Game 4 — Robert Morris University: The Good, Bad & Ugly

The Quakers looked very impressive in their 66-60 win over a talented Robert Morris team that entered the game 2-0. Catalyzed by the hot outside shooting of guards Zack Rosen, Miles Cartwright and Tyler Bernardini, Penn looked very smooth (51.2% from the field on the night).

The Good: Zack Rosen has been scarily good from the three-point land so far this year (65.4%; not a typo) but he's been a given "good" for Penn for a while now. I'll say the combination of Miles Cartwright and Tyler Bernardini both having strong shooting nights in the same game was a good sign for Penn. The team's two best scorers besides Rosen got off to a poor start in the first two games, but after netting a career-high 27 at Rider, Miles scored 12 points (5-for-9 shooting) Saturday night to complement Bernardini's game-high 19 (Rosen also had 19). Their perimeter shooting was crucial, especially in the 2nd half, when Penn created separation by running what seemed like an endless amount of picks and ball-screens to get shooters space. Defensive-minded guys like Rob Belcore and Mike Howlett also made huge contributions down the stretch.

The Bad: Robert Morris' offfense. Penn was active defensively once again, but RMU missed a ton of makeable shots as well. The Colonials bricked three after three (7-for-21 for the game), while shooting 35.7% from the floor. From the Penn perspective, a bad was allowing offensive rebounds. It's been a theme these first few games, and the Quakers got outdone again on the offensive glass, 13-4. The Red and Blue need to cut this margin down going forward — too many 2nd chances (RMU had 15 second-chance points) after the Penn 'D' exerts so much energy in the first place.

The Ugly: RMU's 59.1% clip from the charity stripe. On a night when they were struggling offensively, the Colonials, led by Velton Jones, made it harder on themselves with their FT woes. Andy Toole's squad actually held a sizeable advantage over Penn in FT attempts for much of the game (at one point RMU had 20 to Penn's 10), but when you only make just over half of them, it's no longer an advantage. Gotta make the easy ones.