After another frenetic final minute, Penn is 2-0.
The Quakers had to survive an 18-point barrage from Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the game’s last 60 seconds but escaped with an 85-84 win in their opening game at the Palestra.
Penn moved ahead for good with 7:13 to go in the first half after senior forward Nick Spinoso laser-beamed an excellent pass to classmate George Smith, who hit a nice layup to give the Quakers a 20-19 lead they would not surrender.
Strong shooting performances in the second half from sophomore Sam Brown (22 points) and Ethan Roberts (23 points) helped Penn build a lead of as many as 16 points, but the Hawks got hot enough to make the end a nail-biter.
How stressful did it get? After Brown drained two free throws to give the Quakers a game-sealing 85-81 lead with 0.8 seconds left, UMES rolled the ball inbounds into the arms of junior guard Jose Cuello, who casually picked up the ball and drained a three from beyond half-court.
So, what have we learned about Penn after two victories against ostensibly inferior competition that were closer than expected?
Sam Brown is heading in the right direction.
This writer entered this season more excited to see Brown than any other player after the Lower Merion, Pa.-product established himself in 2023-24 as an elite shooter.
Brown looks visibly stronger and faster this season, and has been much more aggressive going to the rim than he was as a freshman. Finishing inside, however, has been a little bit of a problem. Brown shot just 1-5 from 2-point distance on Thursday and shot 2-9 overall in Monday’s win over NJIT (though he was the victim of some unlucky bounces in that game).
The good news is that Brown’s three-point shot looks like it’s heading in the right direction. He drained three triples on four attempts in the second half after a 1-6 performance in the first half.
As long as Brown’s deep shot is working, the Quakers can easily live with ups and downs in the rest of his game.
The defense looked OK by the eye test.
After breaking out a 2-3 zone to stymie NJIT on Monday, the Quakers primarily played UMES straight up man-to-man on Thursday.
Though the efficiency numbers look ugly, — Penn wound up allowing 1.22 points per possession, according to KenPom — they were skewed by the Hawks’ last-minute run of shooting luck.
Penn has won the turnover battle now in its first two games, forcing 11 giveaways on Thursday.
Another green shoot? The Quakers so far are doing a much better job at keeping teams from jacking up threes. Last year, the Quakers ranked 346th in the country in preventing three-pointers, allowing opponents to put up 43.7% of their shots from distance.
This year, Penn ranks 103rd, surrendering three-point attempts on 36.4% of opposing possessions. If that ranking holds up, the Quakers are in for a good season on the defensive end.
It’s really difficult to figure out what expectations should be for this team for the rest of nonconference play.
There are a few elements about this Penn team that fans can safely rely on game in and game out.
They’ll get a strong all-around effort from Ethan Roberts, who has a gaudy KenPom offensive efficiency rating of 128.9 points per 100 possessions thus far, just inside the top 500 of all players nationally.
They’ll get strong shooting and slashing from Dylan Williams and Sam Brown, plus good interior play from Nick Spinoso.
After that? Well, it’s anyone’s guess.
George Smith barely played on Monday, but wound up dropping a hyper-efficient 14 points on just five shots. Forward Johnnie Walter was solid on Monday but finished a -20 plus/minus on Thursday.
Penn got crushed in the predictive metrics on Thursday, falling from 197th in KenPom to 233rd when this story was filed.
The good news is that a team isn’t defined by where it ranks four days into the season. These next two months will be all about the Quakers defining an identity and play style, while hopefully picking up a top-100 win or two along the way.
FOIWaways after comrade Wenik provides more crucial commentary:
1. Double bigs: You can definitely see the vision Steve had with the double bigs. Augie Gerhart’s offensive rebounding has been a nice complement inside to Spinny’s normal play, and the team has been able to lessen Nick’s offensive creation load with Dylan Williams aboard. The issue that has popped up has been finishing inside; With fewer guys to space the floor, it’s impacting Dylan and Sam’s abilities to get clean paths to and looks at the rim.
2. George Smith: We just need more of him. He lit the floor like a firecracker of instant offense and he knows the system well. I’m intrigued by trying the starting lineup but with George in place of Augie for some minutes. Might be a little too small though.
3. Roar Lions Roar: Since there was no Columbia post for the Lions’ win at Villanova, FOIW tips his cap to the rambunctious cagers of Morningside Heights on the occasion of their upset victory. They made plays.