Penn broadcaster Vince Curran said he and Penn coach Steve Donahue reviewed the starting lineups for the team’s Ivy opening day game against Brown 20 minutes before tip-off. Shortly afterwards, Donahue inserted first-year guard George Smith into the starting five and it turned out to be the be the smartest move of the afternoon. The Salem, N.H. native had a day to remember, scoring a career-high 23 points to give the Quakers a huge 77-73 victory over the Bears.
Mike Martin’s squad has been shut out of the previous four Ivy Tournaments, including being bumped by Penn in the last two conference seasons, but things looked to breaking in Bruno’s favor heading into Sunday’s contest. The Bears (8-8, 0-1 Ivy) had a strong nonconference schedule, including competitive efforts against Syracuse and Maryland this past week, a healthy roster, and a strong defense bolstered by established (Tamenang Choh) and up-and-coming (Kino Lilly Jr. and Nana Owusu-Anane) stars. The Red & Blue (4-10, 1-0 Ivy), meanwhile, were on a six-game losing streak, hadn’t played in the previous 21 days, had a porous defense and were without a third of its opening day rotation (Max Lorca-Lloyd to injury, Jonah Charles to COVID-19 protocols, Michael Wang for an unknown reason).
In addition, the home team could not rely on a loud and partisan crowd, as attendance at the fabled Palestra was limited to tens of family and friends due to recently imposed safety guidelines.
The Quakers quickly controlled the tempo and were able to open an 18-10 lead by the second media timeout. It was no surprise that Jordan Dingle, the team’s leading scorer, had seven points, but it was Smith’s six, including a four-point play at the 14:30 mark, that came as a bit of a shock.
A Michael Moshkovitz three from the top of the arc put Penn up 27-14 with 8:00 left in the first half, but Brown’s increased defensive pressure kept the Quakers from extending their advantage any further. Owusu-Anane had a steal and coast-to-coast layup, followed by an aggressive rebound and put-back layup, to cut Bruno’s deficit to single digits with 6:30 to go in the half.
With the score 34-26 at the two-minute mark, the Quakers had a quick 6-0 run from four free throws and a Clark Slajchert jumper. The Bears responded with their own 4-0 run in the last 60 seconds, including a Choh layup with 18 seconds left, to make it a 40-30 game at the half.
The Red & Blue managed to shoot 36% from three (4-for-11), but it was their inside game that got the job done. On the offensive side, they hit 50% from two (9-for-18), while their defense limited Brown to 42% (11-26). The undermanned and undersized Quakers also controlled the glass, coming away with a +6 and +10% advantage.
Coming out of the locker room, Choh limited to only four points in the first half, looked like his All-Ivy self. The graduate student from Lowell, Mass. dominated each possession, hitting shots from outside and inside to tally a quick seven points by the first media timeout. Unfortunately for Bruno, the Quakers continued matching the Bears and a Dingle three with 11 minutes to go in regulation gave Penn a 58-47 lead.
While things were still going Penn’s way, the team had to be careful as they racked up fouls. By the time Jaylan Gainey finished a fastbreak layup to cap a quick 6-0 run to get Brown within five points at the 9:30 mark, the Quakers had committed eight team fouls with starters Max Martz and Jelani Williams being tagged with four and three, respectively.
After a Williams layup made it a seven-point game for Penn, Owusu-Anane hit a short jumper and then finished a drive to the hoop with an emphatic slam to get the Bears within three, 62-59, with five minutes left.
With the lead quickly evaporating and Williams headed to the bench with his fourth foul at the 4:30 mark, things were getting tense for the Quakers. Luckily for the home team, Smith and Moshkovitz came to the rescue.
Smith got things started by driving the lane and hitting a one-armed shot as he was falling to the right baseline. Following Choh’s 1-for-2 effort at the line, Moshkovitz beat Gainey on the left side of the lane, and the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year could only goaltend the ensuing layup. After Choh split two defenders for an uncontested layup, Moshkovitz went over Gainey with a baby hook to make it a six-point game.
Choh was at the right elbow, trying to hit Paxson Wojcik on a backdoor cut, but Moshkovitz intercepted the pass. On the other end of the court, three Brown defenders collapsed on Moshkovitz near the hoop and the Israeli juco transfer fed a wide-open Smith on the right baseline for a nothing-but-net three to give the Quakers a 73-64 lead with two and a half minutes to go.
The duo, both making their Ivy debuts, would continue to frustrate Choh as each had a block and Moshkovitz added a steal as Penn held onto a seven-point advantage with 45 seconds left on the scoreboard.
Things looked bleak for the visitors, but the Bears still had one last run in them.
Lilly hit an uncontested layup with 25 seconds to go and Slajchert missed the front end of a 1-and-1. On the following possession, Wojcik hit a layup from the left side of the lane with 12 seconds left and Moshkovitz was called for his fourth foul. While the home team wanted calls for a moving screen and travel, the officials saw things differently and Wojcik hit his free throw to make it a 75-73 game.
Smith was double-teamed in the right corner on the inbounds and looked ready to turn the ball over, but the rookie somehow managed to escape and get fouled. He sank both free throws, his eighth and ninth of the day, to make it a two-possession game and finally put the game away for the Red & Blue.
The Quakers shot well from the field with 50% (20-for-40) from two and 35% (7-for-20) from three, they did even better from the line by making 80% (16-for-20) of their attempts. While Brown managed to hit 53% (25-for-47) from two and 77% (17-for-22) from the line for the game, Penn held them to only two three-pointers on 20% shooting from beyond the arc.
Smith’s 23 points came from a 6-for-8 effort from the field and 9-for-10 at the free throw line. Moshkowitz added 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, as well as five rebounds. Dingle tallied 20 points on 6-for-15 shooting the field and a 6-for-6 performance from the line to go along with five rebounds.
Choh was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, 22 in the second half, and rebounder with 13. Wojcik added nine points, with all of them coming in the second half. Lilly, the team’s leading scorer heading into the game, finished with 14 points and Owusu-Nane had 10, with each adding only four points in the second stanza.
With the cancellation of Tuesday’s game against Howard due to COVID-19 issues within the Bison program, the Quakers will look to keep their winning ways going during their first Ivy back-to-back weekend of 2022. Cornell (9-3, 1-0) will be at the Palestra for a 7 p.m. game on Friday night and Columbia arrives for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday. Brown, meanwhile, hits the road for evening games against Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday, with both contests starting at 7 p.m.