By David bernstein
Staff Writer
davidkb@sas.upenn.edu
Monmouth's game plan was clear: Milk the shot clock, move the ball around and get shooters open.
But Penn showed the Hawks that the Princeton offense doesn't work when the game becomes a track meet.
The Quakers never stopped running last night, taking Monmouth above its speed limit and out of its comfort zone to the tune of 80 points en route to a decisive victory.
"We've played some pretty good teams - we played Villanova last year in the NCAA Tournament and held them to 58 points," Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said. "Eighty points is just too much for us to give up."
With thoughts of Princeton's 21-point performance against the Hawks last year somewhere in the back of its mind, the Red and Blue came out firing from the get-go.
Guards Ibrahim Jaaber and Brian Grandieri and forward Mark Zoller led the break, leading Penn to 10 fast-break points, compared to Monmouth's four.
"If we can get easy points in transition - if teams get lazy getting back - why not push it?" Jaaber said. "Since it worked early, we stayed with it."
But this ability to run isn't just evident in Penn's fast-break tally; it also opened up other options on the offensive end.
Where Monmouth slowed it down and waited for open looks to emerge, the Quakers were more proactive, using their legs to tire out the Hawks, expose their defensive flaws and find the right shots.
"I think we get out on the break a little bit more," Zoller said. "Any scorer's mentality is, once you get a couple of easy looks, you feel more comfortable shooting the ball."
In the end, this would be Monmouth's downfall.
Shooting at a 50-percent clip, the Quakers buried the Hawks' defense, especially near the basket. Penn's 52 points in the paint nearly doubled Monmouth's total, and many of these opportunities down low came after the Hawks were caught reeling, off-balance and out of position.
That's what happens when an offense is moving the ball like a baton at a relay race.
And after Monmouth was forced to play catch-up, it fell even further off the pace.
"It hurts when you fall behind," Calloway said. "I think it's a mental approach - guys think they've got to get back in the game, but we had plenty of time.
"They had 19 more shot attempts; . that's not a good formula for success."
But the Quakers are learning that, from their end, the opposite is true. The more up-tempo offense that new coach Glen Miller has implemented is starting to sink in on the court and in the boxscore.
Since its loss to Syracuse, Penn has won the fast-break battle in all four games by an overall total of 68-22.
With much to be desired on the defensive end, for the moment the Quakers have found something out about themselves: They were born to run.
