Staying neck-and-neck with the winless Highlanders, another embarrassing defeat for the Quakers seemed a possibility tonight. But Penn proved to be the better squad with a solid second half.
Final: 79-68 Penn An Eggleston alley-oop slam from Bernardini puts the exclamation point on the win for Penn.
1:09: 76-66 Penn Penn builds its lead off the patented alley-oop jumper from Grandieri from the inbound pass. After two NJIT free throws, Gaines hits a short jumper. Wilson responds though with a nice dip-and-dive to the bucket. A Grandieri layup seemed to seal the game for Penn, but NJIT once again responds with a basket. Things are looking good for a Quakers' victory though.
2:37: 70-60 Penn NJIT cut the lead to single digits twice more, but each time Penn responded with two free throws to maintain the double-digit lead.
3:56: 66-56 Penn A Peters layup cut the Penn lead to single digits, but two Turley free throws maintained the ten-point advantage for the Quakers. It looked as if Penn would run away with the game but the Highlanders are hanging tough.
5:02 64-54 Penn Another Lewis basket extends the Penn lead to 11. He is exuding confidence on both ends of the floor. The fouls are piling up for NJIT as both Garris and Milosevic have fouled out. Penn is really in control now after a Bernardini layup following another Highlanders turnover.
8:43: 59-50 Penn Action is starting to heat up as the teams trade and-one layups. First Peters got inside and hit a tough one after being fouled by Bernardini. Lewis came right back for Penn with a nice layup of his own. He missed the FT but Bernardini got the rebound and was fouled . The two FTs and another tough layup by Lewis give Penn its biggest lead.
11:26: 50-47 Penn Lyn converts on a layup after a nice drive to cut the Penn lead down to three. On the next NJIT possession some confusion occurs as the referee bails out the Highlanders with a timeout that was apparently never called.
13:09: 49-43 Penn After the teams traded baskets inside, Peters hit a short jumper for NJIT. Gaines came back down the other end and wowed the crowd with a sweet behind-the-back dribble and feed inside to Reilly for the layup. Garris hit a three for NJIT but Bernardini, who has been very quiet, answered with a three of his own two possessions later.
2nd Half: 15:30: 40-36 Penn Penn opens the second half with its original starting lineup and begins with a nice entry pass from Lewis to Grandieri, who was fouled. He missed the FTs but Eggleston got the board and layed it in. Epps responded with a three from the wing for the Highlanders, followed by an acrobatic up-and-under by Wilson to give NJIT its first lead since halfway through the first. Two Egee free-throws and a Grandieri three from the corner regains the lead for Penn.
First Half Statistics:
Points Leaders: Penn - Grandieri (11), NJIT - Milosevic (9)
Rebounds Leaders: Penn - Lewis (7), NJIT - Peters (4)
FGs: Penn - 11-23 (47.8%), NJIT - 10-29 (34.5%)
Rebounds: Penn - 17 (11 offensive), NJIT - 17 (9 offensive)
Turnovers: Penn - 12, NJIT - 13
FTs: Penn - 7-13, NJIT - 4-5
At the Half: 31-27 Penn Brian Grandieri is starting to find his game after two short jumpers on consecutive Penn possessions. The second came after some beautiful ball movement from the Quakers. Two possessions later, Grandieri hit another from short range. A Justin Garris short jumper and Brendon Lyn fast break layup kept the game tight. Gaines is apparently healthy after playing the final ten minutes of the frame.
3:41: 24-22 Penn Turley and Kyle Edwards traded baskets inside on consecutive possessions. Both offenses are looking better and the game is starting to become much less sloppy.
4:47: 22-20 Penn
NJIT cut into the lead with a ferocious fast break dunk by Milosevic. Penn answered with an and-one short jumper by Turley. The Highlanders immediately responded though with a 3 from the corner by Epps.
7:44: 19-15 Penn Lewis continues to show his athleticism, but also his youth. A few possessions after ripping down an offensice board and connecting on a smooth hook shot, he was called for an illegal screen. Later Gaines connected on a nice cross-court pass to Grandieri, who converted the layup.
9:34: 15-13 Penn Justin Garris converted a four-point play after getting fouled on a 3 to give NJIT its first lead. Cam Lewis continues his spirited play with another strong rebound and a nice entry pass to Eggleston, who nearly converted on a 3-point play. Harrison Gaines has entered the game for Penn.
11:43: 11-9 Penn After entering for Eggleston, Justin Reilly picked up two fouls in a matter of seconds and was immediately sent back to the bench in favor of Conor Turley. NJIT's Tyler Epps hit a three to alleviate a struggling Highlanders' offense. On the next possession Kraig Peters converted a fast break layup off a Penn turnover. Penn has been sloppy with the ball but NJIT has helped them out with 8 team fouls already, putting the Highlanders over the limit.
1st Half: 15:52: 8-2 Penn After the teams traded baskets, Bernardini and Grandieri hit 3's on consecutive possessions to give Penn an early six point lead. Cameron Lewis has been active early, already getting a couple rebounds and a block.
As we get under way, an initial surprise that neither Aron Cohen nor Harrison Gaines are in the starting lineup. Kevin Egee is running the point instead. Both Harrison Gaines and Brennan Votel, who had been injured are dressed, but Mike Kach is in street clothes.
Starting Lineups
Penn:
F Jack Eggleston
F Cameron Lewis
F Tyler Bernardini
G Kevin Egee
G Brian Grandieri
NJIT:
G Kraig Peters
F Nesho Milosevic
C Dan Stonkus
G Tyler Epps
G Jheryl Wilson
Rob Gross live at the Palestra here to bring you updates of the Penn-NJIT game. Stay tuned for updates throughout the night.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami coach Frank Haith started sophomore Dwayne Collins over junior Jimmy Graham last night against Penn, and the decision paid off when Collins terrorized the Quakers inside while Graham still had seven points in 23 minutes. Haith had an interesting explanation for the move:
"It wasn’t anything bad that Jimmy did. What we looked at was [that] ... officiating at the beginning of the game is when it's the tightest. And I think Jimmy always gets two fouls, so he sits for 17, 18 minutes, and he comes back in the second half and he gets his third foul. So he ends up playing like 11 minutes for the game. We want to get him more minutes. We want him on the court more. I'm not proving my theory like an Einstein, but [tonight] he got his first foul in the second half. His aggressive nature hurts him to start games sometimes."
Penn injury report: Harrison Gaines (hamstring), Michael Kach (back) and Brennan Votel (hamstring) likely won't return for Saturday's game against N.J.I.T.
Good thing Votel wasn't going to get in the game, because his mind might not have been on basketball. A troupe of eye-catching females made its way behind the junior during a first-half media timeout, and Votel found some time to chat it up with them on the bench before play resumed. Good to see at least some positives in an otherwise bad night for the Quakers.
It was a great night of promotions at the Hurricanes' BankUnited Center. Instead of the Palestra-style protocol of throwing items into the stands, Miami instead dropped trinkets in tiny parachutes onto the crowd from the rafters. (Sadly, none were aimed at the media section.) Also, any fan could get a free shave or haircut right above Section 108. Spiffy.
Click here for excerpts of the Penn press conference, courtesy the Inquirer.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Refresh this page for live updates of the Quakers' game against Miami.
FINAL: Miami 88, Penn 62.
Box score
An alley-oop from Egee to freshman Danny Monckton on Penn's last possession provided about the only joyous moment in the game. Miami dribbled out the clock to mercifully send the Quakers on to a much less daunting contest against N.J.I.T. on Saturday.
Good evening from The Buzz.
3:56, Second half: Miami 82, Penn 49
I'm not sure exactly how many dunks Miami has had in this game, but it's a lot. Not much more to say at this point, I'm not sure whether Penn needs to forget this game and move on or use it as motivation, because there's no positives to be gained from the tape on this one.
8:04, Second half: Miami 70, Penn 42
You really hate to see Penn fall apart this much to follow up that God-awful FGCU game, but here we are, with eight minutes still to go and Miami holding a 28-point edge. The Canes have gotten offensive rebounds, steals and three-pointers galore. Penn, meanwhile, can't get many of its shots to reach the basket and isn't even trying for any offensive rebounds. Again, I hate to say it, but right now this team just does not have any fire. Now the Quakers are left to grind out the final minutes of the game and try not to let the gap get any wider.
17:52, Second half: Miami 49, Penn 31
Wow. Miami went on an 11-0 run to open the second half, broken only by a step-back three-pointer from Grandieri. The only way to describe what has happened here is "collapse." It's gotten difficult to watch the Quakers make bad pass after bad pass, but they can't seem to stop.
Lewis has four fouls and is replaced by Conor Turley, which is a shame because he was pretty much the only one not turning the ball over.
Halftime stats:
Field goals: Penn 12-28, Miami 13-32
3-pt. field goals: Penn 3-8, Miami 3-11
Rebounds: Penn 21, Miami 15
Turnovers: Penn 14, Miami 4
Fouls: Penn 10, Miami 7
Free throws: Penn 1-2, Miami 9-12
Steals: Penn 0, Miami 9
Halftime: Miami 38, Penn 28
A three-pointer from Dews rattled out at the buzzer, but Penn still heads into the locker room with a 10-point hill to climb.
As much as one hates to say this about a guy who's been the best player for the Quakers this year, Brian Grandieri has had a very, very poor first half. He can't seem to complete a pass to anyone, and on that last possession he literally fell over trying to force one. Cameron Lewis has continued to be a bright spot, making a 15-foot jumper after grabbing an offensive rebound that brought the deficit back to 10. Halftime stats to come shortly.
3:39, First half: Miami 32, Penn 25
Penn's done a better job in the last five minutes. Miami has started to misfire a bit, so I'd say the Quakers will have the momentum when we come back from this timeout. The biggest problem has been a series of horrible passes in traffic that have gotten picked off and taken coast-to-coast. Miller seemed particularly upset with Grandieri after he had one, and with good reason. It just seems like Penn is trying too hard, but other than that the Quakers are playing good basketball.
7:57, First half: Miami 23, Penn 15
All of a sudden, Cameron Lewis has gone from Penn's biggest liability on offense to its biggest asset. He's scored three times in the post so far. The rest of the Quakers haven't been so fortunate, and they've been turning the ball over like mad. Schreiber got yanked after two of his feeds into the post got picked off, and Cohen is back in for Egee after he allowed a wide-open three. Penn's not playing poorly, but Miami looks just too strong and too accurate from deep.
11:00, First half: Miami 18, Penn 9
Penn pulled to within four after Kevin Egee hit a three, but two turnovers by Bernardini have let the Canes retake a nice lead at the free-throw line. Jimmy Graham then stretched it on a thunderous dunk in transition. Miami has brought out a press a couple of times, and Penn has done a good job breaking it, but the ballhandling in the halfcourt has been sloppy. Kevin Egee is running the point, interestingly, and Remy Cofield is in the game as well.
16:20, First Half: Miami 9, Penn 2
The 'Canes have been playing good ball to start, but Penn hasn't looked so bad. Glen Miller subs in Reilly, Kevin Egee and Eggleston are now in the game over Lewis, Schreiber and Cohen. Miami scored on a dunk by Collins and a three by Ashbury, and Penn's only points have come on a long two-pointer by Bernardini.
Here are our starting lineups. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. A couple of surprises here; for Penn, Cameron Lewis and Andreas Schreiber are starting instead of Jack Eggleston and Justin Reilly, who were listed to start in each team's pregame notes. For the 'Canes, Dwayne Collins is starting ahead of usual starter Jimmy Graham.
Miami
Jr. G Jack McClintock (6-1, 185)
15.8 points/game, 2.4 reb./game, 3.1 assists/game, 26.1 min./game
So. G James Dews (6-3, 203)
11.8 points/game, 2.5 reb./game, 1.5 assists/game, 28.2 min./game
Jr. F Brian Ashbury (6-7, 223)
9.5 points/game, 5.5 reb./game, 2.5 assists/game, 25.9 min./game
So. F Dwayne Collins (6-8, 235)
9.0 points/game, 6.5 reb./game, 0.5 assists/game, 18.4 min./game
R-Sr. C Anthony King (6-9, 246)
9.3 points/game, 8.4 reb./game, 1.5 assists/game, 24.9 min./game
Penn
Fr. G Tyler Bernardini (6-6, 205)
13.0 points/game, 2.1 reb./game, 1.1 assists/game, 23.8 min./game
Jr. G Aron Cohen (6-2, 180)
3.1 points/game, 1.7 reb./game, 1.8 assists/game, 19.3 min./game
Sr. G Brian Grandieri (6-4, 210)
13.4 points/game, 5.7 reb./game, 2.0 assists/game, 29.3 min./game
So. F Andreas Schreiber (6-9, 235)
5.3 points/game, 3.8 reb./game, 0.8 assists/game, 14.5 min./game
Jr. F Cameron Lewis (6-8, 220)
1.3 points/game, 1.2 reb./game, 0.4 assists/game, 7.8 min./game
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Greetings from about two blocks away from the Miami Hurricanes' BankUnited Center, where the Quakers will try not to set any more dubious NCAA scoring records Wednesday night.
As of midnight, Penn is a 20- or 21-point 'dog, and it's not hard to see why. The 'Canes were ranked for two weeks, then suffered their first loss (to Winthrop) and fell out of the Top 25, but they're still a darn good team on paper.
No way will Penn come out as flat as it did against Florida Gulf Coast, but the Quakers just don't seem to match up well in this game. Miami shoots the lights out from three-point land (nearly 44%), which has killed the Quakers all year. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior Jack McClintock has been particularly ridiculous in this department; he leads the ACC with 2.91 threes per game and a 54.2% clip from deep and has a 20-point scoring average. James Dews, a sophomore with a bit more size, is a distant second in the conference in three-point percentage (47.9) and scores nearly 12 per game.
According to Penn's game notes, Brennan Votel, Harrison Gaines and Michael Kach are doubtful again after missing the FGCU game, which means we'll see plenty of Aron Cohen (who'll start) and Andreas Schreiber, plus some more Kevin Egee, Conor Turley and possibly Cameron Lewis as well.
Check back here at 8 p.m. where I'll be blogging the game live. Afterwards, myself and fellow DP Sports Editors Krista Hutz and Sebastien Angel will all have stories on dailypennsylvanian.com breaking things down.
As promised, here are my personal Ivy Rankings, Edition 2. (Here's No. 1.) RPI is included this time as well, and starting in the next edition I'll include how each team's RPI moved in the previous week.
1. Cornell (6-4, Previous Ranking: 3, RPI: 118). The Big Red had the best-quality win of the week -- Stony Brook -- so the No. 1 spot is theirs by default.
2. Columbia (5-7, Previous Ranking: 4, RPI: 203). 46-point victories are in short supply around the Ivy League, even against an opponent like Polytechnic.
3. Brown (6-5, Previous Ranking: 1, RPI: 119). The Bears got blown out by Notre Dame, but the Irish are 10-2, so Brown only moves down two spots.
4. Harvard (4-11, Previous Ranking: 7, RPI: 301). Harvard is still losing, but by smaller and smaller margins. I'm predicting a win over Dartmouth on Saturday.
5. Princeton (2-10, Previous Ranking: 8, RPI: 291). Still not much for the Tigers to be proud of, but their nine-point loss to Monmouth this week pales in comparison to what the three teams below them did.
6. Yale (3-7, Previous Ranking: 6, RPI: 158). 35-point loss. (Kansas.)
7. Dartmouth (5-7, Previous Ranking: 5, RPI: 241). 35-point loss. (Siena.)
8. Penn (4-8, Previous Ranking: 2, RPI: 255). 30-point loss. (Florida Gulf Coast.) Pick the outlier in that group. Sorry, Quakers, but last place is a lock this week.
In Drexel's third game at the Palestra against a Big 5 team, the Dragons were overwhelmed by St. Joe's, falling 69-51 on New Year's Eve. Basically, Drexel had the best player on the floor, but the Hawks had the next six.
Dragons center Frank Elegar went 6-for-6 for 17 points and eight rebounds, but the Hawks were too much. Six-foot-8 swingman Pat Calathes had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Ahmad Nivins, Tasheed Carr and Darrin Govens all scored in double-figures.
Here are a few interesting notes about the game:
Drexel was the home team, and put down their own stickers along the baseline, but for some reason St. Joe's sat on the home bench and got to use the Penn (much nicer, much bigger) locker room.
While both teams brought the band and cheerleaders (and in Drexel's case the dance team as well), I'd say no more than 1,500 of the 5,284 fans in attendance were rooting for the Dragons. Despite being some three blocks away, the Dragons were clearly out-numbered by migrating members of Hawk Hill.
Phil Martelli, still, only plays six players. Idris Hilliard or Rockwell Moody may get 10 minutes on a given night, but Calathes, Nivins, Carr, Govens, Rob Ferguson and Garrett Williamson off the bench got 91.5 percent of the minutes in the win over Drexel. And that's barely above their season average of 87. These teams have got to be two of the more foul-sensitive in the country. Certain players getting in foul trouble can be fatal.
There were five dunks in all (three by St. Joe's, two by Elegar), most of which were thunderous ones. A dunk that won't go down on the scoresheet was one in the first-half for the Hawks when the 6-foot-5 Williamson caught an alley-oop off on the baseline, but it hit the back iron. He jumped from out of the lane, and was about to tomahawk it, but unfortunately for all of the viewers, it didn't fall.
Drexel coach Bruiser Flint didn't disappoint, working the refs all game, drawing a technical foul in the second half and standing on the court for the majority of the game, even when the ball was in his own end.
In last year's home opener, the Quakers left their starters in until the final minute and scored 19 points in the last 5 minutes to put up 97 points (three away from giving the fans cheesesteaks) on Florida Gulf Coast in a 97-74 win.
This year a stronger, and newly Division I, FGCU team took that to heart.
“I remember distinctly when they were beating us and they got a steal and they were high-stepping and putting one arm out and trying to run a lob," coach Dave Balza told The News-Press after the game this year.
As I'm sure you know by now, the Eagles held the Quakers to six points in the first half, winning 60-30. This year's winning team didn't rub it in (in fact Penn closed the game on a 12-0 run), but kind of wanted to.
“Guys were joking, ‘Let’s press them at the end,’” Balza said. “We remembered that last year and we sold that throughout the week and it paid dividends. I thought we were really dialed in.
"I would’ve liked to run the score up and pressed some, but I guess we gotta be classy.”
Ouch. If that's not a shot at Glen Miller I don't know what is.
Sorry, Andrew, one post illustrating what happened last night is not enough.
Penn's six points, 5.9 percent shooting and one field goal in the first half were all the worst by any Division I basketball team in the shot clock era. Even the 30-point total was Penn's worst in 40 years. Here are a few stats that I found must supplement the last post:
- Penn had 16 turnovers and 12 missed shots before scoring a single point
- 10 players attempted a three pointer for Penn, seven of which didn't make one
- Nine players had multiple turnovers, five (Brian Grandieri, Jack Eggleston, Tyler Bernardini, Justin Reilly and Andreas Schreiber) had four or more
- The five starters (Grandieri, Eggleston, Bernardini, Reilly and Cohen) had eight more turnovers (21) then points (13)
- The starters had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.095
- Six players had more turnovers than points
- Schreiber (2-for-5) and Bernardini (2-for-9) were the only players to make more than one basket
I could go on, but I don't want to see grown men crying before New Years. Here are some quotes from Penn head coach Glen Miller after the game:
"That's probably the worst performance that any of my teams have ever had -- and I've been a head coach for a long time. I'm very disappointed."
"We were just very lethargic and unsure of ourselves. We certainly didn't handle the five days we had off. We're a much better team than that."
"I want to give [the Eagles] credit. I think they're a better basketball team than their record [4-9] and I think that will come through when they get in league play."
Since it's a new year coming up soon, Penn fans can look on the bright side:
- Penn's 36 rebounds equaled FGCU's total
- Joe Gill, playing in the first half for (I believe) the first time in his career had a wonderful game, hitting his only shot attempt, scoring four points, and dishing out one assist to no turnovers in seven minutes
- None of this matters until the Ivy League
I believe we can safely call this one an utter disaster. The best way to look at it is through the numbers:
34/4 = 8.5 | Penn's turnover-to-assist ratio. (The A/TO number, suffice to say, is really, really small.
13:29 | The amount of time it took for Penn to score a single point.
6 | First-half points for Penn, helped by 23(!) turnovers. FGCU had 30 points in the same span, and Penn never got much closer.
50 | Shooting percentage from the FT line. 7-18 in the second half to add insult to injury.
0 | Made three-pointers in the first half, out of six attempted. But even with all those first-half misses, Penn still shot better from behind the arc (3-14, 21%) than inside it (5-28, 18%). Overall shooting was a miserable 8-42.
We didn't see Harrison Gaines tonight, who may have been injured. But also absent from the floor were Brennan Votel and Mike Kach, both of whom should have seen minutes as this thing got out of hand. Joe Gill and Danny Monckton played, for crying out loud.
To listen live to XPN's broadcast, click here. The official box score of this debacle is here.
Florida Gulf Coast is in its first season as a Division I team, hasn't beaten anyone better than Bethune-Cookman and is 3-9.
But the Eagles are playing at home.
At Alico Arena FGCU is 1-2, where it beat Maryland Eastern Shore and lost to Drexel and No. 16 Butler.
The win was obviously a rare one, while the losses were to a pair of good teams, certainly better than Penn. In both games, the Eagles had an early second-half lead, tied it up later on, but lost in the end. Against Drexel, the Dragons went on an 18-0 run to seal it up, and Butler used 14-of-15 shooting from the free-throw line to slam the door shut in the 78-66 victory.
Some overdue notes from the Elon game:
Joe Gill and Dan Monckton sat out the games with injuries, though I believe neither one is serious.
Ibrahim Jaaber, Stephen Danley and Ugonna Onyekwe were all in attendance for the Quakers' fourth victory of the season. Onyekwe was on crutches and had just tore his meniscus. He also looked really skinny. If any of you watched him play for Penn he was a beast, a punishing but talented forward who could finish around the basket. He could have lost the weight in order to take some pressure off of his knee, but he may just be adjusting himself to the European game.
Jaaber, on the other hand, is tearing it up in Greece's top league. Playing for Egaleo, Jaaber dropped 40 points in a win over Olympiakos (and former Temple guard Lynn Greer), as Egaleo dealt its opponents their first loss of the season. He also hit the game-winning free throw two games later to bring his team's record to 6-3.
In all, Jaaber is averaging 21.7 points per game (a team-high) on 55 percent shooting, 4.7 assists per game, 4.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals and only 2.7 turnovers. (Full Egaleo stats can be seen here).
Some other former NCAA stars in the Greek league include Duke's William Avery, Louisville's Larry O'Bannon, UNC's Reyshawn Terry, Pitt's Levon Kendall, MSU's Mateen Cleaves and former NBA journeyman Mamadou N'Diaye.
This will be a regular feature on Mondays or Tuesdays for the rest of the basketball season. These are my personal Power Rankings, and they'll reflect who is playing the best basketball at the moment -- not who is best overall. As always, I welcome your thoughts in the comments section.
1) Brown (6-4). Dominating Hartford doesn't get the Bears too many points, but the way they've been winning this year makes them the default No. 1 for the moment.
2) Penn (4-7). To use Glen Miller's words, a "modest" two-game win streak, and particularly an improved defensive game, is enough to give Penn a good spot in this week's rankings.
3) Cornell (4-4). No shame in losing to Bucknell and Syracuse by a combined 29 this week.
4) Columbia (4-7). Hard to say whether falling behind big and they rallying to a 16-point loss to Villanova is a step forward or a step back, but K.J. Matsui's 19-point emergence is encouraging for the Lions.
5) Dartmouth (5-6). Losing by three at Army is no cause for alarm, and the Big Green have exceeded expectations so far this year.
6) Yale (3-6). The Bulldogs' 18-day break ends on Saturday at Kansas, but that loss to 275th-ranked Boston U. still stings.
7) Harvard (4-10). Close losses to Vermont and Northeastern and a nine-point loss to Sacred Heart make that win over Michigan fade into the distance for now.
And finally) Princeton (2-9). No contest here; still a long road back to respectability for the Tigers.
I came across this slightly dated article previewing the 2008 Ivy League baseball season today, and it's got some good tidbits. Also interesting was the same blog's interview with Penn coach John Cole, which was posted on Thursday. Looks like Tom Grandieri, whose sibling should ring a bell with any loyal Buzz reader, will be lacing up for Cole this year after appearing in 17 games (31 AB and 7.2 IP) for Villanova last season as a freshman. Fortunately for the Quakers, he won't have to sit out the year, because the new rules forcing baseball transfers to wait a year -- like basketball or football transfers do -- won't go into effect until 2008.
Other additions and subtractions: Sophomore Jake Palumbo (OF) and junior Matt Grimes (IF) are each off the Penn roster, while senior John D'Agostini (RHP) is on for what I believe is the first time.
It's been a bit of a thin week here at The Buzz, but Happy Holidays from all of us nonetheless. Check back after Christmas and we'll start talking about the Florida Gulf Coast and Miami basketball games.
Since Penn now finds itself in need of a few upsets, having missed out on most of the good chances already, check out Kyle Whelliston's take on the changing nature of upsets in mid-major basketball.
Unless Penn wins at Miami two weeks from now or beats either Temple or Saint Joseph's next month, it faces the ghastly prospect of its best win of the season coming from within the Ivy League. RPI-wise, Penn hasn't beaten a better team yet this year, and Thursday's victory over Elon (currently ranked 255th out of 341) was the best yet, better than Monmouth (267th), The Citadel (307th) and Navy (318th), Penn's only other wins this season.
Here's the remainder of the nonconference schedule, with current RPI in parentheses:
FGCU (260th)
Miami (17th)
NJIT (N/A)
La Salle (226)
St. Joe's (112th)
Temple (55th)
Penn is sitting at 235th right now. That number will surely get better once some winnable Ivy road games roll around, but it's still a far cry from previous years. That doesn't bode well for the Quakers should they manage to win the Ivy League, which I still think they have a fighting chance of doing.
Here's the Quakers' highest-quality victory from the past six Ivy championship teams. Penn's final RPI and NCAA Tournament seed from each year are in brackets:
2006-07 [89th, 14-seed]: Drexel (43rd)
2005-06 [98th, 15-seed]: Hawaii (100th)
2004-05 [58th, 13-seed]: Saint Joseph's (56)
2002-03 [59th, 11-seed]: Villanova (70th)
2001-02 [41st, 11-seed]: Temple (79th)
1999-2000 [74th, 13-seed]: California (71)
Scoring or passing? Talent or experience? When it comes to point guards, Glen Miller seems to be valuing the latter in each case, which is how Harrison Gaines has ended up with a reduced role in Penn's last two games. Aron Cohen dished five assists in 25 minutes Thursday; Gaines had four fouls -- chalk up at least one to frustration -- in 15 minutes.
It seemed like Gaines had secured the spot before stepping on campus -- and he essentially had. Before the season, Miller and his staff were telling anyone who would listen that Gaines was going to start and that he would wow them all. But Miller acknowledged after the Elon game that the dynamics at the position have changed. Gaines has lost that favor, at least for the time being.
"We were high on Harrison," Miller said. "But he's a young point guard ... He's learning, he's getting to see a lot from the bench, and Aron's done a good job of organizing us in practice, getting us into [our] offense, and on the defensive end he's done some good things too ... Right now Aron has more experience and that experience has come to the forefront."
Putting both of them on the floor wouldn't make much sense because it would require keeping a better scorer -- Mike Kach, for example -- on the bench. So who should the every-day point guard be come Feb. 1? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Thursday's game had the feel of a bad dinner party. Not as many people showed up as you would have liked, and everyone couldn't wait to get out of dodge once it was over.
The most-beleagured-award goes to Elon, though. The team drove from Chattanooga to Philadelphia after losing the night of the 18th; after losing to Penn, the team packed up for a bus ride that night to Charlotteville to play Virginia tomorrow afternoon. Three games in five days and 1,600 travel miles, according to the Elon athletic department. And still no road wins this year. Next time people get down on Penn basketball, remind them that the Quakers program is good enough that it can avoid anything near that scheduling hell (thanks to the Big 5, Drexel, preseason tournaments in Philadelphia and eager-to-play schools sprinkled throughout Jersey). Give some holiday thanks for that.
Phoenix coach Ernie Nestor said he made the decision to bus the entire trip because of "economics." No kidding.
Not that the Quakers were riding on easy street, either. Miller praised his team for getting by during finals on miniscule doses of sleep and practice and still coming ready to play against Elon. Brian Grandieri called the last two weeks "miserable" and did his best to expedite the postgame proceedings. When Tyler Bernardini began to respond to the final question with an anecdote from his high school days, Grandieri slapped his leg, laughed, and gave the freshman a wrap-this-thing-up look. Bernardini obliged, and the Quakers were mercifully out the door, free to enjoy their first winning streak of the season.
FINAL: Penn 67, Elon 64
Box score
4:37 2nd Half - Penn 56, Elon 50
Sorry for the lack of updates, the internet is really bad.
Penn and Elon have gone back and forth all night. The Quakers took a 10-point lead thanks to a backdoor pass from Conor Turley to Brian Grandieri, and then an Aron Cohen jumper and a Remy Cofield layup, but some soft defense got Elon right back in it.
Grandieri took another nice pass, though from Jack Eggleston, and Penn has a very slim lead.
Since it's been a while since the men's basketball team played a game, nearly a week until it plays again and there's no official practice to go to because of finals, I think it's time to turn to the other Philadelphia teams. There have only been two Big 5 games so far this year (really only one, 28-4 start ring any bells?), but there have been a lot of good games.
The highlight of the season came a week ago, though, as Villanova hosted LSU at the Wachovia Center. LSU gradually pulled ahead in the second half, opening up a 21-point lead with under nine minutes to go. But, in front of a nationally-televised audience, the Wildcats opened up one of the most amazing comebacks I've ever seen, chipping away at the lead with near-perfect free-throw shooting and an opportunistic defense, and a Tigers squad that insisted on attempting NBA threes with a comfortable lead. Guard Malcolm Grant's three free throws (fouled on a three) brought the gap to one with a minute to go. And when he missed the go-ahead layup, Dante Cunningham put it back nicely with seconds to go (a la Jack Eggleston against Drexel) for the 69-68 win.
No. 23 Villanova has lived up to its national ranking so far, beating George Mason and Bucknell, with its sole loss coming to North Carolina State, 69-68. After wiping the floor with Penn, the Wildcats fended off a tough Temple team, 101-93 for a quick 2-0 start to the Big 5.
Saint Joseph's, the team which at the beginning of the year I thought (and perhaps still think) is the best in the City, has played well, but struggled to get results. The Hawks have stumbled to a 4-4 record, but haven't yet lost to a bad, or even mediocre team, and all of those losses were extremely close.
They first lost at Syracuse on a last-second three, then to Gonzaga in overtime, then to Holy Cross by five (in a game that began with an 18-2 Crusaders lead) and most recently to Creighton in overtime. In all, those teams are 27-7, but in a tough A-10, the Hawks really needed to pull out at least one or two of those to boost their Tournament resume.
Temple has also had some closing problems, losing by two to both Akron and Providence, and blowing a lead to College of Charleston in a 79-76 defeat. The Owls have looked good lately, though, beating a good Ohio team, staying with Villanova in their Big 5 opener and beating Drexel today at the Palestra, 64-51.
Drexel started the season nicely, with wins over Penn, Navy and Loyola before taking a beating as of late. The Dragons got drilled, 85-38, in their Colonial opener at George Mason. Center Frank Elegar was shut out in his 17 minutes of play, only netting two rebounds as well, as the team shot 30 percent from the floor.
Then, after losing by 24 to Creighton at the DAC and by 13 to Toledo, Drexel fell today to Temple. The 5-5 Dragons had a lead at halftime and were only down four late, but an 11-2 run to end the game sealed their fourth-straight loss.
When will La Salle be worthy of not being the last team named in a Big 5 rundown? It probably won't happen this year.
The Explorers are 3-3, but haven't beaten a team with a winning record thanks to a cake schedule. Still, their three losses have come by a total of only 13 points.
In all, the game to watch in the Big 5 will, once again, be the Holy War.
St. Joe's hosts Villanova at the Palestra on February 4, and if the Hawks can turn it around mentally, I'd put my money on Phil Martelli's club. Scotty Reynolds is likely the best player in the City, and Shane Clark and Dante Cunningham have been big down low, but the Hawks are well-rounded enough to knock them off.
They are led by Nivins' 12.9 points per game - on 63 percent shooting - and 7.5 rebounds, while Pat Calathes (17.4 ppg) Darren Govens (13.6 ppg) and Tasheed Carr (12.3 ppg, 39 percent from three) round out the four players scoring in double-figures. Carr's surprising assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4 has boosted the offense, and Rob Ferguson's 5.3 boards and 9.1 points have helped down low. When D.J. Rivera returns to the team next semester, they will get some much needed help off the bench. That is especially crucial for a team with a six-man rotation that has had four of its five starters foul out this year.
Big 5 Standings:
Villanova 7-1 (2-0)
St. Joe's 4-4 (0-0)
La Salle 3-3 (0-0)
Penn 3-7 (0-1)
Temple 5-5 (0-1)
I'm going to withhold comment in this post and just get to the numbers -- the UNC game is already a week-and-a-half old and I didn't see the Monmouth one. I'm sorry for taking so long to get these up, but it's been a very busy 10 days for me.
In any case, the first pair of numbers and parentheses is +/- and minutes played from UNC, the second is from Monmouth, and the last number is +/- season total:
Eggleston: -24 (29), +8 (23), -43
Reilly: -21 (18), -2 (26), -48
Bernardini: -31 (31), +3 (28), -38
Grandieri: -31 (25), +12 (32), -56
Gaines: -21 (16), +1 (13), -9
Cohen: -11 (11), +4 (29), -51
Schreiber: -12 (19), +3 (14), -9
Kach: -4 (11), +5 (18), -50
Egee: -9 (17), DNP, -36
Gill: +4 (3), DNP, +4
Monckton: +4 (3), DNP, 0
Cofield: -6 (3), DNP, -21
Lewis: -6 (3), DNP, -16
Votel: +1 (8), DNP, +2
Turley: -8 (3), +12 (17), +2
I'd like to get your thoughts on a big personnel question during the final exams lull. How should Glen Miller divide up time in the Penn frontcourt over the next few games?
Well, it depends on the answers to a few other questions:
- Is Justin Reilly's offensive game worth his defensive lapses?
- Is it the right decision to bury Brennan Votel on the bench?
- Should Cameron Lewis be more than a defense/rebounding role player?
- Should we see more of Conor Turley after the boost he gave against Monmouth?
- Will Andreas Schreiber ever be able to stay out of foul trouble?
For a frame of reference, here's how the minutes and points have been divvied up so far. I'm not counting Brian Grandieri in this group, although he's been listed as a forward most of the year.
Eggleston: 10 GP, 26.4 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 51.8 FG% (29-56), (7-18) 3-pt. FGs, 4.7 rpg
Reilly: 10 GP, 18.4 mpg, 7.1 ppg, 46.0 FG% (23-50), (7-13) 3-pt. FGs, 2.3 rpg
Schreiber: 10 GP, 13.8 mpg, 5.0 ppg, 54.1 FG% (20-37), (3-14) 3-pt. FGs, 3.7 rpg
Votel: 9 GP, 9.4 mpg, 1.9 ppg, 33.3 FG% (7-21), (1-7) 3-pt. FGs, 2.6 rpg
Lewis: 8 GP, 8.1 mpg, 1.5 ppg, 33.3 FG% (4-12), (0-0) 3-pt. FGs, 1.3 rpg
Turley: 5 GP, 7.2 mpg, 1.4 ppg, 28.6 FG% (2-7), (0-3) 3-pt. FGs, 0.4 rpg
Leave your comments on this frontcourt mess below, but be fair. If you suggest that one player should see more time, please indicate who those minutes should come from.
Brian Seltzer's weekly podcast offers some insight on Harrison Gaines' absence from the starting lineup against Monmouth; Miller commented that he was looking for "more organization for our offense" and better decision-making -- when to push things and when to put on the brakes. With a couple of days' hindsight, I think it also had something to do with Gaines' night against North Carolina, where he looked completely out of sorts.
Harvard once again one-upped the rest of the Ivy League -- just like it did on early decision -- by revamping and expanding its financial aid program. (Yale did its best to play catchup.) At some point, will Harvard's advantages in this department (a roughly $36 billion endowment) give it an edge over the rest of the conference when it comes to convincing recruits to leave scholarships on the table? Or will it force everyone to up their commitment and thereby help the League? I lean toward the latter. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
A few more thoughts from the Monmouth game: Overall, it was probably the best basketball the Quakers have played outside of the first half against North Carolina. There were downers; they still struggled to get the ball into the post without turning it over, and point guard play was erratic. But they hit 50% from the floor and didn't turn the ball over nearly as much in the second half, which should be encouraging.
My one prediction for winter break is that we'll see a few more players grab time in the frontcourt, like freshman Conor Turley did. Glen Miller said after the game that Penn had to adjust and spread the floor in the second half, because in one-on-one situations down low Monmouth was getting the better of every play. The main culprits there were Jack Eggleston and Justin Reilly.
He also said he was pleased that his team didn't seem to be as reliant on the three-pointer as it was earlier this year, and he suggested that he would like to see the Quakers take fewer threes in the future, too.
The biggest question mark of the night was Harrison Gaines' lack of minutes, and I don't really have an explanation there.
Kevin Egee wasn't with the team at Monmouth, and seperately, I spotted Remy Cofield on crutches outside Franklin Field today, so there's two more items to keep an eye on in the coming days.
Monmouth-Penn also gets the award for 'smallest media contingent ever' -- two DP reporters, myself included, and one from the Ashbury Park Press in the Hawks' weight room. Aaawkward.
Now that we're about a third of the way through the Ivy season, we can really begin to evaluate what this team is like. There are clear strengths and clear weaknesses, and we can now identify which players are good at what. So without further ado, here's my midterm awards, good and bad:
Most dependable player: Brian Grandieri
He's scored in double figures in eight of the first ten games, and grabbed four or more rebounds in all but one. He hasn't been fased by the bright lights, dropping 17 points and six rebounds against North Carolina and 23 and 10 in the opener against Drexel. but even the most consistent Quaker has some liabilities - he averages 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game at home, but 10.75 and 3.75 on the road.
Biggest mystery: Harrison Gaines
The Quakers' starting point guard seemed like he'd solidified his starting job a few weeks ago, but lost it to Aron Cohen last weekend against Monmouth. In the third and fourth games of the season against The Citadel and Virginia he had 21 points and 20 assists, but in the next five games he only posted 30 points and 12 assists. He is Penn's far and away leader in assists with 40, but also the leading culprit of coughing the ball up, with 26 turnovers. He also tends to not show up until the second half of the game, quite often when it's too late.
Biggest Gun: T - Aron Cohen and Gaines
In case you didn't notice, it's not a good thing when the two most over-shooting players are the point guards. Cohen has gone 9 for 34 on the season for 26.5 percent shooting, while Gaines is 21 for 58 (third-most attempts on the team) for 36.2 percent from the floor. When they step out for three, which happens often for Cohen, they are even worse. Cohen is 8 for 28 (1 for 7 this month) for 28.6 percent and Gaines is 2 for 13, 15.4 percent. Out of the eight players who get double-digit minutes, they are the only ones with more shot attempts than points - 34-to-30 for Cohen and 28-to-27 for Gaines.
Best defender: Perimeter - Gaines, inside - Andreas Schreiber
Gaines has the foot speed to contend with anyone, and unlike many guards, hasn't seemed to get beat off the dribble very often. Cam Lewis could be a pick for the inside guy for his shot-blocking ability, but he's not nearly as strong or quick as Schreiber. The sophomore actually has almost double the blocks of anyone else on the team, though he's got to stay out of foul trouble (leads the team with 28 fouls).
Best rebounder: Grandieri
This is pretty sad - the 6-foot-4 guard leads the team in rebounding with 5.7 per game. The guy nearest to him is Eggleston with 4.7. If the many 6-foot-8 forwards and swingmen learn how to box out that would help things quite a lot.
Most upside: This award could easily go to Gaines, but I've talked enough about him, so I'll go with Tyler Bernardini. He dropped 26 points against No. 1 North Carolina, a performance that included threes, fadeaways and even a play where he absolutely blew by (fellow 'Tyler' and 26-point scorer) Hansbrough. The freshman started the year slowly, but has averaged 20 points in the last three games. If he keeps playing like he has (and that is a big 'if') then the rookie has a First-Team All-Ivy bid in his sight.
Get him more shots: Justin Reilly
The Sophomore is 23 of 50 from the fieild (46 percent) and 7 for 13 from three. Although notice this category isn't named "get him the ball": he has five assists compared to 17 turnovers. Jack Eggleston is a runner-up fo this award. He has hit 51.8 percent from the field and and 38.9 percent from three.
Best shooter: Bernardini - 48.3 percent from the floor, 38.9 percent from three, 78.9 percent form the line.
Turnover waiting to happen: Lewis - Eight turnovers compared to 12 points
Hack: Schrieiber - leads the team with 28 fouls despite getting the eight-most minutes. He draws a whistle every five minutes he plays.
Sure-handed: Gaines - other than Grandieri, he's the only player with more assists (40) than turnovers (26)
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