BALTIMORE, Nov. 11 - Penn coach Glen Miller was expecting some growing pains.
But these really hurt.
There's no doubt the Quakers are especially sore after yesterday's loss 89-68 to Loyola Maryland.
"It was just a disappointing effort from our standpoint," Miller said. "It sure wasn't pretty and it sure wasn't fun."
None of the Penn players were made available for comment.
From the very first minute, the Greyhounds forced Penn turnovers and capitalized on the opportunities.
Loyola's athleticism and full-court press caused a lot of trouble for the inexperienced Quakers squad. The pressure forced 21 Penn turnovers that led to 32 Greyhound points.
"We wanted to pressure them and make them play 94 feet," Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos said.
Miller said that aggressive defense rattled his team.
"We're very inexperienced, indecisive," he said. "We don't have guys that are playing with any confidence and their pressure took advantage of that."
While there were points at which Penn would break the press and score off an easy layup, those were few and far between.
Most times, the offense simply appeared lost. On the break, players would run into traffic and lose the ball. In the halfcourt, ball movement was lethargic and shot selection was forced.
On the other hand, Loyola seemed to score every time it went down the floor.
If it wasn't off turnovers or fast breaks, it was forward Michael Tuck burying threes from the corner. And if it wasn't Tuck, it was guard Gerald Brown, who was able to drive the lane and hit the outside shot, scoring a game-high 27 points. And if it wasn't Brown, it was Marquis Sullivan, ruthlessly efficient with 13 points on eight field goal attempts.
And through it all, sophomore guard Brett Harvey ran the offense and set a career high with nine assists, committing only one turnover.
There were fewer historic highs on the Red and Blue side of the bench.
Sophomore forward Andreas Schreiber may have been the lone bright spot, as he scored a team-high and career-high 13 points with an aggressive yet versatile post game. But nobody else was able to demonstrate any consistency. Would-be starter Darren Smith was out with a knee injury.
Miller was forced to constantly tinker with his lineup in the hope of getting something going.
That meant lots of freshmen were being thrown together, and the result was like running a blender with its lid off.
"We're a young team with individuals trying to find themselves," Miller said. "They are not yet capable of playing together in the aggressive manner we need to, with confidence."
"At this point, we're not a very good basketball team."
But all things must pass, and will the Quakers be better for it?
After all, no pain, no gain.
