General

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 77-60 loss at Cornell

by

There was nary a Cornell player within 10 feet of Tyler Perkins when the guard set up in the right corner for an open three-pointer as Penn looked to get into its offense down just 36-35 to the Big Red with 17:13 to play.

Junior Reese McMullen spotted Perkins as he crossed halfcourt and rifled a pass with his left hand … that bounced just past the freshman and out of bounds.

It was all downhill after that for Penn, which fell at Cornell, 77-60, after the Big Red unloaded for 49 points in the second half after trailing by three at halftime.

Cornell (12-3, 2-0 Ivy) hit 10 threes in the second half after a rough shooting start, and its pressure defense did the rest. Penn (9-8, 1-1) committed 17 turnovers over the course of the afternoon.

The Quakers have plenty to ponder ahead of a pivotal Palestra showdown with Harvard on Saturday. They can start with how …

Read more

Yale men’s basketball bests Brown in Ivy League opener, 80-70

by

Yale men’s basketball owns Brown.

The Bulldogs have now won 10 out of their last 11 games against the Bears under coach James Jones, whose team won another road contest in the series Tuesday night, 80-70. Brown never led.

“Great way to start league play,” Jones said. “Always tough to win on the road, especially with our travel partner. The team is starting to come together. We’re close to playing Bulldog basketball.”

Read more

Yale men’s basketball ekes out 86-78 overtime win at Howard

by

Junior guard John Poulakidas delivered a season-high 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting to lead Yale to a hard fought 86-78 overtime win at Howard Wednesday.

Yale (9-6) played the game with team scoring and rebounding leader sophomore center Danny Wolf out with an illness.

The Bulldogs squandered a 16-point lead (67-51). A trey by former Harvard nemesis and grad forward Seth Towns, the 2017-18 Ivy Player of the Year, plus a dunk by junior guard Bryce Harris dunk in the last minute of regulation sent the game into overtime.

But the visitors dominated the extra session.

It was a game of runs by both teams.

Yale went on a first-half 11-point run to lead by 17-7, and the Bison answered with their own 7-0 run to knot the score at 20.

Howard (5-10) switched to a 2-3 zone, which flummoxed Yale for portions of the first half.

Yale led 36-31 at the half. Poulakidas posted 16 first-half points.

The Bulldogs were in control for most of the second half until Howard (5-10) went on an 18-4 run to send the game into overtime.

“Great team effort, really rebounded well, which made all the difference in the game,” Yale coach James Jones said.

Yale won the rebounding war, 47-28, hauling in 21 offensive boards that led to 31 second-chance points.

Senior forward Matt Knowling notched 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while junior guard Bez Mbeng registered 14 points. Sophomore forward Casey Simmons pitched in with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

Nine Yale players logged 10 minutes or more, as Jones is still searching for a rotation for the Ivy slate.

Junior guard Marcus Dockery led Howard with 21 points. Towns contributed 17 points and six rebounds.

Yale opens Ivy play at Brown on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Penn women’s basketball falls flat at Temple in 61-47 defeat

by
Well, that was ugly.
Two days after the Penn women’s strong win at Merrimack, they had their weakest game of the season at Temple, losing 61-47.
Yes, the Owls threw a frustrating, fast-handed defense at them, but the Red and Blue had the larger role in the loss, shooting a meager 28% from the field (to the Owls’ 38%) and committing 28 turnovers (leading to 31 — just over half — of Temple’s points).

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 74-72 win versus Lafayette

by

Penn avoided a second consecutive disastrous loss thanks to some heroics from its upperclassmen Friday.

The Quakers opened the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic with a narrow 74-72 win over Lafayette after junior guard George Smith buried a go-ahead three-pointer from the right wing with 33 seconds to go on a broken play.

Smith and the rest of the Quakers (4-2) definitely owe senior guard Clark Slajchert a big thank you. Slajchert set Smith up for the game-winning shot after he recovered a deflection in the backcourt and found the open shooter following a mad scramble for the ball.

Slajchert finished with a team-high 18 points and tied a career high with five assists. The senior played 37 minutes, so load management for Slajchert will be something to monitor as the Red and Blue play three games in as many days this weekend.

It’s (mostly) happy Quakeaways for the day, led by how …

Read more

Mataya Gayle, Stina Almqvist Lead Penn women’s basketball past Siena

by
(Penn Athletics) Mataya Gayle posted 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting for Penn in her third career game in a win at Siena Sunday.
Mataya Gayle has arrived.
The freshman from Georgia showed why coach Mike McLaughlin made her his starting point guard by running the offense and scoring 25 points in three quarters as the Penn women beat a good Siena team on the road Sunday afternoon, 85-79, in a back-and-forth game between well-matched teams.

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 83-80 overtime loss at Maryland Eastern Shore

by

Penn followed up one of its best victories in years with one of its worst defeats.

The Quakers failed repeatedly to put away host and KenPom No. 352 Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the second half and eventually got burned in a 83-80 overtime loss.

UMES is the worst-ranked team Penn (3-2) has ever lost to in the KenPom era (which has data going back to the 1998-99 season).

Penn’s loss was sealed by a three with nine-tenths of a second to play in overtime from UMES’ Elijah Wilson on a play that strongly resembled Kris Jenkins’ shot to win the 2016 national championship game for Villanova.

The shot spoiled a furious Penn rally that was led by freshman Sam Brown, who buried two three-pointers in an eight-second span to tie the game before the final sequence.

Penn should have sealed up a win easily well before Wilson’s shot, mostly because …

Read more