Penn avoided the dreaded 0-2 start to Ivy play thanks to a pair of sterling performances from its senior leaders.
Wings Ethan Roberts and Michael Zanoni scored 28 and 20, respectively, in an 81-73 win over Brown at the Palestra. No other Quakers player scored more than nine. The win had the added benefit of snapping a four-game losing streak to the Bears (6-9, 0-2 Ivy).
Penn (8-7, 1-1) scored an efficient 1.2 points per possession against a good defensive team. The Quakers badly needed it, given their own defensive struggles. The Red and Blue managed to get to the halftime locker room tied despite an awful start, then seized control of the game with a 13-6 run out of the break.
Zanoni gave Penn a lead it would not surrender with an open three by the right sideline off a nice feed out of the lane by Roberts 50 seconds into the second half. Roberts later capped off the run with a wide-open three from the left wing thanks to a good screen from big man Augustus Gerhart with 16:17 to go in the half.
What did Penn fans learn from a solid win?
Zanoni and Roberts will be hard to replace next year.
Roberts certainly doesn’t look like a player who missed more than a month of action after he suffered an undisclosed injury against Villanova during the Big 5 Classic title game in early December.
No other player on the Penn roster can dribble-penetrate and draw contact quite like Roberts. On Saturday, the senior’s 28 points led all scorers. Roberts got to the line repeatedly; 12 of his points came on 14 free throw attempts.
Zanoni possesses a similarly special skill to curl off screens and set himself up for midrange jump shots that are effectively layups for the senior. He finished with a team-high KenPom offensive rating of 158 points per 100 possessions and shot 6-for-9 from the field. Zanoni also drew three fouls on midrange jumper attempts.
It’s a shame both players only get one season to play under Fran McCaffery.
Augustus Gerhart’s hustle played a major role down the stretch.
Gerhart has taken some heat on this website before for his offensive struggles, but the junior’s motor and effort level has always been a plus factor.
There’s a good chance Penn falls apart on Saturday afternoon if Gerhart isn’t on the floor. In the final 70 seconds of the game, he drew two fouls, logged a block and a critical defensive rebound and added a deflection on a missed Brown free throw to deny the Bears an offensive rebound or putback opportunity.
Gerhart finished with eight points and six rebounds in 24 minutes, plus a KenPom offensive rating of 122 points per 100 possessions.
It was way too easy to drive on Penn’s defense.
For as encouraging as the Quakers’ offensive performance was on Saturday, the team’s defense was equally concerning.
Brown entered Saturday ranked 334th on offense by KenPom but still put up 1.08 points per possession on Penn. The Bears were able to drive the ball effectively at will, with sophomore point guard Jeremiah Jenkins proving to be the biggest problem.
All of Brown’s success on the offensive end came despite the fact that its best player, Landon Lewis, was unavailable.
If things don’t get tightened up, Penn’s games against efficient offensive teams like Cornell could turn into wild shootouts.
Hooray. Thought Augie was a senior. Another year for king Augustus