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matthoward
Credit: Alex Fisher

“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

Any film aficionado knows all about the famous “Rocky" steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

With Rocky Balboa so firmly implanted in the culture of the City of Brotherly Love, it’s fitting that the Penn basketball season thus far can be described by one of the scrappy fictional fighter’s most memorable quotes.

Coming into Saturday’s matchup against Binghamton (3-10), the Quakers (5-7) had lost two games in a row, as well as six of their last seven. However, the Red and Blue had reason to remain optimistic for an imminent turnaround following a strong second-half performance against a nationally-ranked Villanova squad last time out.

Both teams struggled offensively to start, but it was Penn that eventually vaulted out to an early 16-7 lead at the halfway point of the first period. The game remained close for a few more minutes, but once the Quakers heated up, there was no stopping the Red and Blue from getting to the bucket.

Penn ended the first half on an 18-0 run, extending the lead to 23 at the break, with a score of 37-14.

With a large halftime lead, Penn played with a freedom in the second half that has rarely been present this season. Any threats of a Binghamton run to cut into the lead were quickly eliminated by the Quakers’ newfound offensive prowess, which led to a whopping 80 points, only six points shy of a season high.

The 80-45 win was the largest margin of victory for the Red and Blue since the 2005-06 season, when the then-Fran Dunphy-led Quakers demolished Cornell by 40.

This game was not only an offensive explosion for the Red and Blue; it also featured their stiffest defensive effort of the season. Binghamton’s shooting percentage of 24.4 percent is a testament to the effort of Penn’s active zone, which stifled any Binghamton interior penetration.

“We’ve been playing great defense all year,” coach Steve Donahue said. “It’s really been a team effort on that end of the floor. Any time you hold a team to 45 points you have to be proud.”

Key performers for Penn in the lopsided victory were freshman guard Jackson Donahue and junior guard Matt Howard.

After what many called a “coming-out game” for Donahue against Villanova, the Pawcatuck, Conn., native figured to see a lot of minutes in Saturday’s contest. However, nobody at the Palestra was expecting to see him play 38 of the strongest minutes of his young career. Donahue scored 17 important points for the Quakers, including making four of nine shots from beyond the arc.

“I think Jackson is getting hot at just the right time,” Donahue said. “The way he’s playing, he deserves the minutes. Ever since the second half of the Villanova game he’s been playing fantastic basketball and the team’s been all the better for it.”

Possibly the biggest star of the night for the Red and Blue was Matt Howard. The guard from South Carolina rattled in 23 points for the Quakers from all over the court, including an impressive five three pointers.

“I think Matt is executing our offense really well,” Donahue said. “We focus on driving to the hoop and popping it out to our shooters when the defense collapses, and Matt can do both of those things.”

The 16 combined three-point attempts for Donahue and Howard were half of the 32 overall triples the Quakers hoisted, more than half of the team’s shot attempts.

“I think that three-pointers are important to the identity of this team,” Howard said. “Where we’re at right now favors a three-point heavy game. We’re progressing and figuring out what we do best offensively.”

“Our offense is designed to kick it to our shooters on the perimeter,” Donahue explained. “We’ll take the open looks. We’re a young team and still learning the system, so as we play some more I think the inconsistency will become less and less of a problem.”

Up next for Penn next Saturday is archrival Princeton at the Palestra, a team that recently gave No. 13 Miami a fright in Florida.

One of the most telling statistics of the day was that 12 different players got on the scoresheet for the Red and Blue. If the Quakers hope to carry Saturday’s success into the conference season and compete for the Ivy League title, they will need to continue to get contributions from every player.

As is true in boxing, for Penn it’s all about bouncing back from defeat and improving.

And as Rocky would say, “that’s how winnin’ is done!”

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