A look at Penn basketball by the numbers

Penn basketball has performed relatively well in recent weeks, splitting its last eight games including its past two Ivy weekend doubleheaders. As the Quakers inch closer to the end of the 2014-15 season, the analytics provide intriguing information about a few of the individual Red and Blue players, as well as the entire team.

Sam Jones

Freshman wing Sam Jones converted 10 of his 16 three-point attempts in this past weekend’s games at Cornell and Columbia, bumping his season three-point percentage to 46.9 percent through 19 games. If Jones continues to hit treys at that rate for the rest of the season, it would go down as the third-best mark in Penn men’s basketball history and the best since Jeff Schiffner hit 49.3 percent of his threes in 2002-03.

Jones also stands at the top of Penn’s leaderboard in both player efficiency rating at 20.6 and effective field goal percentage, a statistic that offers extra weight to three pointers. Jones’ effective field goal percentage is 62.2, a mark that is the second-best in the Ivy League among players with at least 50 field goal attempts, trailing only Columbia’s Isaac Cohen.

Greg Louis

Senior forward Greg Louis is one of the Quakers’ more balanced players. Only averaging 4.1 shot attempts per game, the veteran makes the most out of them, with both a field goal and effective field goal percentage of 59.0 percent. That is the best field goal percentage on the team while his effective field goal percentage trails only that of Jones.

According to Sports-Reference.com’s points produced per 100 possessions, Louis ranks third on the team, behind Jones and sophomore Matt Howard, at 98.7 points. Louis also is one of the most efficient rebounders on the team, having reeled in 17.8 percent of possible defensive rebounds, second to only freshman Mike Auger.

The Entire Squad

Penn, as a team, has scored only 61.7 points per game this season — the worst average in the Ivy League — while Yale currently sits atop the leaderboard with 69.1 points per contest. Interestingly, the Quakers actually rank third in the Ancient Eight in connecting on 44.0 percent of their field goals.

Although Penn’s lackluster 66.5 percent mark from the free throw line doesn’t help matters, it is also not the biggest problem on offense.

The real issue stems from the Red and Blue’s inability to find openings and hold onto the ball. Penn has the second-worst assist per game average in the Ivy League at 11.6 dimes per contest. That translates to an assist percentage of only 53.3 percent.

Additionally, the Quakers are currently last in the Ivy League with a 0.71 assist/turnover ratio.

Not only do the Red and Blue fail to record a high number assists, but they also waste too many possessions because of turnovers. Penn’s 16.4 turnovers per game are the most in the Ivy League, which almost negates the advantage of having a high field goal percentage.

The same problems plague the Quakers on defense, as they do not force many turnovers but allow teams to rack up assists, culminating in an Ivy-worst 1.09 assist/turnover ratio. Penn also gives up an effective field goal percentage of 49.8 percent, the highest figure among the Ivies.

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