Penn started off Ivy League play on the right foot Monday, gritting out a 76-68 road win over Brown in Providence.
After a sluggish offensive start, the Quakers (8-7, 1-0 Ivy) leaned on their elite backcourt duo of juniors Clark Slajchert and Jordan Dingle, who combined to score 51 points.
Dingle put the Bears (7-7, 0-1) to bed with about 80 seconds left after he collected a lob pass from forward Nick Spinoso through a triple team and finished through contact at the rim to push Penn’s lead to 70-63. Though Dingle didn’t convert his and-one free throw opportunity, the damage had been done.
Here are the biggest Quakeaways from Penn’s fourth consecutive victory over Brown:
1. Clark Slajchert is back with a vengeance.
Slajchert missed Penn’s last two games before finals break with a bad bone bruise to his knee. Then he returned to play 21 minutes in the Quakers’ tune-up game against Division III foe Wilkes last week.
Whatever rust Slajchert had from his injury layoff is officially gone. He poured in 31 points on 18 shots to record his sixth 20+ point scoring performance of the season. Slajchert and Brown’s star sophomore Kino Lilly Jr. basically played a game of HORSE for a stretch midway through the second half, as if the two were personally challenging each other to make tougher and tougher shots.
What was most encouraging about Slajchert’s performance Monday was his ability to use arguably his best asset: his elite free throw shooting ability. Slajchert repeatedly drew contact in the lane and converted seven of his eight opportunities at the charity stripe.
Slajchert has missed just two free throws on 35 attempts all season.
2. Penn’s defense was a mixed bag.
Anecdotally, the Quakers’ on-ball defense looked solid on Monday night. Penn forced Brown to play deep into the shot clock repeatedly and generated 16 turnovers.
The Bears recorded just below a point per possession on offense, according to KenPom. Penn has not lost a game yet while holding an opponent below a point per possession.
However, Penn seemed to struggle with some of Brown’s screening actions away from the ball.
Quakers fans with strong memories would have noticed that Brown’s Kino Lilly Jr. repeatedly found himself wide open for three-point attempts from the exact same spot where he hit a critical trey which nearly gave the Bears the victory the last time these two teams faced off.
Lilly hit five of Brown’s six treys on Monday.
3. Penn’s frontcourt rotation is coming into focus.
Much digital ink has been spilled by this writer about how Penn coach Steve Donahue will divide minutes among his stable of frontcourt players with wildly differing skill sets.
A clearer picture came into view Monday. Spinoso, a sophomore with elite passing ability, has seized the starting five job. Spinoso played 32 minutes, and though he struggled at times to protect the basketball, finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Max Martz played 37 minutes at the four. Although he likely won’t be happy with his 2-for-11 shooting performance, Martz acquitted himself well defensively and hit four key free throws in the closing minutes.
Max Lorca-Lloyd played nine minutes, while Michael Moshkovitz played just two.