Penn men’s basketball’s rematch with national title contender No. 3 Illinois went about as well as round one.
The Quakers (0-1) started off their Ivy defense with a 112-70 defenestration at the hands of the Fighting Illini (2-0).
For the game’s first 10 minutes, Penn looked like a team ready and willing to compete in a difficult true road environment. The Quakers briefly led in the opening minutes and were down just one point, 23-22, after freshman guard Ethan Lin drilled a three-pointer from the left corner.
Illinois — which might be the best offensive team in all of college basketball — responded with an immediate 22-3 killshot run over the course of five minutes which effectively ended the competitive portion of the contest. The visitors missed 10 straight shots from the field during the backbreaking run.
The Fighting Illini added runs of 10-0 and 18-2 in the second half to balloon the final score even further. The Quakers were extremely fortunate to see their KenPom ranking drop only five slots to 134th in Division I after the beatdown.
It was obvious the second this game was scheduled that winning was going to be an almost-impossible task for Penn. What lessons did fans learn from a rough opening night?