Penn men’s basketball opened the Fran McCaffery era with all guns blazing Friday night, setting the team single-game scoring record in a 119-72 pasting of Division III opponent Rowan at the Palestra.
The Quakers (1-0) did what they were expected to do against a lower-division team: physically dominate the game on both ends of the floor. As teams like Boise State and Western Michigan have already shown in this young college basketball season, that’s not always a given.
Penn finished with a plus-30 rebounding margin and had 49 free throw opportunities. One of the few blemishes for the home team was that it could only convert 33 of those shots (67.3%) from the charity stripe.
There are much bigger tests to come on the road (American, Providence) in the next few days, but here are just a few of the happy Quakeaways from an easy win:
The roster seems to have adapted well to McCaffery’s style of play.
In a one-on-one interview with Ivy Hoops Online a few days ago, Penn’s new head coach explained that his uptempo offense doesn’t necessarily revolve around going fast all the time.
On Friday, the Quakers demonstrated exactly what McCaffery was talking about. They’d go from fast to slow — and vice versa — whenever the game situation dictated and wound up scoring 1.38 points per 100 possessions. Senior swingman Ethan Roberts scored 28 points in just 18 minutes of action; he was seen icing his shoulder after checking out of Friday’s game, which was a tad worrying given that shoulder issues limited Roberts’ training over the summer.
It seems as if McCaffery’s coaching style is bringing out skills from the players on the existing roster which fans may not have known even existed. It was a pleasant surprise seeing junior big man Augie Gerhart rim-running for a dunk seconds after a Rowan made basket, for example.
What’s unanswered is how the players will respond when they face an opponent that they won’t be able to dictate the pace to at will.
Dalton Scantlebury impressed.
Scantlebury, a freshman out of Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, looks like he’ll be a fixture in Penn’s rotation from the get-go after he dropped a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double in his first career college game.
What was most encouraging about Scantlebury on Friday were the plays that demonstrated his court vision and basketball IQ. There was one sequence early in the second half in which Scantlebury was perfectly positioned to grab an offensive rebound which led directly to a free throw opportunity for senior guard Cam Thrower. On the other end of the floor, Scantlebury then stepped into a passing lane to force a turnover and transition opportunity.
The most impressive play Scantlebury made on offense was one that didn’t result in a bucket. Late in the first half, the freshman had the presence of mind to recognize he was open for a backdoor alley-oop and cut to the basket.
Scantlebury wasn’t able to finish at the rim after catching the lob, but he created an opportunity for himself when other players wouldn’t have sensed that play was available.
TJ Power is still knocking off the rust.
Power, Penn’s prize transfer forward from Duke by way of Virginia, finished with just six points on 2-for-9 shooting from the field in his Quakers debut.
It was clear the junior is still rounding back into form after missing the better part of a month with an elbow injury. Several of Power’s outside shots — and a free throw — were visibly short.
Power will be fine once he readjusts to playing at game speed. In the meantime, it was nice to see him willing to pull the trigger on open outside looks. Eventually, those shots will fall.
After one game, one truly has to ponder if the Penn Quakers are destined to go undefeated and win not only the Ivy League but the NCAA Tournament after they’ve dispatched with Division III as a whole in one game.
Anyway, it’s wild that Dalton Scantlebury might be good when he has the name of a preppy lacrosse player who spent his high school years at The Hotchkiss School, or something of that ilk. But hey, if he can hoop, he can hoop.