ITHACA, N.Y. — The Quakers are coming home with a big win against the Big Red.
To close out its New York road trip, Penn men’s basketball notched a 91-81 win in a thriller at Cornell (10-10, 3-4 Ivy). The victory ended a three-game losing streak and moved the Quakers (10-10, 3-4 Ivy) to a fifth-place tie in the Ivy League heading into the second half of conference play. The Quakers never trailed on Saturday thanks to scoring efforts from across the roster. Six players hit double-figure scoring, with the Quakers’ bench notably contributing 16 total points.
“It was super balanced across the board,” senior guard/forward Ethan Roberts said, “The best part about it is we had guys come in and really produce as well. It was just a great team win … We really stuck to the game plan.”
Here’s how the victory came together for the Quakers:
Hot first-half shooting from the Red and Blue
After primarily relying on junior forward TJ Power and senior guard/forward Michael Zanoni for offensive firepower at Columbia the night before, efforts from across the roster contributed to consistent scoring in the first half.
A 10-0 run in the middle of the first frame, with efforts from Penn’s starters and freshman forward/center Dalton Scantlebury, built momentum for sharp shooting across the roster. After another similar 10-0 run and a strong defensive effort, the Quakers had their largest lead of the night at 23 points with less than three minutes before halftime. The lead was the largest Penn has had over a Division I opponent this season.
Heading into the locker room, the Red and Blue shot 59.4% from the field and 53.3% from beyond the arc, helping them lead the Big Red 49-35.
“[How] we started is how you have to start, especially on the road … [the] first half was about as good as you can play,” coach Fran McCaffery said.
Zanoni was the team’s leading scorer at the end of the night with 19 points — his second-straight double-figure performance after being limited to six points across last weekend’s two-game homestead.
“My teammates and coaches do a good job of keeping my confidence high. Running actions for me, and then when I get one, they run the same play, so when I get in the flow, they recognize them.” Zanoni said.
Roberts also had a rebound performance, notching 17 points at Cornell after being held to five total points — his lowest in a full game donning Red and Blue — the day prior.
A flipped script in the second frame
The second half of the game told a different story. After junior forward Augustus Gerhart opened play with a dunk, the Quakers were met with a sharp-shooting Cornell offense. Four minutes into the second half, Cornell guard Jake Fiegen started a 10-0 run that included two back-to-back threes from conference-leading scorer and guard Cooper Noard. Despite sophomore guard AJ Levine making shots in the paint and from the stripe, another Cornell 11-2 run brought it back to a one-possession game, forcing the Quakers to play defense.
“This is a very difficult team to defend; [they have] multiple weapons. They’re going to shoot a ton of threes, they’re going to make a run, that’s what they do,” McCaffery said. “But we withstood the run and play[ed] intelligently and tough coming down a stretch.”
Cornell’s foul trouble helps Penn hold on
In the final minutes, the Big Red struggled to avoid fouling while the Quakers capitalized on repeated trips to the stripe to extend their lead. Despite being ranked last in the conference in free-throw percentage, Penn made crucial free throws throughout the final seven minutes of play to hold off the Big Red.
At the end of the evening, Cornell totaled 26 fouls — 16 of which were in the second half — while the Quakers made 19 shots on the 25 attempts.
In the last minute of play, Levine made a layup thanks to an across court heave from Zanoni that put the Quakers up by 12 points to seal the victory.
“[We focused] on the next game. That’s how it has to be. Everybody’s good, and everybody’s right there,” McCaffery said of the team’s mindset heading into the second half of Ivy play.
Penn men’s basketball returns to the Palestra to battle historic rival Princeton on Feb. 7, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.
