Penn matches up with No. 1 on the basketball court, and it's a big deal. The Quakers face the nation's top dogs on the wrestling mats -- for the second time this year -- and it's just another day.
But if you have the will power, I strongly encourage you to watch or listen on Saturday at 9 a.m. for the Quakers' National Duals match against No. 1 Missouri. And if you're not an early riser, the consolation match is at 1.
When the basketball team faced No. 1 Duke last year, fans had little reason to expect any sort of upset. Compare that to the grapplers, who beat No. 3 Iowa State as an unranked team three years ago at the Duels.
One of the fine writers who trained me at the DP, Ilario Huober, wrote last year about how the wrestling program was turning into a very "likeable team." I'd go one step further: the team was always likeable, and the rest of the season will tell whether or not they already have the talent to make students attend the Palestra for something other than basketball.
Penn will never be like Lehigh, where wrestling matches are campus-wide events, and that places a huge burden on the team to perform well enough to garner any attention at all.
But this weekend, your attention is deserved.
OK, so I'm a week late with the picks. With five games on tap for this weekend, now seemed timely enough for my Ivy League predictions with the huge advantage of knowing that Dartmouth beat Harvard in the opener.
1. Penn (12-2): Miller and Co. will straighten it out and Jaaber will be dominant another time around. Look for a three-peat, but beating last year's 12 wins won't be as easy as I thought it would be in November. Still, it will be the 19th straight "P" champion.
2. Columbia (10-4): A couple of very suspect non-conference losses, but this seniorless team will contend. Anything worse than 9-5 would be a disappointment.
3. Princeton (9-5): The Tigers' nine wins will be borderline unwatchable, but that's not what matters in this league. We'll set the over/under in the Princeton-Brown game at 61.5. I'll take the under.
4. Cornell (8-6): No Adam Gore, no title shot this year, but there's still plenty of young talent there, including freshmen Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman. Next year is setting up pretty nicely.
5. Yale (6-8): Check some of my posts from earlier this year, and you'll see that I was much higher on Yale before they took the court. I expected much more than 12.9 combined points per game out of the Holmes brothers and better than 6.6 and three boards out of Sam Kaplan. James Jones has
some serious work to do quickly.
6. Dartmouth (5-9): Definitely the league's strangest story so far. Started 0-6, then went 6-1. Could Leon Pattman make that much of a difference? It certainly looks like it.
T-7. Brown (3-11): Keenan Jeppesen's departure is huge, and there's still plenty of growing pains with a brand new system.
T-7. Harvard (3-11): Brian Cusworth has just three more games worth of eligibility, and without him, the Crimson is nothing but guards, which won't get it done in any league.
Fellow blogger Josh Hirsch is in Vegas right now, where he could find action that looks a little like this (Courtesy of Caesar's via vegas.com): Princeton (-2.5) at Columbia, Penn (-5.5) at Cornell and Dartmouth (+6.5) at Harvard.
So given his absense and my mild colorblindness, here's this week's Anything But Uniform to the best of my knowledge.
Cornell: Red
Columbia: Blue
Finally, here are the updated player rankings for the Ivy League based on the formula from Berri, Schmidt and Brook's The Wages of Wins. The formula accounts for points, field goal and free throw attempts, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks, turnovers and fouls. And all the numbers are adjusted to Penn's total of 13 games.
1. Zoller, Penn 131.0
2. Cusworth, Harvard 118.3
3. Jaaber, Penn 116.5
4. Grandieri, Penn 86.5
5. Baumann, Columbia 83.1
6. Naeve, Cornell 82.6
7. McAndrew, Brown 76.3
8. Nwachukwu, Columbia 71.5
9. Dale, Cornell 68.7
10. Danley, Penn 66.5
Other Penn players (out of 116 in the league who have seen minutes):
55. Kach 13.5
56. Egee 12.5
T-71. Votel 5.0
84. Franklin 1.5
T-85. Gill 1.0
T-88. Reilly 0.5
T-96. Lewis -0.5
T-103. Schreiber -1.0
108. McMahon -2.5
111. Cohen -5.0
115. Smith -15.5
Enjoy the games this weekend.
Give Amy Gutmann credit for one thing: she's a realist.
I got the chance to ask the University prez about Penn basketball's fortunes this year, and the Ivy League lifer said that the Quakers would be "on top," but that an undefeated Ivy season would be a bit of a stretch.
Not bad, Dr. Gutmann, despite the fact that you once swore allegiance to the hated Princeton Tigers. I'm inclined to agree.
This weekend marks the beginning of Penn's Ivy League season, but a week from today the Big 5 schedule starts up again as well when the Quakers head to La Salle on Thursday Jan. 18, and then host Temple on Jan. 24 and St. Joe's on Jan. 27. While the Quakers (0-1 Big 5) are one game into the Big 5 year, they don't control their own destiny. They must win out and hope for Villanova (3-0) to lose its last city game next month to St. Joe's.
Last night I made the trip up SEPTA's Orange line to the Liacouras Center to see Temple host St. Joe's. The Owls opened up a big early lead, but quickly got passed for good by the Hawks, going on to win 80-67. Here are a few notes from the game.
It was clear for any fan to see, the Hawks dominated the Owls on the inside. Temple (6-8, 0-2 Big 5) starts no one over 6-foot-6, and as a result St. Joe's (10-5, 1-0 Big 5) starters 6-10 Pat Calathes, 6-9 Ahmad Nivins and 6-8 Rob Ferguson dominated inside. The three combined for 57 percent shooting and averaged 17 points and six rebounds each. Nivins was the most active of those players, going 6-of-10 from the floor and three offensive boards, but also turned it over four times.
When the Quakers match up against the Hawks, they will probably do a much better job inside, as Stephen Danley (6-8) Mark Zoller (a generous 6-7) and Brennan Votel (6-7) off the bench have the defense, size and rebounding skills to keep them under wraps.
The St. Joe's freshmen guards (basically everyone besides those three forwards) -- Jawan Carter, D.J. Rivera, Garrett Williamson and Darrin Govens -- played up to their hype. They combined for 12 assists and only six turnovers against an athletic Temple backcourt.
Temple's 7-foot center Sergio Olmos did just about nothing. No wonder former coach John Chaney barely played him last year. In 15 minutes of play, the sophomore project from Valencia, Spain had one nice offensive rebound, but followed it with a miss from point blank range.
This was a fairly ugly game, and St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli made sure he had the officials on his side for it. Martelli called a timeout some five minutes in just to argue with the refs. The Hawks were huddled up, but by the time he said a word to his players, the timeout was over. Whatever he said had a profound effect, his squad went on a tear and never looked back.
On the way back on the subway, Buzz writer Josh Hirsch and I ran into an interesting character. The man asked us if we went to Temple, we replied no, and he proceeded to guess what school we go to. "St. Joe's? Villanova? Drexel? La Salle? Sciences [USP, five blocks SW of Penn]? Textiles [Philadelphia Univ.]?" After telling him Penn (while even dropping clues like it is in between Sciences and Drexel), he immediately recalled that the Quakers are in their first season under the new head coach, and start up their Ivy season this weekend. Wow, I guess that's Philly for you.
There's been a bit of a void at the Palestra this year, and I'm not talking about anyone's mustache.
I'm talking about the slick hair and smug expression of one Joe DeMayo, Philly's finest college basketball official. DeMayo is known to some current Penn students as the one who "had it in for" Judson Wallace and whistled the Princeton center for his fifth foul (a hook with the elbow in the low post) during the comeback game in 2005.
Thanks to friend of The Buzz Jeff Shafer, we've found DeMayo a bit removed from Atlantic 14 country, where he used to work the hardwood.
Two grand: Here's your update on the 1,000-point club and the two Quakers rising through the ranks.
15. Matt Maloney 1,248
16. Barry Pierce 1,245
17. Phil Hankisnon 1,236
18. Ibrahim Jaaber 1,234
19. Dave Wohl 1,226
20. Richard Centsits 1,220
21. Matt Langel 1,191
22. Jeff Neuman 1,187
23. Paul Momanczuk 1,179
24. Tim Begley 1,165
25. Koko Archibong 1,124
26. Paul Little 1,116
27. Mark Zoller 1,114
28. Steve Bilsky 1,108
In the Elon game, Jaaber and Zoller each moved ahead of a member of another famous duo. But remember, Wohl and Bilsky only had three years of eligibility.
While the men's team gritted out a win down in Elon (see previous post), the Penn women are playing with history on their side at the Palestra.
Princeton swept the Quakers last year, but those two wins broke a five-game losing streak for the Tigers. Tonight the odds are on Penn to give a much better game than either of last year's.
FINAL: Princeton 78, Penn 72
Penn went into foul mode and couldn't score. A gutty game from the Red and Blue; they kept it close on a night when nothing was going right. But losing a winnable game never feels good.
36.1: Princeton 74, Penn 68
No, no, no! Carrie Beimer fouls Ali Prichard, one of the Tigers' best scorers, at the top of the key. She extends the lead by one.
45.6: Princeton 73, Penn 68
Penn got within four, but after Downs and Rhoads traded threes the Quakers look tired. Another shot clock violation and a silly foul on senior bench player Elyse Umeda, who made one from the line. Can't do that with under a minute and a half left.
Knapp uses his last time out, and his Quakers need some stops and points.
5:10: Princeton 67, Penn 62
Gem of the night from the Penn Band: an "E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!" chant as Cowher attempted a free throw (she missed). As if on command, the Quakers respond with two quick baskets.
6:56: Princeton 65, Penn 57
Scott did hit a three seconds after I posted. Sports are funny like that.
Either way, the Quakers are still having a tough time moving the ball against the Tigers' tough defense. Shot clock violation on Penn. Another timeout.
8:00: Princeton 65, Penn 54
Scott has made some really bad rookie mistakes tonight. She just airballed a wide-open layup after a perfect backdoor cut. Pears has produced consistently, but the Penn frontcourt has not.
The Quakers have been leaving a lot of points on the floor, and Princeton is well out in front again. Timeout Penn, eight minutes to go, and the lead is back into double digits.
11:52: Princeton 56, Penn 46
Penn has been playing in the half court more often lately, and the results were favorable. A Kelly Scott three from the wing, and we have a ten-point game.
15:59: Princeton 53, Penn 39
Princeton is 1-8 this year when being outrebounded, and you can see why. Extra possessions against the Tigers have been deadly for Penn. Princeton is hot from three -- especially Whitney Downs, who had eight in the first half -- and the gap is widening.
Halftime stats
Here's the Quakers' season right here: at halftime, Rhoads and Naltner have 11 and 10 points each. Rest of team? 14.
But who cares about that right now? The important thing is that Bill Cowher, the recently departed Steelers coach, is enjoying the game from right behind press row. His daugher is a senior for Princeton.
Overall, Princeton is shooting 46% in the first half -- to the Quakers 48% -- but has taken six more shots. The Tigers also made good use of the three ball in the first, taking 13 and making six. Not so hot for the Quakers.
Halftime: Princeton 42, Penn 35
Pears finished a fast-break layup, but otherwise the Quakers lost ground in the closing minutes of the half.
2:28: Princeton 38, Penn 33
Nice little run by Penn. Caitlin Slover finishes a left-handed putback, the Tiger's can't score in transition, and we have timeout on the floor.
5:07: Princeton 33, Penn 26
Kim Franklin came off the bench to nail an open three in transition, and all of a sudden the Quakers have new life. Joey Rhoads hit a layup, and Maggie Burgess drew a foul and just went one-and-one from the line.
7:44: Princeton 33, Penn 21
Princeton coach Richard Barron whined to the closest official about Maggie Burgess, Penn's imposing forward. Not three seconds into the next play the sophomore was whistled.
Still, I'll take physical play any time. A good sign out of Knapp's often-underperforming youngsters.
This game, on the other hand, has not been so promising. Both teams are struggling to score close to the basket and work players open deep. Not a fun game to watch.
11:38: Princeton 33, Penn 21
Lauren Pears is starting to show up. She showed some real strength driving right into the pain on three straight possession. One resulted in a layup, one a pass to a wide-open Naltner, and one an assist to Rhoads.
Good basketball.
11:38: Princeton 27, Penn 15
Pat Knapp is getting a workout. He's been storming up and down the sidelines telling his players to stick the opposition, but to little avail. Princeton may be a big team, but they have no trouble getting open off the dribble.
14:19: Princeton 19, Penn 9
Princeton has the look and feel of the team that shared the title in 2006. They push the fast break extremely well and rarely miss an open three. Princeton's forward trio of Meagan Cowher, Casey Lockwood, and Whitney Dodds has kept Penn from scoring near the basket and pulled down some big offensive boards. They also move the ball very, very well.
For the Quakers, it's the same old story. Monica Naltner and Joey Rhoads are doing their best to keep the team in the game. And they just might do that.
And congratulations to Rhoads. The senior just scored her 1,000th career point at the line.
FINAL: 66-64 Penn
McMahon went 1 of 2 after being fouled, Elon quickly responded with a basket to make it a 1 point game. Again, McMahon was fouled, again McMahon went 1 for 2. Down 2 with 6.7 seconds left, LeVonn Jordan drove the length of the court but his runner from the lane hit the rim, Jaaber rebounded as time expired.
25.9 seconds, 64-62 Penn
Grandieri on a layup makes it a four point game but Elon responds and promptly takes a timeout. They'll have to foul on Penn's next posession as the shot clock is off.
52.5 seconds 62-60 Penn
Big reverse layup by Kach while fouled. He hits the foul shot Penn up 2 with the ball.
1:48, 2nd 60-59 Elon
Jaaber picks up his fourth on another reach-in but responds with a big three to put Penn up 1. Elon responds with two free throws to retake a one point lead.
3:38, 2nd 57-56 Elon
Chalko knocks down another three but Zoller responds with a tough three of his own with a man in his face. LeVonn Jordan's layup on the next Elon posession puts the Phoenix back up by 1. Zoller on the very next posession is called for a questionable charge on what appeared to be a potential three point play for Penn. That's it for Zoller and the Quakers will have to go the rest of the way without their leading scorer who must sit with five fouls.
5:30 2nd, 53-52 Penn
Zoller, back in the game, forces a turnover leading to a quick Penn basket. Jaaber on the next series scores on a nice backdoor cut to bring Penn's lead back to four. But a Chris Chalko three puts the game back within 1.
6:30, 2nd, 49-49
A shot clock violation by Penn followed up by a questionable reach-in call on Jaaber sets up LeVonn Jordan for a three point shot to tie the game at 49. Miller immediately calls time out. To quickly reset things, Zoller is on the bench with four fouls, Elon has ten team fouls, Penn eight. Jaaber just picked up his third on that reach in.
7:49, 2nd, 49-45 Penn
Penn had finally opened up a lead when a 10 foot fadeaway jumper by Steve Danley and a foul shot on the next posession put the Quakers up 9 but Elon responded quickly. A Chris Chalko three point shot and a questionable foul call finds Elon back within 5.
11:54, 2nd, 44-37 Penn
15:49, 2nd, 41-35 Penn
The Quakers are finally starting to establish a presence inside. Zoller picks up some tough offensive boards before being fouled. On the next posession, Danley is fouled while shooting and hits both foul shots.
18:36, 2nd, 36-32 Penn
Two fast breaks by Jaaber helps Penn expand its lead to four. Jaaber is fouled on the first and hits one of two free throws. The second gives Penn a four point lead and forces Elon to take a time out.
Halftime, 33-32 Penn
Cohen has been consistent playing point forcing a charge on defense and distributing the ball rather well. A three point shot by McMahon gives Penn a three point lead with 30 seconds to play but a dunk with less than 5 seconds left by forward Adam Constantine draws Elon to within a point at the break. Miller has been able to give a lot of his players minutes with 10 players getting into the game (Jaaber, Danley, Cohen, Schreiber, Kach, Egee, McMahon, Grandieri, Zoller, Votel) but he might have to go to a smaller rotation in the second half as Elon, a 10 point underdog coming into this game, has hung tight through the first half.
At the half, Grandieri leads all penn scorers with 7 points, Danley has 6. Penn is shooting 46.7% from the field. For Elon, Brett James leads with 10 and LeVonn Jordan 6 points. The Phoenix are shooting an impressive 51.9% from the field including 4-7 from behind the three point line.
3:58 1st, 26-24 Elon
Zoller's back in to spell Danley. A nice series of passes along the perimeter and finally to Jaaber in the lane sets up an easy basket for Ibby who now has four. Aaron Cohen checks into the game for Jaaber and quickly committs a turnover. Schreiber comes in for Votel at the time out.
7:55 1st, 23-18 Elon
With Zoller on the bench, the Phoenix knock down a couple of tough shots and get a nice drive from Ola Atoyebi right by Jaaber to open up a slight lead.
11:49 1st, 16-14 Elon
Both teams have clamped down on defense. Penn switches to a zone and Elon has had trouble since finding open shots on the outside. Zoller picks up his second foul going for an offensive rebound and takes a seat as does Egee. McMahon will be shooting two after the break with a chance to tie.
15:09 1st, 12-12
Elon came out swinging using a couple of long range shots to quickly build up a 7-0 lead. Penn chipped away at the lead and Steve Danley tied it at 9 after Mark Zoller grabbed the rebound on a missed free throw by Kevin Egee.
Darren Smith is not participating in pre-game warmups and it appears he will not play in today's game. He's in sweats sitting on the Penn bench as the team goes through its final shoot-around. Tip off in just a few minutes at 2 p.m.
ELON, N.C. --
Welcome to Alumni Gymnasium on the campus of Elon College just outside of Burlington, NC for this afternoon's game, the first ever matchup between the Quakers and the Phoenix of Elon College.
Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. There's no TV coverage today, but the game will be broadcast online at pennathletics.com (Brian Seltzer and Vince Curran) and elon.edu/athletics (Alan Matthews and Gus Kroustalis). But make sure you check out The Buzz throughout the day for updates.
Here are the starters:
Penn (6-6)
G- (2) Ibrahim Jaaber, Sr., 6-2, 170
G- (21) Brian Grandieri, Jr., 6-4, 190
G- (15) Kevin Egee, So., 6-3, 175
F- (24) Mark Zoller, Sr., 6-7, 220
C- (3) Steve Danley, Sr., 6-8, 225
Elon (3-9, 1-2 SoCon)
G- (1) LeVonn Jordan, Sr., 6-6, 195
G- (10) Brett James, So., 6-5, 185
G- (12) Brian Waters, Jr., 6-2, 185
F- (23) Ola Atoyebi, So., 6-8, 220
F- (32) Chris Chalko, Sr., 6-8, 220
Penn finishes its southern swing with a trip to Elon, N.C. tomorrow afternoon. (In case you're wondering, Elon is about 40 miles northwest of Chapel Hill).
The Phoenix wear these relatively snappy uniforms at home. I like the piping down the sides, as well as the Phoenix logo on the shorts. The collar logo is good too.
As for the font, I am undecided. It's different from the school's script logo but that look might not be the best on a jersey.
However, at least the font matches the numerals, and the fonts make the uniforms look pretty professional overall.
After watching No. 2 North Carolina beat Penn, 102-64, I'm jealous of the UNC fans. It's hard to knock the Palestra, but the 20,000-plus-seat Smith Center is an NBA stadium. It is the Wachovia Center painted Carolina Blue. I didn't get a chance to do too much travelling around the Dean Dome, but all I needed to see was the light blue ice cream to know how much the school cares about basketball. Every seat is a padded chairback, there are four enormous replay boards up top in each corner and of course viewers get to see an ACC team play every night.
The fans were different than Penn's, mainly because they showed up early. Many of the 19,378 in attendence seemed to arrive about 20 minutes before the 8 p.m. tipoff, but people started filing in two hours earlier, and by 7:30 p.m. it was more than half full. Did I mention that this was a non-conference game against a 6-5 team over break in early January? In addition the Band, mascot, dance team and cheerleaders were all in attendence, while all Penn could muster up at its last home game on Dec. 23 against Illinois-Chicago was about seven cheerleaders - not even a string quartet, and certainly no dance team.
However, I was surprised at the lack of creativity out of the UNC fans. I saw no rollouts or signs, and more importantly heard no clever chants or even taunts to Penn players, just the occasional anger toward the referees. The enormous crowd, including Presidential candidate John Edwards (though I'll take our Governor any day), got very loud at times, but was quieted often as well. After UNC had busted its lead out to 15 in the second half, you could hear Penn fans from up in the rafters chanting "let's go Duke"
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Check back on dp.com and The Buzz later tonight for full coverage, and to read in-game comments, look below.End of game -- Cheesesteaks! Sorry, Bojangles! UNC's version of the Abner's promotion is one-dollar biscuits at Bojangles tomorrow morning. The crowd erupted when little-used senior Dewey Burke hit two threes in the final minute and change to put the Tar Heels over the mark.
3:20 2nd, 88-58 UNC -- Penn's defense has just fallen apart. The Quakers are missing shots too, and UNC has just had a huge run of dunks and layups, scoring 19 points in four minutes to up the lead to 30.
5:19 2nd, 79-56 UNC -- Now an even larger portion of the crowd has headed for the exits with a huge dunk by Wright off another steal. UNC's trap defense has just been too much for Penn to handle tonight.
7:56 2nd, 69-54 UNC -- I have always wavered on the NBA-college debate (which I like better) but one thing that college has going for it is the crowd is still into the game in a semi-blowout against an insignificant (to the fans) opponent. However, a number of people just left during this timeout, so maybe I'll take that back.
But there certainly wouldn't bee this much cheering and intensity at this point of a similar Suns-Sixers game.
11:42 2nd, 64-47 UNC -- Play of the night just happened, when Hansbrough took a great pass from Frasor in transition, spun around Zoller and slammed it home, getting a huge roar from the crowd here.
Regardless of whatever the final score ends up being, I think that this game will be very useful for both teams. Penn has done a number of things well against UNC and has identified some weaknesses that could be exploited by some better-disciplined teams.
The Quakers have played a number of different in-game strategies, and this has been a good place to see what works and what doesn't, and this tape will likely be very useful down the road.
14:28 2nd, 60-42 UNC -- Turnovers and transition baskets (I feel like a broken record) have extended the UNC lead to 18. Penn is also up to seven fouls already, and this one is just about locked up.
15:05 2nd, 54-42 UNC -- Zoller has picked up his second and third fouls relatively quickly in this half, and UNC had scored 11 points in the first 2:20 of the half, pushing the lead to as many as 16.
But Penn continues to hang around, keeping the game within a reasonable margin.
18:30 2nd, 45-33 UNC -- Danley played the last nine minutes or so of the first half without picking up his third foul, but it only took a minute and change for him to do that here in the second, and he is back on the bench.
Halftime stats
Biggest two concerns for Penn coming into the game were turnovers and offensive rebounds. The Quakers have 15 turnovers (bad) and have surrendered seven offensive renounds on 17 missed shots (not so bad).
Jaaber leads Penn with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while UNC is led by Hansbrough with 10, who is only shooting 3-of-9.
Overall, the Quakers are shooting 56.5 percent from the field, 37.5 from three, and are only 1-for-2 from the line.
The Heels are shooting 46.9 percent from the field, 3-of-6 from three, and 6-of-7 from the line. If Penn takes better care of the ball in the second half, the Quakers might have a shot, but they will have to play their best half of basketball to do it.
Back with the second half shortly.
Halftime, 39-30 UNC -- All things considered, Penn scoring the last five points of the half and settling down a bit has to be a positive going into the break. Back soon with halftime states.
3:56 1st, 35-22 UNC -- The Tar Heels are threatening to blow this game wide open, with hot shooting and more Penn turnovers. In the first seven minutes, the Quakers were up 18-8, and had their best strech of the season. In the last nine minutes, Penn has been outscored 27-4, and looks like a team that is completely overmatched.
I'm not really sure whether UNC just didn't come out ready to play until they realized Penn was not a complete patsy, or whether Penn went all out and has already run out of gas against a far more athletic UNC team.
4:55 1st, 29-22 UNC -- If you had 15:05 until Glen Miller took his jacket off, then you win that pool. It came off a pretty stupid play by Tommy McMahon. Miller called a timeout when Penn had two seconds on the shot clock, McMahon took the inbounds pass, and then passed the ball to Kevin Egee, for a shot clock violation.
McMahon is no longer in the game.
7:15 1st, 26-20 UNC -- UNC is on an 18-2 run and the pressure defense is just killing the Quakers, who are up to 10 turnovers and something like six turnovers in their last eight posessions.
9:50 1st, 19-18 UNC -- If you had nine minutes and 50 seconds until North Carolina took its first lead of the game, then I'd like to meet you. But the Quakers are starting to turn the ball over more, which is a big concern because it leads to UNC transition points, and Penn has already committed seven fouls so the Tar Heels will be shooting free throws for the rest of the half.
11:24 1st, 18-13 Penn -- The Quakers just had a 10-point lead, but a wide-open three and another long jumper have cut the lead in half. Penn continues to play strong defense, but the Tar Heels have started to figure out how to pass across the defense for open shots.
Meanwhile, Roy Williams made a full five-man line change a few minutes ago, which prompted a huge ovation for Bobby Frasor, who had missed the last six games with an injury.
I think Miller made the right response, putting in subs of his own as to not tire out the Quakers with the grueling pace of UNC. Meanwhile, the Quakers have to continue to make perfect passes, which they have so far, otherwise they will be smothered by the Tar Heels' pressure defense.
15:33 1st, 13-6 Penn -- Great start to this game for Penn. The Quakers have hit shots, made good passes, only turned the ball over twice, and have rebounded well and defended well. The only negative is Steve Danley's two very quick fouls that have landed him on the bench.
But Brennan Votel made a nice move going at Tyler Hansbrough for a lay-in, and most importantly, Penn does not look at all intimidated by the Tar Heels.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Welcome to the Dean Smith Center, or "Dean Dome" as it is called around here for tonight's game between the Quakers and the No. 2 Tar Heels.
Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be telecast on ESPN. But if you can't get to a TV then check out The Buzz throughout the evening for updates.
Here are the probable starters:
Penn (6-5)
G- (2) Ibrahim Jaaber, Sr., 6-2, 170
G- (21) Brian Grandieri, Jr., 6-4, 190
F- (20) Tommy McMahon, So., 6-7, 210
F- (24) Mark Zoller, Sr., 6-7, 220
C- (3) Steve Danley, Sr., 6-8, 225
No. 2 North Carolina (12-1)
G- (2) Wayne Ellington, Fr., 6-4, 195
G- (5) Ty Lawson, Fr., 5-11, 193
F- (3) Reyshawn Terry, Sr., 6-8, 232
F- (34) Brandan Wright, Fr., 6-9, 205
F- (50) Tyler Hansbrough, So., 6-9, 245
When I saw that Temple would get a shot at Duke this year, my first thought was that Fran Dunphy now had a shot -- for the second year in a row, but with a different team -- to knock off the Blue Devils in their own house.
Alas.
Dunphy's Owls were outplayed far more than his Quakers were last year as No. 5 Duke rolled to a 73-55 win that was no fun to watch. Because who wants to watch a team that has not yet played close to its best basketball?
Dunphy started behind the eight-ball on the recruiting trail. Then he lost two cornerstones in Mark Tyndale and Wayne Marshall to academics. Since then, the problems have come left and right, and the Owls' last few games displayed most of them.
7-footer Sergio Olmos was strong at the opening but quickly got into foul trouble and had to sit. Dion Dacons, who has been asked to play defense on the inside, gutted through 37 minutes with a bum foot and couldn't do enough. Tyndale, who has been back for six games now, still hasn't started and has yet to get back into the mix. (He started all 32 games last year.) And the absence of Marshall on the inside was easy to spot -- Duke exploited it to the tune of a 46-25 rebounding edge.
And even when Temple has shown flashes of brilliance, nothing has fallen into place. The Owls should have been trailing by just one point heading into halftime against Villanova last week, but they missed the front end of three straight one-and-ones. The Wildcats built a five-point halftime edge and never looked back.
Few things are less fun to watch than a team packed with talent that is held back by one or two missing peices. Dunphy jumped ship to Temple and moved up to the big leagues. I guess I just didn't realize how long it might take for the product on the floor to reflect it.
Ever since it was announced that Penn was going to play North Carolina, I've been anxious to write this post. But then the Tar Heels changed something beautiful into something just a little worse.
In case you don't see what the difference is, it's the annoying shoulder stripe things that Nike decided to make many of its teams wear this year. It takes away from the individuality of the uniforms, the Tar Heels' having been one that I especially liked.
I like the diamond pattern down the side stripes, and there just enough navy blue in the outlines to make a nice contrast. Overall, still one of my favorite unis in college sports, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action tomorrow night.
Be sure to check back here on The Buzz tomorrow evening for full coverage of the game.
Thanks to TiVo, I could catch No. 2 North Carolina's walloping of a fairly strong Dayton team by 30 on their New Year's Eve game. Much like Andrew's last post, here are some notes.
The UNC paint is a black hole: once an opponent comes in, it doesn't get out. Countless times Dayton drove into the lane, only to either throw an errant pass or get rejected. This was a major factor in Dayton's shooting percentage of 30.5, and why it only hit 7 of 32 attempts in the first half. The Tar Heels had 8 blocks (all of them emphatically swatted) and forced 21 turnovers.
But Dayton was not the only team having trouble holding onto the rock. UNC also gave the ball up 21 times. The Tar Heels make very ambitious passes, often resulting in easy layups (and they had tons) but some passes go right into the hands of an unsuspecting defender. Six players for UNC coughed it up multiple times.
Roy Williams' squad played a man defense, that didn't switch off of screens and often trapped in order to force a turnover. To beat these double-teams, Dayton passed the ball with confidence, and often found the open man for layups or threes. UNC also pressed for a couple possessions, but Dayton did a fairly good job breaking it.
UNC is deeeeep. Ten players played double-digit minutes, and none were as a result of garbage time. Tyler Hansbrough, Brandan Wright, Reysawn Terry, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson start for the Heels. Off the bench are forwards Deon Thompson (6-8, 245) and Alex Stepheson (6-9, 225), swingmen Danny Green (6-5, 210) and Marcus Ginyard (6-5, 218), and guard Wes Miller (5-11, 190). Bobby Frasor started five games at point guard, but has missed the last six with a foot injury. Green had the best game out of the bench players. He went 1-for-5 from the field, but had 8 rebounds and 7 assists, many coming on slick passes into big men for layups. Miller hit one three from way out, and also had 3 steals. Stepheson had 6 rebounds and 2 monster blocks in limited action.
Starters
#50 Tyler Hansbrough, (6-9 245) sophomore, forward
Key stats: 18.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg
Dayton game: Kind of disappeared for stretches, but when he was involved was unstoppable on offense. He probably had five thunderous dunks, and when he wasn't able to throw one down could muscle up a solid inside jumper that he made over several defenders (one as the buzzer sounded in the first half). The sophomore likes to live in the paint, but can step out and hit a jumper. His defense wasn't bad either, he took a nice charge early.
#34 Brandan Wright, (6-9 205) freshman, forward
Key stats: 67.2% FGs, 6.5 rpg, 22 blocks
Dayton game: Wright was the best player on the floor for UNC on Sunday. He went 8-for-9 from the field on almost all dunks, for 16 points and 6 rebounds. Just as importantly he kept Dayton guards terrified of entering the lane. Thanks to his 7'5" wingspan he sent back a Warren London layup while standing well behind the Dayton point guard. Wright is only a freshman, but he might be the best all-around player on this team.
#3 Reyshawn Terry, (6-8 232) senior, forward
Key stats: 45.7% 3PT, 5.8 rpg
Dayton game: He's the senior leader on the team, and the only upperclassman starting. The forward is a good defender; he drew multiple charges on the Flyers. Is a slick passer who can thread the defense, but also committed a few bad turnovers (3 in total). He can also knock down the open three.
#2 Wayne Ellington, (6-4 195) freshman, guard
Key stats: 12.9 ppg, 44.4% 3PT
Dayton game: In the first half he had 11 points, and 9 of them came on three-pointers -- if he has any room he can knock them down. He's also a good perimeter defender. The Philadelphia area native played at The Episcopal Academy last year, in the same class as another freshman standout -- Duke's Gerald Henderson. Ellington has started all 13 games for UNC.
#5 Ty Lawson, (5-11 193) freshman, guard
Key stats: 1.54 spg, 2.85 asst-TO ratio
Dayton game: Coming into the starting lineup for the injured Frasor, Lawson is a classic point guard. He is reliable and a great passer -- since becoming a starter, he has 58 assists to only 11 turnovers (7 and 1, respectively on Sunday). Lawson is very aggressive in a Dwyane Wade sort of way, going hard to the hoop while either drawing a foul or hitting a tough layup. When UNC was struggling on offense he could also step out and hit a 15-footer.
I just finished watching North Carolina destroy Rutgers, 87-48, from my relatives' house in Columbus, Ohio, and all I can say is "wow."
But it was not the 'wow' I was expecting from a team as athletic a team as UNC -- media darling Tyler Hansbrough went just 5-for-13 from the field, and Rutgers managed to pull down 14 offensive rebounds.
If the 'Shelden Williams vs. Penn's frontcourt' matchup had played out like that a year ago, Penn could have made an even better run at knocking off Duke.
But that's the difference between the ACC team the Quakers matched up against a year ago and the one they will face on Jan. 3. While Duke of 2005-06 beat you from all over the floor -- and as easily in the half court as in transition -- head coach Roy Williams prefers to let his team run, run, and run some more. With a rotation that goes 10 players deep, he can afford to.
Freshman point Ty Lawson impressed me the most. At 5-foot-11 and lightning quick, I doubt he is the kind of player Penn's Ibrahim Jaaber can seriously impair, but someone needs to slow him down if the Quakers want to threaten. Lawson, who was filling in for sophomore Bobby Frasor last night, had nine assists and no turnovers. Overall, the Heels had 27 assists on 33 field goals. The monstrous freshman Brendan Wright and sharpshooting guard Wayne Ellington were the main recipients of the help, going 8-for-10 and 5-for-7, respectively.
Roy Williams was comfortable letting his freshmen run wild against the Scarlet Knights, so he should have no qualms about stepping on the gas pedal just as hard against Penn.
The results against Rutgers? 54 second-half points, 23 points off of turnovers, and more than one demoralizing dunk on a fast break.
Wow.
On Monday the RPI rankings (according to collegerpi.com) placed Philadelphia schools Drexel and Villanova in the top 10, at 7th and 9th, respectively. However, neither the Coaches or the AP top-25 polls that came out that day included either squad. Drexel was the 40th highest vote-getter, while Villanova garnered none in the AP poll. Neither team got any top-25 votes in the Coaches poll. So far this year, Drexel (17th toughest strength of schedule) has beaten then No. 23 Syracuse, as well as Villanova and Temple on the road in its last three games. Villanova (9th toughest SOS) has beaten Navy, as well as Penn, Iowa and Oklahoma all on the road.
A team like Louisiana State (7-3, 71 RPI) has beaten no one in the RPI top-50 (and lost to the two teams from there it faced - Wichita State and Washington) but is still ranked AP No. 17. The rankings, especially in the early-mid season, mean little, and LSU will have to get some quality wins to keep its lofty rank. Drexel and Villanova's high RPIs are most likely due to their quality road wins, as unlike in the AP and Coaches polls, road wins have over double the weight of home triumphs.
As of Sunday, Penn was ranked as 123rd in the RPI, though different sources vary the Quakers' position a few spots in each of their ratings systems. Penn is clearly hurt by the road weighting system, as they play far more games at home than away.
Not mentioning Penn's clash with No. 2 North Carolina, here are some notable upcoming City six matchups over the break. RPI is in parenthesis.
Dec. 28: George Mason (103) @ Drexel (7)
Dec. 30: Temple (108) @ Villanova (9)
Jan. 2: Temple (108) @ No. 5 Duke (3)
Jan. 6: DePaul (50) @ Villanova (9)
Jan. 6: Mass. (91) @ La Salle (239)
Jan. 7: St. Joe's (150) @ Charlotte (129)
Jan. 8: Villanova (9) @ Georgetown (67)
Over the holiday break, the DP will still be bringing you breaking sports news and analysis that will be posted on dailypennsylvanian.com/sportsupdates/. We'll try to keep the stories from the most recent hoops game on the main site, but all of our stories over winter break -- including profiles, columns and sidebars -- will be available on this page as they appear. You can link to it from the top of the dp.com main page.
So from all of us here at the Buzz, have a great break.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In a game marred by fouls and poor shooting on both sides, Seton Hall enters halftime leading the Penn Quakers 44-31.
Inexplicably, the Internet connections here are incredibly poor, but The Buzz is doing its best to bring you updates as soon as they happen.
FINAL: Penn 85, SHU 94
It's all over. Penn mounted a furious comeback and played good fundamental basketball for the final few minutes, but a few missed threes and some great shooting from the stripe sealed the win for the Pirates. What a missed opportunity to get a big win for the Quakers.
Check back for a full recap and sidebar on the dailypennsylvanian.com main site later tonight, and we'll see you again on the Buzz on Jan. 3 down in Chapel Hill.
1:15 Penn 79, SHU 87
After Brian Liang missed the front end of a one-and-one, Jamar Nutter sinks two huge free throws. A miss on the first would have let Penn back into the game. Things looking bleak at this point.
1:50 Penn 77, SHU 85
Trading baskets won't be enough as we pass the two-minute warning. Darren Smith misses a three -- that would have been huge.
3:10 Penn 75, SHU 83
Brian Grandieri and Jaaber both tip in missed field goals to bring Penn within four.
But then Penn gives it away. Zoller threw away an inbounds pass and Tommy McMahon had his pocket picked, and Seton Hall quickly took control. Slipping away. Penn still has some fouls to give.
6:21 Penn 66, SHU 70
Whoa. Penn stormes back with four field goals from Ibrahim Jaaber. The Quakers have now outscored Seton Hall by nine in the second half.
If Penn can get anything going from distance, watch out (2-12 so far).
10:13 Penn 51, SHU 65
Remember all that talk about how Ibrahim Jaaber was transitioning to his new role as a distributor, not a scorer? Remember those 9 assists compared to 9 points he had against UIC? Well here's a stat for you: Jaaber is 7-for-15 from the field tonight. No one else has attempted more than seven for Penn.
If there's any good news, it's that Penn has already hit the bonus.
12:20 Penn 47, SHU 63
Oh boy. Seton Hall exploded for a 11-2 run capped by two Davis threes and a Stan Gaines dunk. Davis now has 19(!).
15:15 Penn 42, SHU 52
The Quakers came out of the locker room hot, going on an 8-2 run to bring the defecit back to seven. But the Hall has answered and brought the lead back to ten.
Halftime
The Pirates' Larry Davis came off the bench and leads all scorers with 13 points, sparking a late 13-3 run. Mark Zoller leads the Quakers with 11 points despite a rough time at the free-throw line.
Seton Hall hit the bonus less than eight minutes into the game, but Penn hit just half of its free throws overall, helping the Pirates enter the half with a comfortable margin.
Penn has also had a tremendously difficult time on the entry pass into the low post. That will need to change in the second frame.
After a gritty win over Illinois-Chicago, Penn will face a ticked-off group of Pirates tomorrow afternoon at Continental Airlines Arena. Seton Hall looked anything but intimidating Monday night as it was thumped by Virginia Tech, 80-61, for its second loss this year. Maybe an eye patch would have helped -- Tech burned the Pirates defense to the tune of 51.7 percent shooting.
This game against Penn means a lot to the Pirates and first-year coach Bobby Gonzalez. A look at their nonconference opponents shows why. So far, Seton Hall has beaten Caldwell, Morgan State, St. Peter's, St. Mary's (in OT), Monmouth, and Penn State.
Not the typical slate for a team one year removed from a 10-seed in the Big Dance.
Penn could wind up being the third-best opponent the Pirates play outside the Big East, and nonconference play is important in a league where teams make a habit of beating each other up.
Some other notes:
As a team, the Pirates have more turnovers (108) than assists (102). However, they have also been picking opponents' pockets at an alarming rate: 103 in just eight games, with 5-11 sophomore Paul Gause the primary culprit at 34.
The three-pointer is nonexistent this year for Seton Hall. (30.1 percent. That number says it all.) But for some reason, the Pirates have taken 173 treys this year, to 119 by their opponents.
It's a good thing Gonzalez came from nearby Manhattan, because the recruiting base for this program is not national. A whooping two players on the roster hail from outside New Jersey or New York.
Finally, for those unable to treck up to East Rutherford for the game, a live video stream can be found at shupirates.com.
For those of you who weren't among the 2,218 fans at the Penn win over Illinois-Chicago last night, you missed a thrilling comeback from the Quakers, as well as a few off-the-court happenings.
There were a few season ticket holders still around, but Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was clearly the biggest Penn fan there. Rendell was noticeably livid about a double-dribbling call on Ibrahim Jaaber early in the second half. From my angle (and the ref's) it looked as if the guard was guilty, but from the opposite side it was clear to fans that a Flames defender tipped the ball out of Jaaber's control. On what was Jaaber's only turnover of the game, Rendell jumped out of his seat and started screaming at the ref, and worked the near official for the next few minutes.
Gotta give props to the Penn perimeter defense, which held the Flames to 6-of-20 three point shooting, half of which were in the final nine minutes against Penn in a zone defense (which is easier to shoot threes over). Last week the Quakers got lit up by Fordham. And while the Rams had much better ball movement, Penn did a better job this week of getting a hand up in the shooter's face, and switching off of all screens to not give up many open looks.
Jaaber, for the first time I can remember, went sans undershirt, deciding to show off his guns. It's definitely a good look, too many players on the team wear T-shirts under their jerseys. Who knows, it might have helped his game as well; Jaaber had nine assists, one turnover and six steals.
As mentioned earlier, the student turnout was light, and there was no band, only a few cheerleaders and no rollouts from the crowd. Still, the crowd got pretty loud when the refs made a few questionable calls, and even more so as Penn tied it up and took the lead late in the game. There was a highlight when during two free throws from Jovan Stefanov, the Red and Blue crew chanted: "USA! USA"
Penn faces a winnable and losable mathcup against Illinois-Chicago tonight at the Palestra. The Flames are 6-6 but have plenty of weapons. Refresh this page for live updates.
FINAL Penn 90, UIC 76
That's all from the Palestra. This one was way closer than the score would indicate, but still one that the Quakers desperatly needed. Have a great Christmas break, and look for more updates from The Buzz after Penn plays Seton Hall on the 23rd.
1:03 Penn 88, UIC 76
Brennan Votel gets into the act at just the right time, scoring to answer a quick three by the Flames. This one should be over.
2:07 Penn 82, UIC 71
The Quakers have played smart in these past minutes and have things under control barring a major collapse.
A pleasant surprise from McMahon, who hit a tough fadaway with the clock running low. He has been caught napping more than once tonight, so that's certainly good to see.
5:00 Penn 77, UIC 69
Oh boy. Nothing is going right for UIC, and it took a comical turn when Jeffers and VanderMeer end up turning the ball over after fighting with each other for a rebound (each thought his opponent was a Penn player).
Danley is back in with four fouls, but its been all Grandieri and Zoller in the second. Zoller hit another three and cleaned up a missed Brennan Votel three, and Grandieri scored in transition.
7:39 Penn 70, UIC 66
Well, the Flames may not be getting to the basket easily, but they are still cleaning up the glass. An offensive rebound lets Mayo drain an open three, and Jeffers gathers his own miss on the next possession to draw a foul. Two makes later and its a four-point game.
9:03 Penn 68, UIC 61
Wow. What a turnaround by Penn. Grandieri adds four more points on a pull-up jumper in the lane and a pair of free throws, and UIC is no longer getting to the basket with ease.
The Quakers could have gotten to 70, but Zoller just missed two free throws. He has been cold from the field all night.
11:32 Penn 63, UIC 61
Zoller finally rattles in a trey from the top of the key, and this game is tied! Considering there are only about 1500 fans here, the Palestra is damn loud.
Then Grandieri is fouled trying for a rebound and drains both to give Penn a lead. Maybe that's what it took to convince Glen Miller to switch up defenses, as we're now seeing a zone out of Penn for the first time tonight.
13:28 Penn 56, UIC 60
An impressive few minutes for Grandieri. He alertly scored on a tip-in off an entry pass from Jaaber and then drew a tough foul.
But Jeffers is still doing his thing, pulling up for a jumper from the elbow in transition to keep the Quakers from getting closer than four.
15:39: Penn 53, UIC 57
The Quakers have finally picked up the shooting from distance. Danley, Grandieri and Egee all drill three-pointers, and Egee cut inside for an easy layup in transition on the possesion after that.
Jeffers continues to terrorize Penn off the dribble. On the last play, he was blocked on a 10-footer by Grandieri but still managed to muscle the jump shot in. He will shoot one after the timeout.
On a side note, Ibrahim Jaaber has just become the all-time Ivy League steals leader, so congratulations are certainly in order on that front.
19:14: Penn 40, UIC 46
Not a great way to start the second half. Danley made a tough driving layup, but UIC's 5-10 point guard Josh Mayo was fouled. Then, McMahon was called for a technical foul for an elbow to the face. Mayo's FTs put UIC up by six.
Halftime: Penn 38, UIC 43
The Quakers closed out the half in criminally unimpressive style, culminating in a bad miss by Jaaber. Penn committed also committed at least a half dozen fouls down the stretch, most of them unneccesary.
Meanwhile, UIC has been cleaning up the glass. The heros have been Othyus Jeffers, the 6-5 forward who has been far too fast for Penn, and Stefanov.
The Quakers are going to have to get back to what they have done best: get the ball inside to their scorers.
Fellow blogger Josh Wheeling's contribution to this post: He pointed out that Governor Ed Rendell is in attendance tonight. Here's hoping that Penn puts on a better show in the second half.
3:49 Penn 32, UIC 34
Scary moment for Penn. Diving after a loose ball, Zoller cracked his head on the Palestra floor and was extremely slow to get up. Andreas Schrieber comes in to replace him.
Just as scary for Penn is how easily the Flames have gotten open inside. Eb Noonoo slammed home an ally-oop and Jovan Stephanov gathers a tip-in. Danley went to the line for a pair but missed the second. Quakers still down by one.
6:59 Penn 30, UIC 28
It's a horse race as of now. McMahon has been active for Penn with some nifty passing, and Smith has avoided big mistakes bringing the ball up. But the threes have not been falling for Penn, especially for Mark Zoller, who just threw up a nasty airball.
11:08 Penn 21, UIC 20
UIC's Danijel Zoric scored in the post and Spencer Stewart hit a three in transition to give UIC a one-point lead, but Ibrahim Jaaber drew a foul on a three and hit two, giving Penn back the edge.
No 2-3 zone from Penn yet. It's been straight man-to-man, and UIC has begun to shake Penn with its ball movement. Darren Smith is also in the game now for the Quakers.
13:30 Penn 17, UIC 13
One word to describe UIC's Scott VanderMeer: big. The sophomore uses his 6-11 frame to block Danley, and after a couple of baskets UIC shows signs of life.
Brian Grandieri just entered the game, and Cameron Lewis is in for Danley.
15:17 Penn 15, UIC 8
Penn looks in control early on. Tommy McMahon hit a wide-open three in the opening seconds and Stephen Danley and Mark Zoller each have broken away from defenders for easy looks inside.
Kevin Egee is starting tonight in place of the injured Brian Grandieri, and he comes up with a loose ball at midcourt. Danley drains a three and Penn has an early lead.
Newer Posts
Older Posts
An RSS feed of The Buzz is available