SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Quakers opened their season in a three-game tournament at Syracuse, N.Y. this weekend, and while a win over Big East powerhouse Syracuse might have been a bit much to ask for, the Quakers were undoubtably hoping for a bit better than 1-2. Here's how each game played out:
UTEP 69, Penn 66
With about four minutes to play and Penn and UTEP tied at 60, Ibrahim Jaaber collected his fifth foul. So when the Quakers needed a basket down one with under a minute to play, the burden fell to sophomore Aron Cohen.
Cohen's shot clanged off the front rim, and the Glen Miller era at Penn began with a 69-66 loss.
"Down one, we had to get a better shot than we did," Miller admitted.
Penn (0-1) had a chance to lock up the game in the first half when an 11-0 run built a 20-9 lead. But even as Syracuse fans in the Carrier Dome were chanting "it's all over," the Miners (1-0) came back to tie the game at 24-24, buoyed by Penn's sloppy ball-handling.
"Turnovers obviously didn't help," Miller said, pointing to the 14 giveaways the Quakers accrued in the first half.
"We had them on the ropes in the first half," said senior forward Mark Zoller, who led all scorers with 23 points. "But we just couldn't stretch that lead."
Nineteen percent three-point shooting also plagued the Quakers. Penn's three captains - Jaaber, Zoller and Steve Danley - shot a combined 1-for-9 from long range.
UTEP led by as many as 10 after a second-half run. But Penn pulled the game level on the back of a Tommy McMahon three-pointer, a Danley dunk and a Zoller lay-in.
Cohen and freshman guard Darren Smith missed three-pointers within the last 60 seconds. In between, UTEP held on to the ball for 10 valuable seconds before Danley could give the foul.
"There are game situations we've got to get better at, but we had ample time after the foul to tie the game," Miller said.
The Miners, on the other hand, kept their composure with a tenuous lead down the stretch. When UTEP coach Tony Barbee's young players weren't making free throws, they were crashing the boards and picking up key offensive rebounds.
"Composure is something that a young team has to develop," he said, adding that specific late-game situations are something his team has stressed in practice.
Ultimately, though, the game was lost in the early part of the second half. Jaaber, whom Zoller called the "blood and guts of the team," had a particularly bad day. The senior was non-existent on the offensive end, scoring only five points in 23 minutes. On defense, he played fairly well but registered only one steal.
(20)Syracuse 78, Penn 60
Jaaber was back on the court Saturday night against the Orange, but that didn't seem to matter. Neither did his 18 points, four assists or four steals. The Quakers lost, 78-60, to a No. 20 Syracuse team playing at the top of its game in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
After contributing just five points in 23 minutes of work on Friday, the senior captain logged 36 minutes against the Orange, only sitting when the game was well out of reach. But Jaaber insisted that the previous night's woes had no bearing on his performance Saturday.
"I didn't want to come out today thinking about last night at all," he said. "I didn't want to carry any frustrations from last night into today, so I kind of put that away, locked it away in a closet for nobody ever to see again."
Jaaber did most of his damage in the first half (12 points on 5-of-5 shooting), but it was there that the Quakers (0-2) saw Syracuse (2-0) build its lead. The Orange entered the break with a 37-24 edge after closing the half on a 23-7 run after the Quakers had taken a three-point lead with eight minutes to play.
"We started out the game, hung around, did some good things," Miller said. "You've really got to keep Syracuse from going on those spurts, and we were unable to do that."
Zoller played just 14 minutes in the half, but didn't take advantage of that limited time. The returning All-Ivy first-teamer shot 0-or-3 from the floor before halftime, with no points, rebounds or assists to speak of.
It was clear that Syracuse's size advantage down low went a long way in limiting the effectiveness of players like Zoller and establishing a strong inside game for the Orange. Syracuse only out-rebounded the Quakers by two for the game, but held an 18-12 edge on the boards at the break, including 7-2 on the offensive glass.
Syracuse 6-foot-9 senior Terrence Roberts led the scoring effort for the Orange with 16, many of those points coming off of offensive rebounds and easy dunks. For the game, he pulled down nine boards, four of them offensive. "I got some pretty good looks," Roberts said. "My main thing was to chase every rebound and just try to get anything I could."
Although they would never recapture the lead, the Quakers did threaten in the second half. They put together a quick 8-2 run to pull back to within seven at 50-43, but the glimmer of hope disappeared as quickly as it had developed. An Eric Devendorf three-pointer sent the lead back to double digits, and Syracuse got an unexpected boost off its bench from senior Matt Gorman, who poured in a career-high 12 points, half on a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays to put any thoughts of a comeback out of the question.
"We made a nice run in the second half, I thought, at least to get the deficit to seven with 12 and change to go," Miller said. "But a few offensive rebounds and turnovers, and it leads to a spurt by Syracuse."
And that was the story for an Orange team that shot 54 percent from the floor and seemed to get the big play or the big shot whenever it needed it most. Without that execution, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim knows things could have turned out a lot differently.
"This was a game that could have gotten real close," he said. "We had a very good offensive and defensive game tonight."
Penn 86, St. Francis 56
Penn's comfortable win over St. Francis (NY) wasn't hard, but it was definitely needed.
After a start marked by lukewarm performances, the Quakers blew the game open early and tightened the noose on the Terriers in the second half for a 86-56 triumph.
Penn (1-2) raced out to a 26-7 lead after nine minutes on the backs of sophomore McMahon and junior guard Brian Grandieri. McMahon opened the floodgates with a strong offensive sequence. After penetrating and passing out to Grandieri for a three, the sophomore hit two of his own to extend the lead to 13-3 within a span of 90 seconds.
Outside shooting was the difference for Penn. After shooting just over 25 percent from distance in the first two games, the Quakers shot 55 percent (11 for 20). In the fruitful first 13 minutes of the game, they shot 71 percent from three and 68 percent overall.
"We had balanced scoring, everyone contributed," said Zoller, who led all scorers with 22 points. "I think we really emphasized the first five minutes of each half."
Toward the end of the first half, St. Francis (0-3) capitalized on Penn's sloppy ballhandling and put together a run to cut the lead down to 16. The Terriers eventually got it as low as 10, but came no closer.
"I still wasn't pleased with 17 turnovers, and it cost us in a little stretch there," Miller said. "I thought they got back in the game, and it made me a little nervous."
Miller's fears were assuaged by Zoller's strong inside play in the second half. The senior provided a perfect complement to the Quakers' outside shooting, attacking the rim inside and controlling the St. Francis big men.
"One of our big keys offensively was to pound the ball inside," Miller said.
Danley and Jaaber quietly played a big role in establishing that balance. Danley poured in 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Jaaber dished out eight assists and turned the ball over only once.
But the blowout provided opportunities for Penn's bench players.
Sophomore forward Brennan Votel played 14 valuable minutes and had a strong night, hitting a three and contributing some solid work on the glass. And senior guard Adam Franklin got a rare moment in the sun, scoring seven points in three minutes during his first appearance of the season.
"They have some good talent, so I really expect them to progress." Miller said of the young players. "I've got a quick hook with them: They've got to adjust to the intensity of the college game. They're living and learning."
In a game that Penn had wrapped up after 15 minutes, that may have been the biggest benefit.
