Granted, it was against a 7-12 Dartmouth team without its best player at the Palestra, but Penn looked like a well-oiled machine on Friday.
The Quakers destroyed a sloppy Dartmouth team with pressure defense and a solid inside game for the 73-53 win. It was the Red and Blue's first home Ivy contest this season, and they looked energized and much more comfortable than they were in New Haven, Conn. last weekend.
"That Saturday night and that Sunday were real tough, but it happens and you have to put it behind you," senior tri-captain Mark Zoller said.
After a lackluster performance defensively against Yale, head coach Glen Miller started Darren Smith in the place of Tommy McMahon. A crowd of 4,652 plus the motivation of bouncing back from a loss sparked some solid defense throughout.
Penn forced Dartmouth into its season high of 21 turnovers - some as a result of good defense and others just because of terrible passing. Penn played a little bit of a zone press in addition to the usual man, and when coupled with trapping in the corners once in a while, threw off the Big Green.
Dartmouth's offense was severely handicapped without its leading scorer, Leon Pattman. The senior was out with a viral infection. According to coach Terry Dunn, he was having trouble breathing and didn't even make the trip.
Without Pattman's 17 points per game, the Big Green barely surpassed the half-century mark, and that was only thanks to 16 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds. The careless passing and 35-percent shooting were too much to overcome.
On the other end of the court, the Quakers' offense was picking apart Dartmouth.
Penn went early and often to Zoller and shortly after fed center Stephen Danley in the post. As a result, the two had produced 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting with two assists and no turnovers by halftime, and the home team held a 40-26 advantage.
"We did want to establish a low-post presence," Zoller said. "We felt that if we got the ball down low we would either score or get fouled, so we wanted to pound the ball inside."
Zoller scored 19 points on only nine attempts to lead Penn in that department, but Danley's performance was the most impressive. After averaging only 6.25 points per game in Ivy play, the tri-captain netted 15 on 7-for-10 shooting on Friday, along with nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Just as Dartmouth's best guard wasn't healthy, Penn's Ibrahim Jaaber had previously hurt his right index finger, but it didn't seem to slow him down. He seemed reluctant to shoot early, but the senior finished with 12 points, six assists and five steals.
After the weekend, the Quakers finished with a slim lead in the Ancient Eight standings. Miller was happy with the win and saw some improvements, but knows his team has a long way to go before it can start talking about cutting down the nets for a third year in a row.
"Our defensive intensity picked up a little bit, however 17 offensive rebounds - that can't happen, and again we were pretty dismal from the foul line, 16-for-26," Miller said.
But despite some holes, Penn took care of business at home against the Big Green for the 12th time in as many tries.
And with five more of their last eight league games at home, the Quakers' will need to stay dominant at the Palestra.
"If you're going to be a championship team . you have to protect your home court," Zoller said.
