NEW YORK CITY — In an otherwise lost season, Sam Brown delivered an evening of pure joy for Penn on Saturday night.
The sophomore guard accomplished something no Penn player had since Hassan Duncombe in December 1989: score at least 40 points in a game. Brown’s virtuoso 42-point showing carried the Quakers to a 92-87 win over Columbia.
It didn’t mean much in the standings, save for assuring that Penn (8-18, 4-9 Ivy) would avoid finishing last place in the Ivy League. That spot is now reserved for the Lions (12-14, 1-12), whose season has nosedived after a promising nonconference campaign. It seems likely that both teams will have new coaches next season.
Penn never trailed on Saturday, but there were more than a few perilous moments. Things got especially dicey when Columbia star Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa intercepted an inbounds pass from Nick Spinoso and drained a three to cut Penn’s lead to 86-85 with 30 seconds to play.
But Brown calmly converted all six of his free throw attempts to assure the Lions would get no closer.
Brown was the biggest story of Saturday night. What made his evening so special?
Dribble penetration.
During his freshman year, Brown functioned as more of a three-point specialist, spotting up for catch-and-shoots and dribbling into open looks. Per KenPom, Brown shot 135 threes against Division I opponents in 2023-24 compared to just 60 two-point attempts.
This year, Brown has been much more willing to take opponents off the bounce. That shot ratio is closer to even now, too: Brown has shot 146 threes and 124 twos so far this season.
On Saturday, Brown finished 10-for-14 from two-point range. Though coach Steve Donahue’s offense has historically emphasized threes and shots at the rim, Brown was willing to dribble into shots all over the lane in addition to layups. There was even one floater which seemed eerily reminiscent of now-graduated Clark Slajchert’s favorite shot.
Brown’s growth as a ball-handler this season should have Penn fans confident that he can be the team’s primary shot-taker next year.
A short memory.
Brown’s Ivy campaign has been as good as his non-conference season was bad. There were time early on this season where it looked like Brown wasn’t as confident in his deep ball as well as a stretch in which he posted eight points or fewer in six straight games.
The Brown that Penn fans saw on Saturday night was willing to put up shots from NBA range but never seemed like he was pressing to get threes in the air. He finished with four made threes on six attempts.
There was a time this season when I wrote that Brown and his apparent regression had been the biggest disappointment in a bad year. Now, he looks like the future of the team. Many players would have folded in the face of the slump Brown went through back in December.
Now, it looks like it never happened.
A good supporting act.
I would be remiss if I didn’t praise Spinoso, who is playing his heart out in a lost season.
On Saturday, he finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The senior also crossed the 1000-point threshold for his career early in the second half when he collected a laser-beam pass from Brown for an easy layup to push Penn’s lead to a 51-39 advantage.
Spinoso has recorded four straight games with a KenPom offensive efficiency figure above 100 points per 100 possessions. He’s also scored in double figures in five straight contests.
Look, Columbia is lackluster to put it mildly, but that Sam Brown performance was electric. While the rest of the program feels in flux, it’s nice to have him as a constant (transfer portal hopefully ignored?) in this turbulent time.
Does Donahue return if Penn upsets Princeton?