Yesterday's goings-on in the ...
Ivy League
Cornell secured a season sweep of Columbia and Brown bounced back from last week's loss at Yale. (Incidentally, Princeton has a chance (an easy one in D-II Dominican) to end its 12-game losing streak today.)
Nearby Tech School
The Dragons fell at VCU.
Big 5
Villanova's Tournament prospects took another step backwards (audio here), Pat Calathes lifted St. Joe's past Temple in their non-Big 5 matchup (audio here, here and here) and La Salle lost to St. Louis.
Not too long ago, Cornell offensive lineman Kevin Boothe had his work cut out for him: stop Zac DeOssie, Brown's standout linebacker. Now, the two Ivy Leaguers are together again on the field. But this time, they're on the same sideline, playing for something a little bit bigger than an Ancient Eight title.
For the Giants, DeOssie, a rookie, has contributed to the revival of the special teams unit, which had struggled immensely in the past several seasons. He has served as a reliable longsnapper for the Big Blue -- a position that Giant fans have an even greater appreciation for because of the Trey Junkin debacle. DeOssie frequently makes open-field tackles on kickoffs, as well.
In his second season, Boothe hasn't been quite as significant, but he did see game action in the last meeting between this year's Super Bowl teams. And Penn's very own Jim Finn, whom the Giants placed on injured reserve at the beginning of the season, will be on hand to represent the Quakers next Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.
It's about time these Ivy Leaguers got to play in the postseason.
The Penn basketball team has seen myriad plagues so far this season. Many of those are still problems, others are starting to be solved, and some are still a huge mystery.
First is perimeter defense. Teams rain threes on Penn every single game, and the Quakers seem to be able to do nothing to stop it. In the first half against Temple, the Owls hit 8 of 12 from long range, and the majority of those were virtually uncontested. Five of Temple's six guard nailed a three in the first half, and despite Penn waking up a bit on defense in the second, the Owls still hit 12 of 23 for the game.
And this is hardly a new problem for Penn. The Quakers' opponents have shot 39.8 percent from three, a mark that only 25 out of the 341 Division I teams have achieved on their own this season (and four of the Quakers opponents' RPI are in the bottom 41). Howard, the worst-shooting team from three in the NCAA, averages 3.75 threes per game and hits 23.8 percent. Yet the Bison nailed 12 against Penn, over 50 percent.
Then there's the rebounding. The Red and Blue have been out-rebounded 37.6 per game to 34.8, and yet in their last three games, all against Big 5 teams (aka not NJIT, Elon or The Citadel; the list goes on...) were essentially even, out-rebounded 35.3 to 34.7. And that stat is more impressive than it looks -- because the Quakers miss so often, the majority of those shots came on Penn's offensive glass. The Temple game marked a clear difference in rebounding from the beginning of the season. Forwards are still missing some boxouts, but many are playing with more tenacity inside.
Finally, there's the well-known mystery of the three-point shooting. While this is mostly a negative -- the Quakers are still 333 out of 341 in three-point shooting -- they mysteriously went 6-for-13 from beyond the arc on North Broad Street. That was Penn's fewest amount of attempts in six games, and the highest amount of makes. My theory is that the right people shot them against Temple.
Against St. Joe's, 10 players took a three, and seven didn't hit any (including Aron Cohen going 0-for-6). But against Temple, only five players shot threes, and only two went hitless.
There were roster changes aplenty last night against Temple. The obvious one was the return of Harrison Gaines. He played well for 10 minutes, and with eight days off before Harvard we have no reason to think he won't be 100 percent by then.
Ironically, in Gaines' first game back since NJIT, Kevin Egee played his cleanest game yet, logging 29 minutes without a turnover.
Andreas Schreiber benefited from the presence of Temple 7-footer Sergio Olmos. As Penn's best interior defender along with Cameron Lewis and Jack Eggleston, Schreiber was a logical choice to stay on the floor for more time than normal. Justin Reilly, who usually gets more minutes that Schreiber, played just 4, and Eggleston played 33 minutes in his best game so far.
Video of the postgame press conference can be found here.
FINAL: Temple 80, Penn 64
Bernardini hits a three, but it's a few minutes too late. He then gets called for a charge, and all Temple needs to do is run out the clock.
Gaines gets a steal and a deuce, but the Egee fouls Brooks, and with 22 seconds left Brooks goes to the line.
With a Tyndale free throw, Temple gets 80 points, and the whole crowd receives free tacos.
1:06 2nd Half: Temple 76, Penn 59
With the shot clock winding down, Clark nails another big three to get the lead out to 15. Gaines misses a tough layup, and Temple has just about put it away. The Owls are on a 9-2 run, and have held Penn off very nicely.
2:33 2nd Half: Temple 71, Penn 57
Bernardini just has no chance. Christmas makes a nasty step-back jumper, that is absolutely huge, opens the lead back to 14. It's not over yet though, Penn has been scoring a lot.
Bernardini takes a nice pass from Schreiber to get fouled for a 1-and-1.
Eggleston complains about someone standing at the free throw line, and the ref adjust the players quickly.
3:25 2nd Half: Temple 69, Penn 57
Schreiber is unfazed by getting dunked on, pulling down a nice rebound. Bernardini plays tough on the other end, missing a shot, but muscling down the board and scoring.
After two Eggleston free throws cut it to 10, the two teams trade baskets, and Tyndale puts it back to 12.
6:15 2nd Half: Temple 65, Penn 50
SEND IT IN! Tyndale comes through with an absolute monster dunk on Schreiber, even drawing the foul for the and-1 dunk.
Eggleston comes back with a nice move for another and-1, and Olmos picks up his fifth foul, he's gone. The crowd gives him some support for a nice effort.
6:41 2nd Half: Temple 62, Penn 48
Gaines takes a screen from Schreiber and steps back for an open three. There's another timeout on the floor, and Miller is surprisingly positive, clapping and slapping the hand of Schreiber.
7:43 2nd Half: Temple 62, Penn 45
Kach makes a nice move to the hoop, as Penn is keeping this a game... but then Christmas nails a three to take the lead back to 16. Every time Penn gets close, the Owls hit a huge shot.
Bernardini is heating up as well this half, as he hits another three.
Allen has had a quiet game, but no one boxes him out, and he get the o-board for an easy layup. Gaines knifes through the defense for two right after.
The Owls are shooting an unreal percentage. The defense was pretty bad in the first half, but now it's just great shooting. They hit 56 percent in the first half, 8-for-12 from three, and they are certainly keeping those numbers up.
11:12 2nd Half: Temple 51, Penn 38
Finally, Gaines makes an appearance, quickly getting the ball to Bernardini and letting him do the rest.
I'm pretty sure the Miller technical was stemming from the charge that was called on Bernardini, but he might have had a case that Egee's layup was a goaltend, it might have hit the backboard before being blocked. Head official tonight is Joe DeMayo, so technical fouls aren't exactly a rarity, he loves to make the controversial call.
12:29 2nd Half: Temple 51, Penn 36
Penn may be down by 16, but is making some signs of coming back in this game. Olmos picks up his second foul of the half that both probably should not have been called, but was also a stupid one for him to commit. Olmos reaches over Eggleston's back, and he's got to sit down for a while now.
After a Tyndale basket, Eggleston takes a nice feed from Grandieri for rwo, but then again Tyndale makes a beautiful backdoor feed to Christmas for a layup.
Bernardini hits a three, and Penn's cut the lead back to 13.
Oh, man jsut like that, Temple has turned the game on its end. Grandieri gets a steal off on Tyndale, but Egee's transition layup is thrown off the glass by Tyndale, and Christmas takes the outlet for a wide open three. Then Bernardini is called for a charge, and Glen Miller is livid, yelling at the refs and drawing a technical.
16:17 2nd Half: Temple 45, Penn 29
Schreiber is continuing his great game, muscling his way to an offensive rebound, but he can't convert on it. He then draws a foul on the next trip, but then misses two free throws. He's not perfect, but you have to like his aggressive play.
Egee's stepping it up, now, nailing a three, and then plucking Christmas on the way in. Schreiber draws another foul, but only makes one free throw. Penn shows press, but backs off.
Schreiber comes out of nowhere for a rejection, and then Eggleston throws Tyndale's shot off the backboard. After a few sloppy possessions, Schreiber hits a jumper.
Stats:
The leading man of the half for Penn was by a long shot Andreas Schreiber. He's got nine points on four of five shooting. It seems like one of Penn's big me comes to play every night, you just never know which one, and it's usually only one. Penn's guards are having a tough time penetrating (big surprise) or really doing anything on offense. Still, they've probably been worse on the other end of the floor. Temple has hit 8 of 12 threes. It's hard to lose shooting 67 percent from deep.
Grandieri and Bernardini have only got up five shots, and have missed all of them, and combined for two points. Lewis leads Penn with three turnovers.
Christmas and Brooks are already in double-figures for Temple, with Tyndale knocking at the door.
HALFTIME: Temple 41, Penn 22
Eggleston decides he can't miss any more layups, so he decides to dunk this one home. Temple's defense is blanketing as Penn tries to take the last shot of the half, but turns it over.
1:07 1st Half: Temple 39, Penn 20
Brooks takes a baseline pass, and nails yet another three from the corner. Penn's offense is getting better, though, as Egee gets to the line, hitting one.
Brooks is torching Penn, draining another long J. And on the other end, Olmos is owning Lewis, just back in the game. The Spaniard blocks Lewis on his up-and-under move, warranting an "Ole, ole ole, ole!" chant
Egee's tough defense isn't enough, as Christmas is money on a three, and gets fouled on yet another. The Quakers are now in big trouble.
Guzman is down on the floor after the play. He is in pain, but walks off the court with some help.
3:15 1st Half: Temple 31, Penn 19
Penn is fronting the post with Schreiber on Olmos, and Grandieri forces a turnover from behind.
Schreiber is really heating up on offense. He gets his defender in the air and hits for an and-1 (to make it 31-17). Schreiber then nails a 15-footer, and Penn is right back in it, down 12.
4:45 1st Half: Temple 31, Penn 17
Schreiber gets into it with a put-back dunk on an Egee miss. Grandieri gets in too deep, though, and kills any momentum with a bad turnover.
Brooks gets Schreiber in the air with a pump fake from the corner, but lets Chris Clark nail the final three.
The Penn bench has plays written out on cards that are shown on offense
The Penn band is finally heard from, they were put up in the rafters, just like in the Villanova game, not quite as bad as that though.
7:26 1st Half: Temple 28, Penn 12
Semaj Inge gets his entire mitt on Kach's pull-up jumper, and then I believe it was Inge again rejecting Bernardini. Conor Turler makes a nice pass into Eggleston for two, but Olmos answers with an easy deuce.
Ryan Brooks now nails a three in Bernardini's eye, can't really fault the defense that time, though.
Temple fans roll out a double-banner: "What is Big 5 +1?" and then shortly after "Your 1st half score vs. FGCU!" Not bad, but you'd think they could make a funnier joke about that.
9:44 1st Half: Temple 23, Penn 10
Penn has played a lot of players so farm and there are currently no starters in. Aron Cohen, Mike Kach and Dan Monckton are at the guards, with Schreiber and Reilly in down low.
Tyndale takes advantage of the skinnier Monckton, and seals him, taking the lob in and getting fouled.
After getting called for a travel (third player so far) Cohen makes a nice feed to Eggleston inside, who scores. Schreiber then hits him for a wide open two, only to see Eggleston botch the open layup. He had a bad angle, and couldn't adjust.
Temple scores easily on the other end, and the lead is back to 13.
11:47 1st Half: Temple 16, Penn 8
Ouch, Votel travels, for yet another turnover.
After some nice defense by Bernadini on Christmas, Egee turns an offensive rebound into a three.
WOW, Tyndale goes up for a monster dunk, but misses, and is actually called for a charge on Eggleston. Some guts from the freshman.
Temple is jacking up threes and is starting to miss. Those early hits may have given the Owls a false sense of security.
Andreas Schreiber steps up and hits a three from the top of the key, but Olmos answers with a tip-in.
I should note that Harrison Gaines is dressed, but hasn't played yet. He's recovering from a hamstring injury. I'd say it would be a bad idea to risk him re-injuring it, but Penn doesn't play next in about 10 days.
15:37 1st Half: Temple 12, Penn 1
This is just ugly. Lewis gets it inside, and walks, while the perimeter defense is still atrocious. Christmas hits another trey, with barely any defense on him.
Tyndale finally airballs a shot, and Temple's back to reality.
But the D is still ridiculous - Brennan Votel, recently in for Lewis, gets rejected by Olmos, and the crowd goes crazy.
17:38 1st Half: Temple 9, Penn 0
Lewis get the tap, but begins with a horrible entry pass to Grandieri. Then, with the shot clock winding down, Tyndale drains a three over Grandieri.
Now, Lewis gets called for an illegal screen and Penn is off to a terrible start.
WOW. Christmas nails a three over Grandieri, and some nice perimeter passing later and Guzman makes it 9-0 Owls.
__________
Welcome to the Pal... Liacouras Center? It is certainly odd to see Fran Dunphy coaching a Big 5 game not at the Palestra.
Starters:
Penn:
G Kevin Egee
G Brian Grandieri
G Tyler Bernardini
F Jack Eggleston
F Cameron Lewis
Temple:
G Mark Tyndale
G Luis Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos
You would think that on the heels of the nationally-televised airing of a documentary about a famous building on 33rd street, Penn and its Big 5 rivals would make an effort to reverse a trend that the final minutes of the documentary addressed: the Big 5’s gradually waning commitment to the Palestra. As Penn wraps up Big 5 play tomorrow against Temple, it’s worth taking a look at where the city’s rivalry games are being held.
This season, Penn will have wound up playing only two of its four Big 5 games at the Palestra. Dunphy Bowl II will take place tomorrow at Temple’s licorice factory, or whatever that gym is called. Sure isn’t referred to as “the cathedral.” Dunphy’s alma mater, La Salle, prefers to take on his current squad at Tom Gola Arena. Though St. Joe’s has gladly invited Temple to the Palestra for their second meeting this season, the Owls will host the first one against their A-10 and Big 5 rival at the Liacouras Center (I did a little research… they’ve been calling it that since 2000!).
To their credit, Phil Martelli’s Hawks have shown a real dedication to keeping the Big 5 alive and will call the Palestra home next season. They will also use the Palestra to host this year’s “holy war,” which has drawn an average of 8,689 fans the last three times it’s been played there. However, Villanova insists on hosting the annual rivalry at the Pavilion, which seats only 6,500. And forget about the Wildcats coming to Penn, unless they’re the visitors.
Every year, there are 10 Big 5 games. This year, only half of them will be played in the building that was made for Big 5 basketball. That’s just a shame. Hopefully, by playing its home games at the Palestra next season, St. Joe’s can help to revitalize the building and finally bring the Big 5 back home in the years to come.
There are a lot of holes in the Penn men's basketball team that were exploited by Saint Joseph's and in other recent losses. These aren't necessarily gaping holes, but with some smart gameplanning, the road to knocking off the Quakers in the Ivy League would be a lot easier.
1) Inbounds passes:
At least once per game, usually more, the baseline inbounds play (usually around the opponent's basket) turns into a timeout or a turnover. The four players trying to receive the ball will either run somewhere or set a screen within about a three-second interval, and if the ball isn't passed in by the three- or four-second mark, they just stand wherever they went to. This leaves the passer, often Aron Cohen, with no options. Whether it's the fault of the players or the designer of the play, these guys must do something up until the five-second limit.
These inbounds plays are even more problematic when coming after a made shot and the opponent pressing. The Quakers are easily caught inbounding the ball to a guard who is either heading up one sideline, or even worse, into one corner. Here, a team has an easy opportunity to trap. Surrounded by two defenders and one (or two) out of bounds lines, the recipient of the pass has nowhere to go and often turns it over. We saw this a lot against La Salle, helping to create 17 turnovers.
2) Guarding skilled swingmen:
There's not much to say here besides that the lanky 6-foot-10 swingman Pat Calathes torched Penn, and anyone the Quakers could throw at him. In the first half, when the outcome was still in doubt, Calathes went 4-for-8, 3-for-3 from three and 14 points, and that included four missed free throws and two missed dunks.
He either flew by any guard that was put on him in Penn's three-guard lineup, or just shot over him. And we're not talking about some 6-1 speed demon. Ryan Wittman is licking his chops.
3) Inability to get inside:
When faced with tough perimeter defense, Penn just shoots threes. As I mention in my sidebar, the Quakers attempted 27 threes against St. Joe's, and it's not like they did it because they were behind. Penn shot 12 in the first half, making only one, and missed 10 straight to close out the half (down by 24). Against La Salle, Penn got around its inability to penetrate by passing it to the forwards inside. But this failed as well against the Hawks, resulting in 5-for-27 shooting from long distance.
Cornell gritted out a tough win over Columbia -- for the first time without 10-point-per-game guard Collin Robinson, who is apparently history in Ithaca. Yale put Brown in an early Ivy League hole.
And you probably heard by now what happened to Penn this weekend.
By Saturday, everyone except Penn and Princeton will have played two league games. Here's how things look now:
1) Cornell (9-5, 1-0)
1) Yale (7-8, 1-0)
3) Dartmouth (7-8, 1-1)
3) Harvard (6-12, 1-1)
5) Penn (5-11, 0-0)
5) Princeton (2-12, 0-0)
7) Brown (8-7, 0-1)
7) Columbia (7-9, 0-1)
Obviously, Penn fans should root for teams to beat up on each other as much as possible. Brown losing a game it shouldn't have was a step in that direction.
Two Penn recruiting updates: Here and here.
Some of my closest friends are in the Red and Blue Crew, but after Saturday, I think that more human capital needs to go into the rollout ideas. The RBC doesn't have to be as meticulous as St. Joe's fans, who had one complementing Rob Ferguson for scoring his 1000th point the previous game. But "Your rollouts suck"? Seriously?
(P.S.: No, your rollouts suck.)
FINAL: St. Joe's 82, Penn 42
Box Score
The Quakers got beaten by a much better team, although I had no idea it'd be like this.
2:01 2nd Half: St. Joe's 78, Penn 40
St. Joe's fans chant "this is our house!" This chant is pretty trite as well, but the Hawks deserve to say this because they actually play their home Big 5 games here, and will play every home game here next year.
Fan favorite C.J. Brown, who looks like he's 5-9, comes in.
4:26 2nd Half: St. Joe's 71, Penn 40
Egee hits a couple threes now, but Penn is still down 31. If Penn shut out St. Joe's in the second half, it would still be a two-point game.
5:22 2nd Half: St. Joe's 70, Penn 37
Penn's offense is getting going a bit, but not only is it way too late, but the Red and Blue can't stop the Hawks.
7:51 2nd Half: St. Joe's 64, Penn 32
The Hawks get whistled for a travel, and the St. Joe's fans are pissed.
Penn fans roll out a banner: "Nova's still better." Villanova did beat Syracuse today, but when Tasheed Carr comes back that might not be a given.
8:12 2nd Half: St. Joe's 64, Penn 30
St. Joe's is lobbing it all day over the Penn defense. Nivins seals his man, and the Quaker defender has no chance.
Bernardini passes the ball to Eggleston off of a rebound, but the forward looks away at the last minute, and almost turns it over.
Turley is on Nivins, and this just isn't fair. Nivins was held scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble, but is tearing it up now.
Kach hits a three, but Penn is still getting doubled-up. With Calathes resting, Nivins is scoring at will. He gets an and-1 here.
11:09 2nd Half: St. Joe's 59, Penn 25
Nivins decides to beast Turley this time.
Penn is just attempting and missing threes. It's such an attractive thing to do, take a wide-open three, and St. Joe's is loving it.
"Living on a Prayer" makes its daily appearance from the Penn band, and St. Joe's fans are just as excited as the Penn ones.
13:11 2nd Half: St. Joe's 55, Penn 23
The Hawks fans start an "up by 30" chant. Then roll out a banner saying: "The smartest person ever to leave Penn was Fran." Penn fans come back with the over-used "Nova rejects" chant, only to get a response of "Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!"
Penn actually runs an offensive play, but misses. Monckton gets an offensive board and goes to the line. Nivins powers his way through Reilly on a nice give-and-go and gets an and-1
2nd Half: St. Joe's 49, Penn 19
Grandieri makes a great pass to Lewis, but he botches it.
Penn's lineup isn't a good one to contend with this team - it has Egee on Calathes. Just as I say this, Monckton comes in to guard him.
In transition, Eggleston decides to pick up his own man still running down the floor, instead of getting Ferguson right under the basket. Luckily for him, though the pass is tipped out of bounds.
Stats:
Like a few other Penn games so far this season, the first-half stats are fairly ridiculous:
Penn is 1-for-12 from three, and seven players have attempted, but not made one. In addition, nine Quakers - Turley, Reilly, Cofield, Kach, Monckton, Schreiber, Cohen, Egee and Lewis - have attempted a shot, but not made one. The Penn bench is 0-for-10, with one point.
Also, Penn's assist-to-turnover ratio is 0.25 (3 to 12). Oddly enough, Penn is out-rebounding St. Joe's by three, even a crazier stat considering seven more have come off of Penn's offensive glass than defensive.
HALFTIME: St. Joe's 38, Penn 14
Monckton was on Calathes. Not a good idea. With Penn's three-guard system, someone small is always on the star, 6-8 swingman. Ferguson, this time, scores inside.
Monckton rejects Calathes' fast-break dunk, that was pretty nasty.
Eggleston throws up prayer, and it swishes. Still, Egee gets mixed up on D and leaves Calathes open for a three in the corner. That's not a very good decision.
3:38 1st Half: St. Joe's 32, Penn 12
Grandieri gets two transition layups right before the last timeout, and it's down to 20. Schreiber, though, gets called for a moving screen and it's going the other way.
4:23 1st Half: St. Joe's 32, Penn 12
Usually Calathes and Nivins share the burden of the scoring, but tonight's battle as one-sided as the game.
Grandieri hits a layup with 6:10 to go, and Penn has 7 points, and will have officially not set its own first-half NCAA record of six.
Dan Monckton, now in the game, gets a transition pass and goes to the line. It wasn't before D.J. Rivera went swooping for an easy layup, though.
Wow, Penn gets a big break when Nivins pushes Egee and picks up his third foul. If the Hawks have a weakness, it's depth. Moody gets to the line, though, as coach Phil Martelli yells "bailing you out!" referring to the fact that it was a soft foul call on a bad shot.
7:21 1st Half: St. Joe's 23, Penn 5
Penn's inbounds plays, once again, are useless. Aron Cohen calls probably his 30th timeout of the year, as the other four players go nowhere after their initial move. It is the equivalent of if a quarterback
Cofield, now in the game, gets an offensive board, but misses a three. Now, so does Justin Reilly.
The Hawks actually end a little scoring drought, and are back up 18.
Grandieri drew a charge on Calathes earlier, but Andreas Schreiber couldn't do the same. The Quakers are playing much better, but it certainly isn't enough.
10:57 1st Half: St. Joe's 21, Penn 3
Lewis travels, Bernardini misses, Grandieri throws it into the stands and Penn is struggling.
On the other end, it's quite the opposite. Williamson blows by no one (looked like a mix-up) and flies in for a dunk
Conor Turley spins into Ferguson and gets rejected. Bernardini gets an offensive board, but misses the layup. bernardini is getting absolutely burned by Calathes, who must be in double-figures by now.
1st Half: St. Joe's 13, Penn 3
Eggleston gets rejected by Rob Ferguson, and then nails a wide open three on the other end. Bernardini hits an open three to get Penn on the board, but Govens comes right back with a trey, and Calathes hits a running layup and it's a 10-point game.
Welcome to a sold out crowd at the Palestra. As I might have expected, the Saint Joseph's crowd is just as big, probably bigger than Penn's contingency. The internet just started working again, sorry for the delays.
Starters:
Penn:
G Kevin Egee
G Brian Grandieri
G Tyler Bernardini
F Jack Eggleston
F Cameron Lewis
St. Joe's:
G Darrin Govens
G Garrett Williamson
F Pat Calathes
F Ahmad Nivins
F Rob Ferguson
Apologies for waiting until 9:30 to post this, but former Quakers baseball star and Phillies outfielder Doug Glanville had a good piece on the ed page of today's Times about the roots of drug use in baseball.
Women's basketball coach Pat Knapp is doing his best Anthony Smith.
As reported in today's DP, the Penn coach said that his team would end its losing streak "next game," which is quite the statement given that streak is ten games long.
Knapp's team hasn't won since eeking out a win over Rider on Nov. 28, and in that time the losses have come in all shapes and sized. Villanova held the Quakers to a measly 26 points; Eastern Kentucky put up 100 on them. Junior Kelly Scott, who should be a top option, has scored 5, 15, 15 and 8 points in her four games since returning from injury, a boost but nothing earthshaking.
Harvard, which Penn faces on Feb. 1, is one of the better teams in the Ivy League with a 7-8 mark. Poster-board material, anyone?
Good evening from the Palestra. Penn takes on La Salle tonight; refresh this page for live updates.
FINAL: La Salle 62, Penn 58
Turns out that was the game. Mbala missed, but all Bernardini could do was shoot a long three, which missed. A good offensive game at times for the Quakers, but La Salle was even better. Much more on this in tomorrow's DP.
Good night from The Buzz.
:4.9, Second half: La Salle 62, Penn 58
That may have been the game. Penn got an open three for Reilly, but it was a smidge long. Mbala got the rebound and hit his first free throw. He has another one after we come back from this timeout, but its already a two-possession game.
:17, Second half: La Salle 61, Penn 58
Grandieri had a great drive to the hoop to bring the deficit to one, and on the next play he made the right call by fouling Mbala. Mbala, though, hit both free throws. Penn has the ball, let's see if they go for the three or for the easy two. Tough call.
:41, Second half: La Salle 59, Penn 56
Eggleston drew a charge on a last-second drive to the basket -- huge play. Penn gets the ball back with a chance to tie this thing. Timeout.
1:25, Second half: La Salle 59, Penn 56
Ugh, forget that. Two backbreakers for Penn -- a dunk from Green with three on the shot clock and an unnecessary foul on Harris. He hits one to give the Explorers a five-point lead, and Penn makes a slight recovery when Cohen hits two free throws. Kach and Egee are in for Grandieri and Bernardini, presumably for defense.
2:14, Second half: La Salle 56, Penn 54
Eggleston hit a pair from the line and then executed a perfect give-and-go with Lewis for another two points. The Quakers have the momentum.
3:36, Second half: La Salle 53, Penn 50
Bernardini had a tough couple of plays but recovered nicely. He hit two free throws to bring the deficit to four, then missed a layup and got called for a ticky-tack personal foul on the other end. La Salle hit two from the line. Bernardini hit a deep three after the timeout to bring the gap back to four, and Grandieri made one free throw to make it three. La Salle is 20-for-22 at the free-throw line so far, which is basically the difference in the game.
7:18, Second half: La Salle 50, Penn 44
Slight recovery by Penn. The Quakers are clearly a much better team tonight with Lewis on the floor -- he's really playing La Salle tough on the boards. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Grandieri was able to put it back, bringing the defecit from eight to six. But Bernardini missed an open three on the next possession and Glen Miller called timeout.
12:02, Second half: La Salle 44, Penn 38
Green is cleaning up, and Penn's shot selection has deteriorated. The team just doesn't seem to have its rhythm with Egee on the floor; the Quakers are forcing shots and passes and turning the ball over. As a result, the Explorers are getting a ton of points in transition. Conor Turley and Schreiber are in for Reilly and Lewis, and Turley hits a three-pointer(!) for Penn.
15:33, Second half: Penn 35, La Salle 34
Green had a steal that he took coast-to-coast for another dunk, and Penn's offense has misfired a few times in the opening minutes.
16:45, Second half: Penn 35, La Salle 30
Green had a dunk in transition to open the second-half scoring, and then he barreled through the Penn defense for another lay-in. But Lewis responded with a big dunk of his own, and after Barrett hit a layup, found Cohen for a nifty backdoor cut. Penn's lead remains at five.
Halftime stats:
Field goals: Penn 13-34, La Salle 7-29
3-pt. field goals: Penn 2-6, La Salle 2-6
Free throws: Penn 1-4, La Salle 8-8
Rebounds: Penn 23 (8 offensive), La Salle 21 (7 offensive)
Turnovers: Penn 6, La Salle 7
Assists: Penn 9, La Salle 6
Fouls: Penn 8, La Salle 7
Steals: Penn 3, La Salle 4
Halftime: Penn 29, La Salle 24
Two big plays from Bernardini give Penn back the momentum. He hit a three with a defender rushing in, then drew a charge on the next possession. Penn lost Paul Johnson for a minute, and he capitalized with a dunk. Justin Reilly then missed the front end of a one-and-one. La Salle failed to get a shot off on the last possession. Halftime stats up shortly
2:48, First half: Penn 25, La Salle 22
The Explorers are finally starting to hit some shots. Jerrell Williams hit a three for La Salle, its first of the game, and Darnell Harris responded with his first points of the game, a three in transition, to bring the score to 23-22. But Bernardini hit a twisting and-1 under the basket on the next possession, made the free throw, and Penn still has a three-point lead.
7:44, First half: Penn 17, La Salle 12
Penn has been playing better basketball on offense and is in control right now. The Quakers' passes, in particular, are much improved -- on target with some zip. Lewis hit two more solid turnaround baskets inside, Grandieri grabbed his own miss and put it back for two and Bernardini just nailed an open three to force an Explorers timeout.
11:59, First half: La Salle 6, Penn 6
Grandieri hit a jumper and Reilly scored on an open layup for Penn's first field goals. La Salle's biggest game cue -- turnovers -- is hurting them. Giannini lit up Rodney Greene for turning the ball over in the open court twice. Kevin Egee is in for Cohen, and Andreas Schreiber for Eggleston. Remy Cofield is in as well.
15:56, First half: La Salle 2, Penn 0
Ugly so far. The Quakers are getting some looks close in, but they can't convert anything. Eggleston was blocked from behind by Yves Mekongo Mbala, and La Salle hits two free throws to open the scoring. Reilly comes in for Lewis. Cohen is playing point for Penn.
17:57, First half: Penn 0, La Salle 0
Both teams have it rough in the first two minutes. Cameron Lewis started for Penn and so far has an airball but two offensive rebounds. La Salle has not really come close to scoring. John Giannini was upset when Brian Grandieri was assessed a personal foul for elbowing a player in the face. Giannini thought it should be a technical.
Freshman point guard Harrison Gaines is unlikely to see action tonight against La Salle. He is still feeling the effects of re-tweaking his hamstring last week.
Junior Kevin Egee has been seeing more time in Gaines' absence. Egee played 13 minutes against NJIT last Saturday (Gaines played 24), but he led the team with 30 against Miami when Gaines was on the bench.
Senior guard Michael Kach is good to go, according to Penn's game notes, as is junior forward Brennan Votel, who dressed for NJIT but didn't get in the game. Kach had been out with a back problem and Votel with a hamstring injury.
Elsewhere in the Big 5, both Villanova and St. Joe's could be getting personnel boosts in the near future, the Inquirer reports.
La Salle coach John Giannini thinks there are more parellels between the Quakers and his Explorers than just their youth.
"We're a team that's dominated by wing-type players... guys who are 6-5, 6-6," Giannini said. La Salle, he said, doesn't have as many "proven decision-makers in the backcourt" as one might like. (Just like Penn.)
"But that was a conscious decision on my part," Giannini said. "I wanted to get the best, most talented players for this program first."
Giannini singled out a player who doesn't get as much ink as senior Darnell Harris -- Rodney Greene, a 6-5 sophomore who Giannini said could develop into a player similar to another Big 5 great, Mardy Collins of Temple and the New York Knicks, if he gets better at handling the ball.
The biggest trap for La Salle is turnovers, Giannini said, because the Explorers shoot at a good enough percentage to win as long as they hold on to the rock.
You could call La Salle a dangerous team, but they don't exactly have a lot of weapons.
Only four players scored in the Explorers' most recent game, a 72-61 win at Saint Bonaventure on Saturday.
Those four -- Kimmani Barrett, Darnell Harris, Rodney Green and Jerrell Williams -- have scored over 72% of La Salle's points this year. By comparison, Penn's top six scorers account for virtually the same percentage of the Quakers' points.
Penn won a thrilling game at Tom Gola High School Arena last year by shutting Harris down after a torrid first half, which makes the possible return of Michael Kach -- Penn's best perimeter defender -- seem even more important.
I'll be getting coach John Giannini's perspective on Tuesday's matchup with Penn tomorrow afternoon, so if you have a question you'd like addressed, shoot me an email at scurria@sas.upenn.edu and I'll post his response.
Coming up to a big showdown against Duke, Temple knew it wasn't going to get a free ride.
It had to pay $2.60 each.
For the game against the No. 9 Blue Devils at the Wachovia Center, Fran Dunphy had his club take the subway from Cecil B. Moore to Pattison avenue.
Especially for a home game, this is almost unheard-of. Dunphy cited convenience and just wanting to give it a try, but it didn't seem like there were any motivational tactics involved. Some players took SEPTA to high school every day, while others had never been on it before.
As for the game, the Owls started slow, but gave Duke a scare in the end. They went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to single-digits late, but couldn't get any closer, losing by 10.
Temple lost once again tonight, this time in tough fashion by 2 to Charlotte in the Atlantic 10 opener. All five of the Philly teams besides Penn were in action tonight as well, and some of the games were somewhat disappointing.
While La Salle and Saint Joseph's disposed of some bottom-of-the-barrel A-10 teams in St. Bonaventure and Richmond, respectively, Villanova lost to Cincinatti, 69-66, and Drexel lost at Towson.
Just a week after Penn's three embarrassing first-half records against Florida Gulf Coast were either matched or beaten by Savannah State, Princeton's disgraceful effort from two years ago was absolved as well.
The Tigers put up a woeful 21 points in a loss to Monmouth, an NCAA shot clock era record-low, only to have that broken last night by Rick Majerus' Saint Louis. The Billikens scored all of 20 points in a 49-20 loss to George Washington in their Atlantic 10 opener. Saint Louis scored only seven points in the first half, went 1-for-19 from three for the game and got blocked 11 times, a season-high for GW.
In fact, GW is terrible this season, and Saint Louis (9-6) isn't that bad. GW (5-6) is a team that lost to Alabama by 36, and even lost to Binghamton, (by 12) which has an RPI of 314.
Princeton can celebrate for now, but I'm not sure how safe that mark is, Princeton has put up 38 and 32 points so far this season. Here's an excuse to re-use a great quote I got from Monmouth guard Chris Kenny, and now assistant coach under Dave Calloway:
"They're an in-state rival and to hold them to 21 points, it was great. But I was a little frustrated, to tell you the truth. I like to go for the jugular when I play. We had them at 19; I really wanted to keep them under 20. They scored with two seconds left, so I was frustrated with the effort."
In some other news, Penn athletics has a men's basketball TV ad I saw during the Flyers game last night on Comcast SportsNet. It seemed a little low-budget, but was nice to see. It featured a voice saying: "Penn basketball is back, and Coach Glen Miller wants you at the Palestra showing your red and blue pride!" Then it highlights the Big 5 and Princeton game coming up, showing a ticket package.
I'm still wondering what "Penn basketball is back" means. It also shows two plays - one by Darren Smith. Clearly this was made a long, long time ago.
And in actual news, (as of yesterday) former guard David Whitehurst is not currently at practice. He indicated earlier this season that he was intending on playing this semester if his grades permitted him to. He has sat behind the bench for most games this season, but due to academics has not been able to practice or play. I will bring you further information early next week.
Cornell coach Steve Donahue called out the intensity level of himself and his team in today's Ithaca Journal.
"When we show up like we did against Bucknell [an 88-75 loss three weeks ago], that's a reflection of me," he said. "Obviously I'm on the guys pretty hard, but I also realize I let it slip for the first month of the season... I wasn't going to allow that anymore."
In a sport that has more Coachspeak than a Bill Belichick press conference, Donahue brought a little honesty. Kudos to him for that.
Mid-major guru Kyle Whelliston says that Brown will win the Ivy League title "after months of blindly believing in Penn." (Insider login required.)
Good columns from Phil Sheridan and Rich Hoffman today on the challenges facing Fran Dunphy at Temple.
If you're like me -- a bored student on break who can't wait to get back to Penn -- here's another incentive to hurry back to campus. Look for a story on this event in next Thursday's DP.
Just finished watching the Blue-bloods beat the Cherry and White easily at the Wachovia Center. No surprise there. The Dukies had plenty of help (from the guys who are supposed to be colorblind). Enough to build a 16-point lead before the refs realized, hey, we should give Temple a few non-calls to make this thing exciting. Alas, as always seems to happen, the officials righted their ship too late to save the integrity of the evening.
The Inquirer's audio of the post-game conferences can be found here, here, here and here.
One of the ESPN announcers mentioned that the Big 5 is "down" this year as opposed to last. Numbers-wise, I'm not so sure. Let's take a look.
Temple is in almost exactly the same spot. The Owls are 6-7 with an RPI of 71 (after tonight's loss); they were an identical 6-7 at this point last year with a final RPI of 67.
La Salle was an even 6-6 twelve games into 2006 and is 3-9 now, but its current RPI is actually a bit better than last year's finish.
St. Joe's is 8-4 with an RPI of 36 (after tonight's win); the Hawks had a slightly worse record a year ago, 7-5, and a much lower RPI at year's end, 95.
Villanova has regressed a smidge, but the Big 5 is in roughly the same spot as last year -- outside of Penn, which has spun backwards from its '07 team.
In another Big 5 item of note, the renovations to the Hawks' Alumni Memorial Field House that we heard about in early 2006 will indeed force St. Joe's to play its 2008-09 games at the Palestra, the Daily News reports.
Dick Jerardi also gives us a notebook on the local storylines.
Now on to the Quakers. Freshman point guard Harrison Gaines suffered another setback after playing 24 productive minutes against NJIT, coach Glen Miller told PSN's Brian Seltzer.
"We're a little worried about Harrison," Miller said. "He probably came back too quick; he re-tweaked his hamstring and he didn't practice yesterday and probably won't practice today [Wednesday]. We really need him on the court."
Miller didn't say whether the injury came in the NJIT game or in a subsequent practice, but either way Gaines has another five days to recover before Penn faces La Salle. He had eight assists against NJIT.
While I'm not ready to eat my words just yet on Cameron Lewis, Miller had good things to say about him, which you would expect after the last two games. What are your thoughts on Cameron Lewis and the men whose minutes he's taking, Jack Eggleston and Justin Reilly? Should Lewis continue to start?
As always, leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Here are my third Ivy Rankings installment. The number in parentheses is how far everyone's RPI has risen or fallen since the last edition.
1. Brown [8-6; Previous Ranking: 3; RPI: 90 (+29)]
The Bears are still playing well despite a loss to Baylor, and Damon Huffman continues to be one of the League's top scorers.
2. Cornell [6-5; Previous Ranking: 1; RPI: 123(-5)]
A 14-point loss to Duke won't lose Cornell many points. Point guard Louis Dale is creating a lot of buzz around the League.
3. Harvard [6-11, 1-0 Ivy; Previous Ranking: 4; RPI: 281 (+20)]
Tommy Amaker's roster changes are helping Harvard score, and the Crimson enter Friday's rematch with Dartmouth riding two straight blowout wins.
4. Columbia [6-8; Previous Ranking: 2; RPI: 215(-12)]
Two steps forward (beating Lehigh), one step back (losing to American). Ben Nwachukwu might finally be picking up steam.
5. Yale [5-8; Previous Ranking: 6; RPI: 166 (-8)]
Another underwhelming week for Yale against three underwhelming teams; thumping 2-15 Longwood doesn't prove much.
6. Penn [5-9; Previous Ranking: 8; RPI: 270 (-15)]
A bad loss (Miami) and a bad win (NJIT) were two more steps back for Penn this week. Continued struggles at point guard negate Lewis's hot streak.
7. Princeton [2-12; Previous Ranking: 5; RPI: 309 (-18)]
A blown lead and overtime loss to Lafayette is a tough way to drop a record 12th straight game. Look for Sydney Johnson to shake things up even more than he already has to get the Tigers out of their historic funk.
8. Dartmouth [5-8, 0-1 Ivy; Previous Ranking: 7; RPI: 262 (-21)]
Dartmouth's only game this week was that disaster against Harvard, so it drops into the cellar for the time being.
The Penn men's basketball team broke three NCAA records that had lasted 20 years, only to see all of its hard work trashed less than a month later.
Thanks to some stifling defense from Kansas State, Savannah State earned a page in the NCAA record books by getting manhandled in the second half of the blowout loss, losing 85-25. The Tigers managed to scored four points (two better than Penn's first half against the Eagles), shoot 4.3 percent from the floor (slightly more remarkable than Penn's 5.9) and matched the Quakers' 20-minute total of one field goal.
Anthony Jones led the way, missing all of his eight shots, scoring one point and earning five turnovers. One category Penn did tear up Savannah was turnovers - the Tigers surprisingly only had 18, one more than half of the Red and Blue's total.
Everyone for Savannah shot under 25 percent from the floor. In addition, Kansas State rookie phenom Michael Beasley scored as many points (25) and field goals (9) as his opponents, despite attempting 47 less shots. Although Beasley alone would probably score 30 against Florida Gulf Coast. Nah, that's ridiculous, make that 40.
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