Penn’s first trip out of the friendly confines of the Palestra ended in disappointment after the Quakers couldn’t quite complete a valiant second-half comeback against Saint Joseph’s in a 69-61 loss at Hagan Arena.
Despite cutting a 19-point Hawks lead to just two points at three instances late in the second half, Penn (2-1, 0-1 Big 5) never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, thanks to a series of bad breaks and mistakes that were reminiscent of last season’s Ivy Madness loss to Princeton.
The backbreaking sequence came with just under four minutes left to play and the Quakers trailing just 61-59. Saint Joseph’s Kacper Klaczek bricked the front end of a one-and-one, but Penn surrendered an offensive rebound and layup to Rasheer Fleming to extend the Hawks’ lead to four.
On Penn’s next possession, normally-reliable free throw shooter Clark Slajchert missed the front end of a one-and-one. Nick Spinoso corralled the offensive board and looked like he had a clear shot at a layup, but got rejected by Klaczek.
There would be other miscues later on, including a blown fast break opportunity with two minutes to go that could have cut the Hawks’ back lead down to one possession, but that sequence hurt Penn the most.
The loss will give Penn fans plenty to mull over, like how …
Clark Slajchert looked like a player who could carry the team.
While freshman Tyler Perkins returned to earth after a hot start (eight points on 3-for-11 shooting), Slajchert looked like his best self on Friday night.
For much of the contest, Slajchert was the only Penn player capable of creating his own shot … or making a shot, for that manner. He hit five three-pointers — four of which came in the second half — and finished with 27 points on 17 shots. The rest of the Quakers shot a combined 12-for-45 from the field.
Slajchert also deserves credit for being able to avoid foul trouble, which has occasionally been an issue when he’s gone through slumps. He committed only two fouls despite playing 38 minutes.
The only blemish on Slajchert’s night was the missed one-and-one in his only opportunity at the free-throw line. Slajchert is just 1-for-5 so far from the charity stripe, which is surprising considering that he shot 87.5% at the line last year.
Five attempts is not a significant sample size, but Slajchert’s early free-throw shooting struggles merit monitoring throughout nonconference play.
Nick Spinoso is off to a bit of a sluggish start.
It’s way too early to hit the panic button on any player, but Spinoso — Penn’s best frontcourt option — has been performing below his usual standards thus far.
On Friday, Spinoso finished with a team-worst KenPom offensive rating of 49, which translates to the Quakers scoring 49 points per 100 possessions while he was on the floor. The junior forward finished with six turnovers and shot 2-for-8 from the field.
Just from an eye test perspective, it looks as if Spinoso has had some trouble finishing around the rim in the early going this year. It’s also worth noting that Spinoso’s court vision looks as good as ever, and he completed some highly difficult passes against the Hawks on Friday.
The most impressive one came when Spinoso — despite having his back to the basket — laser-beamed an excellent diagonal pass to a wide-open George Smith in the opposite corner. Smith buried a three to give Penn a 15-13 first-half lead, which wound up being the Quakers’ last lead of the night.
Spinoso has all the talent needed to be a dominant Ivy forward. Getting him right by January should be one of Penn’s top priorities.
Rebounding is beginning to emerge as a team strength.
Saint Joseph’s got a huge lift when seven-foot redshirt freshman Christ Essandoko made his collegiate debut after missing the Hawks’ Monday season opener with a toe injury.
Despite Essandoko’s imposing presence on the floor, the Quakers still managed to outrebound the Hawks by a 41-35 margin. Penn grabbed 12 offensive rebounds compared to the Hawks’ eight.
A lot of credit for that statistic goes to Perkins, who is a very impressive rebounder for a guard. He grabbed three offensive boards on Friday, as did sophomore forward Johnnie Walter.
Through two games, Penn has gotten 42.7% of all available offensive rebounds, which is 23rd-best out of 362 Division I teams. The Red and Blue have allowed opponents to nab just 18.7% of available offensive rebounds, which is 35th-best in Division I.
Monday’s home game against AP No. 22 Villanova will be a tremendous challenge, but a strong effort on the glass could help the Quakers mount an upset bid.