Quakers stroll to the tipping point, then walk away

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 15 - Virginia Commonwealth did it, and the Rams moved on. Penn didn't do it, and the Quakers went home.

Penn, in its loss to third-seeded Texas A&M; Thursday, failed to do what so many underdogs fail to do in chalky first rounds.

They couldn't capitalize at the tipping point of the upset.

There comes a time in many upset bids when the underdog makes a big run and starts to get the crowd on its side. For the Quakers, it was a 19-3 run that gave them a 39-37 lead at the 12-minute timeout.

The Penn section was rocking, and they'd even convinced the Louisville faithful that it was to their benefit to root on the Quakers to be their second-round opponent.

"It's a great feeling, because your guys become believers," coach Glen Miller said.

Penn had all the momentum, but everybody in the building knew that the next few possessions held the key.

Then Billy Gillispie showed why he is one of four finalists for national coach of the year honors, Acie Law showed why he is one of the best players in the country, and the Quakers showed why they were the 14-seed in this match-up.

Gillispie made a defensive switch, shutting down senior guard Ibrahim Jaaber with 6-foot-8 Marlon Pompey, and by the time Miller realized that it left senior forward Mark Zoller with a mismatch, it was too late. The upset bid had reached its tipping point and tipped the wrong way.

"We didn't recognize on the floor as quickly as we would have liked to manipulate the offense to take advantage of that switch," Miller said. "It just took us too long."

By the time they did, A&M; had their crowd back in it and the game all but in hand.

Contrast this with VCU's upset bid, when the 11-seed got their fans and the rest of the Duke-hating world fired up when they came back from down 11 to grab a lead with 5:59 left. Like Penn, the Rams had reached the tipping point and just had to play even the rest of the way.

Thankfully for them, they reached it later in the game and against a weaker opponent.

VCU played the Blue Devils even the rest of the way and won on a last-second jumper in the lane.

The Quakers, faced with a player like Law, nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" in Texas, saw their burst collapse in a matter of minutes.

"You really have to play a complete game for 40 minutes," Miller said.

And when they failed to do so for just five, at the tipping point of the upset, it translated into a ninth straight NCAA Tournament loss.

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