Off the hook

Just a week after Penn's three embarrassing first-half records against Florida Gulf Coast were either matched or beaten by Savannah State, Princeton's disgraceful effort from two years ago was absolved as well.

The Tigers put up a woeful 21 points in a loss to Monmouth, an NCAA shot clock era record-low, only to have that broken last night by Rick Majerus' Saint Louis. The Billikens scored all of 20 points in a 49-20 loss to George Washington in their Atlantic 10 opener. Saint Louis scored only seven points in the first half, went 1-for-19 from three for the game and got blocked 11 times, a season-high for GW.

In fact, GW is terrible this season, and Saint Louis (9-6) isn't that bad. GW (5-6) is a team that lost to Alabama by 36, and even lost to Binghamton, (by 12) which has an RPI of 314.

Princeton can celebrate for now, but I'm not sure how safe that mark is, Princeton has put up 38 and 32 points so far this season. Here's an excuse to re-use a great quote I got from Monmouth guard Chris Kenny, and now assistant coach under Dave Calloway:

"They're an in-state rival and to hold them to 21 points, it was great. But I was a little frustrated, to tell you the truth. I like to go for the jugular when I play. We had them at 19; I really wanted to keep them under 20. They scored with two seconds left, so I was frustrated with the effort."

In some other news, Penn athletics has a men's basketball TV ad I saw during the Flyers game last night on Comcast SportsNet. It seemed a little low-budget, but was nice to see. It featured a voice saying: "Penn basketball is back, and Coach Glen Miller wants you at the Palestra showing your red and blue pride!" Then it highlights the Big 5 and Princeton game coming up, showing a ticket package.

I'm still wondering what "Penn basketball is back" means. It also shows two plays - one by Darren Smith. Clearly this was made a long, long time ago.

And in actual news, (as of yesterday) former guard David Whitehurst is not currently at practice. He indicated earlier this season that he was intending on playing this semester if his grades permitted him to. He has sat behind the bench for most games this season, but due to academics has not been able to practice or play. I will bring you further information early next week.