Penn is on the verge of a trip to the Ivy League Tournament after pulling off one of its most thrilling victories in years.
The Quakers (15-11, 7-4 Ivy) took down Yale, 66-64, Friday night in a classic Palestra matchup between two teams that have now split their home-and-home series for six consecutive seasons. The two teams exchanged the lead 14 times. Neither led by more than six points.
Penn took the lead for good when sophomore guard George Smith hit an open three at the top of the key off a nice feed from Max Martz to give the Quakers a 52-50 lead with 7:19 to go.
The end was a sequence of events that likely gave Penn fans heart palpitations. The Quakers held a four-point lead with less than 13 seconds to go, but let Bulldogs (17-7, 7-4) guard John Poulakidas hit an open three with about 5.8 seconds on the clock.
Penn got the ball inbounds without issue, but normally reliable free-throw shooter Clark Slajchert split a pair at the line. Despite getting a chance to tie or win the game, Yale could not get off a final shot before the buzzer sounded.
There’s a lot for Penn fans to process ahead of a Saturday night tilt against Brown, such as how …
1. Jordan Dingle put a bow on his Ivy League Player of the Year campaign.
At this point, is there any doubt that the junior guard is the best player in the league? Though Dingle struggled with his outside shot (he finished 1-for-7 from three), he willed Penn across the line when the team looked like it was on the verge of folding.
With 88 seconds to go and Penn clinging to a 63-61 lead, Dingle drew a critical charge on Yale’s Bez Mbeng as the Bulldogs point guard tried to orchestrate a runout off a live-ball turnover. The call disqualified Mbeng and effectively crippled Yale’s offense; the Bulldogs lost their best player, forward Matt Knowling, to an ankle injury early in the second half.
With 39 seconds to go and the score still 63-61, Dingle corralled the rebound after Poulakidas missed a game-tying jumper. In an isolation situation, Dingle drained the clock down, then hit a free throw line floater over Yale’s Isaiah Kelly with just under 13 seconds to go.
Any coach in the country would kill to have Dingle on his roster. There’s a reason that ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who was Friday’s color commentator, called him an NBA player.
2. Clark Slajchert (kind of) earned fans’ trust again.
Slajchert earned KenPom game MVP honors after he put up 13 points on nine shots and finished with an offensive efficiency rating of 120 points per 100 possessions while on the floor.
Friday was Slajchert’s most efficient performance since his January 2 flambéing of Brown, in which he scored 31 points. It was nice to see him pick up the slack (no pun intended) when Dingle was struggling to find his shot.
It was concerning, though, to see Slajchert miss a free throw in a critical late-game situation. He also nearly committed a killer turnover down the stretch but got bailed out when Penn held the possession arrow after the ensuing tie-up.
All in all, though, Slajchert looked like himself for the first time in more than six weeks. Penn needs him to string together more performances like Friday’s as the stakes get higher.
3. George Smith remains Penn’s unsung hero.
Smith hit a total of three three-pointers on four attempts on Friday. The sophomore is now shooting exactly 50% from long range in Ivy play on 28 attempts, the third-best three-point shooting percentage in the Ivy League.
In fact, Smith’s KenPom offensive efficiency rating of 124 points per 100 possessions in league play is fourth-best of any player in the Ivy League.
Smith also played a critical role in slowing down a Yale offense that sits 85th in overall offensive efficiency, according to KenPom. He finished with a total of 10 rebounds, the best mark of any player on the floor on Friday.
If Penn wins the Ivy title, it’s a sure bet that Smith will have hit a critical shot or two (or three) along the way.