Different coach, same result

As most of you probably already know, the Penn basketball team was routed by Davidson, 79-50, in Jerome Allen's head coaching debut. The Quakers are now 0-8, and barring an utterly shocking upset against Duke on New Year's Eve (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2), they will be off to their worst start in program history.

First, an apology (with a disclaimer: Here, as elsewhere on The Buzz, I speak on behalf of only myself, and in no way on behalf of The Dailiy Pennsylvanian). No DP reporter made the trip to Davidson, and it is unclear whether one will make it to Duke. This is the first time in recent memory that the DP did not send someone to cover a basketball (or football) game, regardless of where it took place. It's no secret that the newspaper industry is struggling -- especially in this economic climate, when national advertising is down significantly -- and the DP is naturally not immune from budgetary constraints that these conditions impose. Nevertheless, I personally feel that we let our readers down, and that disappoints me as much as anyone.

After the jump, some notes (from afar) on the game.

The Penn Athletics news release notes that "[a]fter all, Rome wasn't built in a day." True, but it wasn't destroyed in half of one, either. Penn trailed, 46-19, at the break. The Quakers' only worse first half this year was against Villanova, when they entered the lockeroom down, 55-25.
The injury bug is only getting worse. In his last interview with the DP before getting fired, Glen Miller said that he hoped Tyler Bernardini, Andreas Schreiber and Justin Reilly would be ready after the 16-day layoff. Well, Bernardini -- along with reserve Larry Loughery -- did not make the trip. Reilly did not play. Schreiber reinjured his always-bummed shoulder and is again listed as "indefinite." And Mike Howlett, who has started four games this year, suffered a foot injury on Sunday.
Miller lost his Quakers debut in 2006-07. Fran Dunphy won his debut (in 89-90), as did Dunphy's four predescessors. None took over mid-season.
Zack Rosen led the Quakers in points (with 14) for the fifth time in eight games. He's a fine well-rounded player, but not a good enough pure scorer to pace the team in five of eight games.
Perhaps a sign of things to come under Allen -- or perhaps the result of that disastrous first half -- the rookie coach completely emptied his bench. Tommy Eggleston saw his first action of 2009, while SuperJew Zack Gordon was out there for 12 minutes, doubling his '09 playing time.