two convincing road victories against Siena and Lafayette.
The key to the Quakers' recent success, according to coach Fran Dunphy, is quite simple: "Making shots."
Against Siena, the Red and Blue shot 58 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc. Against Lafayette, the Quakers shot 50 percent from the field and 48 percent from three-point land.
While Dunphy attributes Penn's last two victories to "making shots," there seem to be other factors that contributed.
"We've had better execution and better passing," sophomore guard Ibby Jaaber said.
For senior captain Tim Begley, Penn's recent success is a result of improved teamwork and greater focus.
"Everybody has been playing together [and] trusting each other a little bit more than we did in the past," he said. "Even when we miss shots, we're still picking each other up, and staying with it instead of putting our heads down and giving up."
Dunphy admits that in order to make shots, the offense needs to be running smoothly.
"I think we're running our offense well enough now to get good shots," the 16-year Penn coach said.
While Penn's leading scorer Tim Begley has seen his scoring output diminish recently, the Quakers' other two starting guards -- Jaaber and Eric Osmundson -- have more than picked up the slack.
Against Lafayette, Jaaber notched a career-high 24 points, shooting 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, while Osmundson scored 20 points and also drained four three-pointers.
"It was really great to see Ibby step up and make shots," Dunphy said.
While Begley recorded 13 assists against Lafayette, he scored just three points on 1-for-7 shooting.
"I don't think we've relied on [Begley] scoring the basketball since La Salle," Dunphy said. "He hasn't really shot it well since La Salle, so we've had to find other ways to score points."
Against Rider, senior forward Jan Fikiel scored career-high 21 points in a losing effort.
Against Siena, it was sophomore forward Mark Zoller who stepped up, scoring a team-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while Osmundson pitched in with 17 points.
"I was talking to Coach [Gil] Jackson the other day about how I don't have to score points to win basketball games for us," Begley said. "Personally, I think [Lafayette] was the best game we played all season."
In order for the Quakers to win, it seems they must utilize all of their weapons to form a balanced scoring attack.
"I'd rather everybody score 10 points every game and win by 20 every time," Begley said.
With only one game left on its non-conference schedule, Penn seems to have gained some much-needed momentum heading into the Ivy League season.
The Quakers dominated a Lafayette team that had lost to Princeton by only two points and had defeated Columbia by three.
"We're a pretty confident group; we know we can play and compete with every team on our schedule," Begley said. "But heading into the Ivies, you want to have some sort of momentum.
"If we would have started the Ivies last week, it probably would have been a little nervewracking."
Dunphy downplays any correlation between Penn's large margin of victory over Lafayette and Princeton's slim margin of victory.
"Two separate games, two different times of year," he said. "We could play Lafayette tomorrow and lose by 20."
Nonetheless, the Quakers have been following their Ivy League opponents this season. Both Jaaber and Begley watched Princeton play Duke on national television.
"I'm real confident in our group," Begley said. "I don't see why we shouldn't win the whole thing. I plan on going back to the NCAA tournament in a couple months."
