Clark Slajchert

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

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 80-51 rout of Dartmouth

by

PHILADELPHIA — Penn men’s basketball stormed out of the gates of conference play on Saturday, using strong shooting across the board to pick up an easy win over Dartmouth, 80-51.

The Quakers (9-7, 1-0 Ivy), never trailed against the Big Green (4-10, 0-1) at the Palestra. A flurry of threes from freshmen Tyler Perkins and Niklas Polonowski pushed Penn out to a 23-9 lead, and the Red and Blue never looked back from there.

Playing without the services of leading scorer Clark Slajchert — who is still wearing a walking boot on his left foot after hurting his ankle against Houston last Saturday, Penn merely shot 50.9% from the field and hit 14 threes on 56% shooting from beyond the arc.

Not bad, huh?

The Quakers got contributions up and down the roster on Saturday, which leads nicely into how …

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 88-68 loss at No. 25 Auburn

by

Chalk up game one of life without Clark Slajchert as a mixed bag for Penn.

The Quakers, playing in their first contest without their injured leading scorer, had a few strong stretches but ultimately couldn’t hang with Associated Press No. 25 Auburn in an 88-68 road loss to round out Penn’s nonconference slate.

Auburn, which entered the game shooting about 33% from deep, hit six three-pointers in the game’s first eight minutes to put Penn (8-7) in a 15-point hole and led by as many as 20 points early on.

A Quakers flurry early in the second half — capped off by an open Niklas Polonowski three from the left wing — cut the deficit to nine points, 57-48, but Penn could get no further. At any rate, it was a far more competitive effort than what the Quakers put forth on Saturday at AP No. 3 Houston, when Slajchert rolled his left ankle in a 39-point loss.

Penn is on somewhat unsteady ground ahead of Saturday’s Ivy opener against Dartmouth. It all begins with how …

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 81-42 blowout loss at No. 3 Houston

by
Senior guard Clark Slajchert didn’t return after rolling his ankle in Penn’s 81-42 loss at No. 3 Houston. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Penn was always going to have trouble competing on the road against Associated Press No. 3 Houston, which ranks first in overall efficiency margin and first in defensive efficiency on KenPom.

But what happened to the Red and Blue on Saturday was worse than what any Penn fan could reasonably have predicted. Houston delivered an 81-42 beatdown, which was the visitors’ worst loss since they endured a 114-55 humiliation at the hands of Duke on New Year’s Eve in 2009.

Houston (13-0) started the game on an 18-0 run. Penn (8-6) did not score until more than nine minutes had passed in the first half, when freshman Sam Brown drained a long contested three-pointer off a feed from classmate Tyler Perkins.

The ugly final score wasn’t even the worst thing about Saturday. Senior Clark Slajchert rolled his ankle midway through the first half and did not return.

There’s not much to take away from a “burn the tape game,” but you can start with how …

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball escaping Rider with 77-73 overtime win

by
Junior Nick Spinoso notched 19 points on 9-for-17 shooting in Penn’s 77-73 win at Rider Saturday. (Penn Athletics)

Penn men’s basketball picked up its first win outside of the friendly confines of the Palestra on Saturday, though it wound up being a much more circuitous path to victory than expected.

The Quakers (8-5) threw away a 13-point second-half lead at Rider in a collapse that brought back bad memories of last year’s Ivy title-deciding loss at Princeton. But they rebounded in overtime to escape Lawrenceville, N.J. with a 77-73 win.

Penn never trailed in the extra session. Junior Nick Spinoso opened the scoring with a putback and-one (he missed the free-throw), while freshman Tyler Perkins gave the Quakers some much-needed breathing room, hitting a banked-in three as the shot clock expired with 90 seconds to play in overtime to extend Penn’s lead to five points.

There’s a lot for Penn fans to be happy about but some reason for concern ahead of a road matchup next Saturday at Associated Press No. 3 Houston, starting with how …

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 78-68 win over Howard

by
Penn senior guard Clark Slajchert notched 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including 6-for-9 from three-point range, in his team’s 78-68 win over Howard Monday night. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Penn rebounded from Saturday’s loss to Kentucky with one of its cleanest and most efficient performances of the season. The Quakers scored 1.2 points per possession and hit 12 three-pointers in a 78-68 win over Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference favorite Howard at the Palestra.

Penn (7-5) took a series of early punches to the mouth from the Bison. Howard started the game on a 7-0 run and then added a 15-2 flurry midway through the first half to build a 28-17 lead.

Clark Slajchert almost singlehandedly flipped the game around for the Quakers. Slajchert scored all 20 of his points in a stretch that spanned the final eight-plus minutes of the first half and first two minutes of the second half.

The senior put Penn ahead for good with 1:34 to go in the first half when he drained an open three from the right wing through heavy contact from Howard guard Isaiah Warfield during his follow-through. Slajchert finished off the four-point play at the free throw line, then added another three 29 seconds later off a slick feed from freshman Sam Brown.

Penn fans have plenty of happy Quakeaways to hold onto as the team heads into a long layoff for finals, starting with how …

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 81-66 loss to No. 16 Kentucky

by

PHILADELPHIA — Clark Slajchert took a quick dribble as Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard flew by, freeing the senior up for a wide open three from the wing he routinely hits.

If it went down, it would have pushed Penn to a 49-47 lead over the Associated Press No. 16 Wildcats with 15 minutes to play, completing a comeback from 16 points down.

The shot looked good but came up a little short. It was a microcosm of the afternoon for the Quakers, who gave Kentucky fits for the better part of 30 minutes in what wound up being an 81-66 loss.

Despite having the ball with a chance to tie or go ahead three times in the second half, Penn (6-5) never could quite get over the hump against the Wildcats. A 9-0 Kentucky run around the under-eight media timeout, capped by an open Antonio Reeves three, pushed the Wildcats’ lead from four points to 13 and put the game out of reach.

What could Penn fans take away from a solid showing against one of the most decorated programs in college basketball?

Read more

Quakeaways heading into Penn men’s basketball’s showdown with No. 16 Kentucky

by
Senior guard Clark Slajchert enters Penn’s tilt versus Kentucky averaging 19.3 points on 50% shooting through 10 games this season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

After taking a gut-punch loss to La Salle on Saturday, Penn responded by easily brushing aside Division III Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham on Wednesday at the Palestra, 111-57.

As is expected in a game against a Division III team, Penn could give regulars like Nick Spinoso, Tyler Perkins and Clark Slajchert light workloads. Slajchert scored 17 points on eight shots in just 15 minutes of action; he got virtually the entire second half off.

By the end of the evening, 14 different Quakers had scored. Penn also hit a program-record 21 three-pointers.

There aren’t many meaningful Quakeaways one can take away from a Division III tune-up game. But there’s certainly much to mull over ahead of Penn’s big-time game on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center against Associated Press No. 16 Kentucky.

Maybe these can be Palestra Ponderings on a possible path to victory instead.

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 93-92 loss to La Salle

by

For 45 minutes on Saturday, Penn played gorgeous and free-flowing basketball against La Salle.

Penn’s reward for its efforts? A spot on the wrong end of a SportsCenter Top 10 moment.

The Explorers’ Khalil Brantley banked in a three-pointer from nearly halfcourt as the overtime buzzer sounded, sending Penn to a brutal 93-92 loss in the third-place game of the Big 5 Classic at the Wells Fargo Center.

Clark Slajchert hit what should have been a game-winning layup with four seconds left in overtime, which counted as the final two points of his 33-point scoring effort, tying a career high. Penn (5-4, 1-2 Big 5) defended La Salle’s desperation scramble well, with George Smith getting an outstretched arm right in Brantley’s face.

Fate had other plans for Penn.

Zooming out, Quakers fans learned plenty about their team on Saturday. Such as how…

Read more

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 76-61 win over Monmouth

by

Penn men’s basketball responded to a difficult overtime loss with arguably its best top-to-bottom performance of the season.

The Quakers dominated a Monmouth team that had won its last three games, 76-61, to wrap up the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic round robin with a 2-1 record.

Penn (5-3) took control with an extended 19-4 run midway through the first half over roughly eight minutes of game time that flipped the score from 19-13 in favor of the Hawks to a 32-23 Quakers lead.

A deep Sam Brown three from the right wing off a pretty drive and kick by Tyler Perkins gave Penn a 23-21 lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the day.

It’s all good vibes for Penn on Sunday, led by how …

Read more