Rosen is still hustling
Despite an "off night" for Zack Rosen — he scored an uncharacteristically low eight points in Tuesday's loss to La Salle — he's the heart and soul of this Penn team. Here's what sports writer Evan Spiller has to say about Rosen's performance:
If there was one redeeming part of Penn’s 68-57 loss to La Salle, it was the play of senior Zack Rosen. He rushed to the ball when it was loose, consistently found the right man, and made several key shots and steals.
But it wasn’t just that his play was inspired that made it a good performance. It’s that it was inspired at the game’s key moments. About ten minutes into the first half, when La Salle was up by seven or eight points, it seemed like the Explorers might run way with it. But Rosen stepped up and, for the next six to seven minutes, Penn barely made a shot that wasn’t his score or his assist. In one play, Rosen knocked the ball out of the opponent’s hand, sprinted half a court’s length to get it, then found a teammate to his side, who hit a three.
A similar thing seemed to happen in the second half when La Salle was up 60-51 with 4 minutes and thirty seconds left in the game. Rosen hit Dougherty with a tough bounce pass in the key, then, on the next play, made a lay-up to put the game at 60-55.
No avail, though. Rosen’s missed three-pointer and the subsequent questionable loose ball foul that voided the tip-in moved the momentum in the opposite direction. La Salle ended the game with a comfortable lead, negating Rosen’s hustle.
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