N.Y. — In a matchup of first-year Ivy League head coaches, Columbia’s Kevin Hovde won the day.
On Friday, Penn men’s basketball dropped to 2-4 in Ivy League play following a 72-67 road loss to Columbia — the team’s first of two weekend games in the Empire State. Despite 23 points from junior forward TJ Power, the Quakers were unable to stymie a hot-shooting Lions team that connected on 47.1% of its looks from three and 53.6% of its field goals overall.
The loss to the Lions is the latest in a string of close conference defeats for the Quakers — of Penn’s four Ivy League losses, three have come by a combined eight points.
“Overall, it just wasn’t good enough,” coach Fran McCaffery said of Penn’s defensive execution.
Much of Columbia’s first-half offense came in the paint, where the Lions scored their first 12 points of the game. That stretch led to a new face for Penn’s rotation: sophomore center Michaelangelo Oberti, who saw his first extended minutes of the season.
The 6-foot-10 Italian made both of his field goals in nine minutes, including a tough pick-and-roll finish. He also helped slow the Lions’ post attack — after trailing by as many as 13 early, Penn went to the locker room down 32-27 at the half.
“He’s earned it in practice,” McCaffery said of Oberti. “[He] and [freshman guard] Jay [Jones] were terrific.”
Penn’s offense was buoyed by bounce-back games from senior guard/forward Michael Zanoni and Power, who shot a combined 6/25 in the Quakers’ loss to Yale last week. Zanoni finished with 15 points on 6/14 shooting, while Power propelled Penn with five threes in the second half.
Senior guard Ethan Roberts, the Red and Blue’s leading scorer, was held to just five points, his lowest total in a full game as a Quaker.
“[Power] carried us,” McCaffery said. “He didn’t get a lot of help today.”
Penn was also without senior guard Cam Thrower, who dislocated his finger, according to McCaffery. He did not provide a timetable for Thrower’s return.
The Quakers took their first lead of the game with 9:05 to play in the second half on a one-man fastbreak layup from junior forward Augustus Gerhart, but another stretch of hot shooting from the Lions put Columbia back ahead. Penn’s struggles at the free-throw line also persisted — the Quakers shot just 54.5% from the charity stripe, staying at the bottom of the Ivy League in accuracy from the line.
“The guys are frustrated, just like [the coaches] are,” McCaffery said of Penn’s free-throw percentage. “They work at it. We’ll just keep working at it.”
Trailing 69-65 with under 50 seconds remaining, sophomore guard AJ Levine brought the ball up and immediately drove to the rim, attempting to bank in a floater over Columbia guard Kenny Noland. The look was no good, and the Quakers intentionally fouled the rest of the way as the Lions put the game away at the line.
“Yeah, [Levine] knows that,” McCaffery said of whether Penn could have gotten a better look on the possession. “He plays hard.”
Penn now turns its attention to Cornell, where it will tip off at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Ithaca. The Quakers’ matchup with the Big Red marks the end of an intense stretch of away games, seeing as the Quakers have played at the Palestra only once since the semester began.
Cornell (10-9, 3-3 Ivy) currently sits one game ahead of Penn in the conference standings.
“Jumping on the bus right now,” McCaffery said. “We’ll be ready.”
