Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 88-68 loss at No. 25 Auburn

Chalk up game one of life without Clark Slajchert as a mixed bag for Penn.

The Quakers, playing in their first contest without their injured leading scorer, had a few strong stretches but ultimately couldn’t hang with Associated Press No. 25 Auburn in an 88-68 road loss to round out Penn’s nonconference slate.

Auburn, which entered the game shooting about 33% from deep, hit six three-pointers in the game’s first eight minutes to put Penn (8-7) in a 15-point hole and led by as many as 20 points early on.

A Quakers flurry early in the second half — capped off by an open Niklas Polonowski three from the left wing — cut the deficit to nine points, 57-48, but Penn could get no further. At any rate, it was a far more competitive effort than what the Quakers put forth on Saturday at AP No. 3 Houston, when Slajchert rolled his left ankle in a 39-point loss.

Penn is on somewhat unsteady ground ahead of Saturday’s Ivy opener against Dartmouth. It all begins with how …

Slajchert’s long-term status is quite uncertain.

Penn Athletics said Monday that Slajchert is out “for the foreseeable future,” while the SEC Network broadcasting crew said that the senior guard could be sidelined until February. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday that more will be known about Slajchert’s prognosis when the Quakers return to Philadelphia.

The Red and Blue floundered against Houston without Slajchert on the floor. With a few days to prepare, Penn scored exactly one point per possession against the Tigers, who are ranked 11th in defensive efficiency by KenPom. That number isn’t going to set the world on fire, but it’s at least functional.

Penn will definitely lean on its freshman backcourt in Slajchert’s absence. Sam Brown (more on him later) and Tyler Perkins combined to score 33 of Penn’s 68 points. Both played fearlessly and earned their share of praise from the broadcast team.

Still, though, the Quakers desperately need Slajchert on the floor as a three-level scoring threat, reliable free-throw shooter and sneakily capable distributor.

The one silver lining about Slajchert’s injury is that it came before a relatively light period of the Ivy League schedule. Even if Slajchert is out for all of January, he’ll only miss four Ivy games.

Sam Brown is improving every game.

Brown finished with a team-high 20 points on Tuesday on nine shots. He’s posted a KenPom offensive efficiency rating of 110 points per 100 possessions or better in five of his last six games; the only exception was Saturday’s Houston debacle.

While Brown has definitively established himself as a great outside shooter — he four threes on six attempts Tuesday, raising his season average against Division I opponents to 45.3% — some of his best moments against Auburn came on fastbreak runouts and on dives into the lane off the ball.

Perhaps one day Brown can be an elite three-level scorer like Slajchert. For now, he’s developing skills beyond shooting that will make him a starter for years to come.

There was one moment that Brown would like to have back. He got called for a technical foul while shooting free throws in the final seconds of the first half for shoving Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara after the Tigers’ junior guard  “accidentally” bumped into Brown following a miss at the line.

George Smith has had a tough few games.

Smith, a junior, has carved out a starting spot for himself based on his skills as a three-and-D role player.

The problem is that Smith’s threes haven’t been falling. He hasn’t made a three-pointer since the Kentucky game on December 9 and has posted a KenPom offensive efficiency rating below the KenPom breakeven mark of 100 points per 100 possessions in four straight games.

Smith has a good track record for his career and his defensive skills are as good as ever. Penn has also gotten the ball to Smith for good looks, the shots just haven’t fallen. The Quakers should be confident that he’ll play his way out of this rough stretch.

What would be a red flag, though, is if Smith loses confidence.