Game 2: Delaware — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Following a dramatic comeback win over UMBC in the season opener, in which the Penn basketball team erased a 22-point deficit, the Quakers fell flat in their second game: an 84-69 defeat to the hands of Delaware in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off (see recap). Here's a quick rundown of the good, bad and ugly points:

THE GOOD: Fran. Dougherty was the Quakers’ leading scorer on the night, with 21 points. And hey, he only racked up three personal fouls (more on that later). He also had four assists and took a floor-shaking charge with 2:13 remaining in an attempt to reinvigorate the Quakers’ momentum. Doc made a notable effort to keep control of the ball outside of the lane when the Quakers faced foul trouble at the end of the second half, and he even hit two treys.

THE BAD: Beatdown on the boards. Penn never rebounds, but Monday it was especially atrocious. The big men underneath did nothing to snatch the ball away from Blue Hens, who waited under the basket with open arms. Once again, Fran led in this category with six rebounds, and Henry Brooks and Darien Nelson-Henry followed with three apiece. Box out, men!

THE UGLY: A combined 55 fouls. Miles Cartwright, Tony Hicks and Jamal Lewis all fouled out, and Henry Brooks was one foul away from joining them on the bench. In fact, a year ago Brooks averaged only 14.3 minutes a game but racked up an average of 3.2 personals per game. The trend continued Monday, when Brooks picked up three fouls in his first three minutes on the floor. Penn committed 31 fouls total, and Delaware was charged with 24. Dougherty called the referees "a bit touchy."

ALSO UGLY: Penn's new red unis. The tacky, poorly designed, bright red mesh the Quakers sported shouldn't be worn again. Maybe the 15-point loss will convince them they're bad luck.