Turn Back the Clock: March 26, 1979

In 1979, Penn enjoyed its one and only Final Four appearance, of course making an improbable run before falling at the hands of Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the national semifinal.

But that wasn’t the end.

Until 1981, the NCAA Tournament featured a third-place game for the two teams that lost in the Final Four. So despite a crushing 34-point defeat against the Spartans, the Quakers had to stick around in Salt Lake City to face DePaul.

The Red and Blue started out the game in inauspicious fashion, falling behind 15-8 within the first five minutes.

And while Tony Price proceeded to score 10 consecutive points for Penn, the Blue Demons still led 27-18, 10 minutes into the game.

The Quakers cut DePaul’s lead to just eight right away, but the Blue Demons used a six-minute, 15-0 run led by Gary Garland – who was named to the All-Tournament team – to extend the lead to 23.

“It was embarrassing,” Penn's James "Booney" Salters said after the game. “What were we doing down by 20 points in the first half again?”

But Penn’s postseason run didn’t end with a blowout loss.

Vincent Ross helped the Quakers cut into Penn’s large deficit, scoring six points as part of a 22-9 run to end the opening half down just 54-43.

In the second half, the Red and Blue got contributions from many players, with Price, Salters, Kenny Hall, Tim Smith and Bobby Willis each scoring at least six points after the break.

What kept DePaul ahead was the contributions of Mark Aguirre, the Blue Demons’ freshman star. Aguirre went for 14 of his game-high 34 points to prevent Penn from overtaking DePaul.

While the game tightened up, both teams were going through foul trouble, as they combined for 53 fouls in the game, with 31 by Penn.

The Blue Demons had two players – Curtis Watkins and Garland – who dealt with early fouls and eventually fouled out. By the same token, the Quakers had four players (Matt White, Ross, Smith, and Price) that fouled out before the game ended.

At the end of regulation, the Red and Blue finally tied up DePaul thanks to a late jumper by Salters with 19 seconds remaining. Salters’ jumper sent the game to overtime.

But with White and Smith fouled out, DePaul took over in the post to finish off Penn. Aguirre added six more points in the extra frame, while Price fouled out with a career-high 31 points in his final collegiate contest for the Quakers.

“I thought we had them,” Ross said. “But we were tired. It took a lot out of us to come from so far down.”

Price was more disappointed in his team’s performance, as he thought his teammates didn’t put their full effort into the final game of the season.

“There were a lot of players on this squad who didn’t come to play,” he said. “I wanted to end my career on a winning note. I wanted to say that we’re the third best team in the nation. Others really didn’t care.”

Despite some players not giving their all in the final contest, Penn’s magical run is still the best postseason performance the Quakers have ever achieved.

At 25-7, the 1979 Penn squad will be remembered for its march to Salt Lake City and it all came to a close against DePaul.