Dylan Williams

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s win over NJIT

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Penn closed out the nonconference portion of its schedule strong, using a 17-0 run early in the second half to power its way past NJIT for an 80-61 win.

The Quakers (7-6) entered Wednesday as 14.5 point favorites, but certainly didn’t look the part in the early stages after a litany of injuries forced coach Fran McCaffery to tap players normally stuck on the bench. It took a buzzer-beating three from sophomore point guard AJ Levine to get Penn into the halftime locker room with a narrow two-point lead.

McCaffery ratcheted down the substitutions in the second half and Levine put together arguably his best half in a Penn uniform. During that aforementioned 17-0 run, Levine put up a personal 8-0 scoring burst and added two steals and two assists, to boot. The Highlanders (5-10) never trailed by single digits again the rest of the afternoon.

What did Penn fans learn from a happy start to their New Year’s Eve celebration?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball eking out win over Lafayette

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Penn men’s basketball took a circuitous — and fortuitous — path to victory in its first game without Ethan Roberts.

The Quakers (6-4) started hot against Lafayette, building an early 16-point lead. But then the offense stagnated, the Leopards began to hit shots and Penn needed a favorable whistle (or lack thereof) and one last stop to escape with a 74-72 win at the Palestra Monday evening.

The Leopards (3-8) were deprived of a chance to get the game’s final shot while trailing only by one point after the referees incorrectly ruled that a mid-range jumper from forward TJ Power hit the rim. Instead of being hit with a shot clock violation, the Quakers were able to corral the offensive rebound thanks to a winning play from forward Lucas Lueth.

Cam Thrower was fouled with 4.7 seconds on the clock and split a pair of free throws; Lafayette’s Mark Butler was able to get off a desperation attempt at a game-tying layup just before the buzzer sounded, but a good contest from forward Augustus Gerhart helped force the shot offline.

The Quakers may have gotten a little lucky, but you never apologize for winning. Penn fans will have plenty to contemplate about the state of the team heading into its finals break, starting with how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s first McCaffery-era loss at American

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Playing against a Division I opponent for the first time this season, Penn showed some signs of progress and a few trouble spots in an 84-78 loss on the road Sunday against American, the defending Patriot League champion.

The Quakers (1-1) battled all the way back from a 13-point deficit to take the lead a few times in the second half, climbing ahead for the final time when senior wing Michael Zanoni drained an open three in transition to give Penn a 67-66 advantage.

American (1-1) responded immediately on the next possession with a wide-open three from freshman Madden Collins off some nice passing and never looked back; Collins finished with a game-high 25 points.

However, the game was arguably lost long before then. The Quakers dug themselves a deep hole in the first half with a long stretch of live ball turnovers and offensive discombobulation, which gave themselves little margin for error the rest of the way.

Penn will face a much stiffer test on Tuesday at Providence, which should be a contender for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Quakers will likely be 20-point-plus Vegas underdogs against the Friars.

What did Penn fans learn from a tough afternoon?

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Q&A with Penn men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, part one

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Fran McCaffery speaks at his introductory press conference at the Palestra on April 7, 2025. (Penn Sports Network)


With the NCAA men’s basketball season tipping off Monday and Penn’s season opener coming a few days later, Ivy Hoops Online caught up with new Quakers head coach Fran McCaffery for an extensive Q&A about his coaching philosophy, players and the state of the sport.

Both questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length. Check out part two of the conversation here.  

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 79-66 win over Rider

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PHILADELPHIA — Playing for the first time after an 11-day layoff, Penn turned in its cleanest offensive performance of the season against Rider.

The Quakers never trailed in a 79-66 home win over the Broncs on Friday and put up a blistering 1.27 points per possession, according to KenPom. In a season that has been defined on the offensive end by long outages and poor shot-making, Penn (4-7) finally played at a high level for a full 40 minutes.

There were standouts both familiar and unexpected. Senior forward Nick Spinoso finished with 22 points, one off a career high, while junior wing Ethan Roberts dropped in 20 on 13 shots, including a four-point play that after he drained a straightaway three midway through the first half while absorbing heavy contact from Rider’s Jay Alvarez.

Meanwhile, Rider (4-8) appeared to be asleep at the wheel defensively for stretches. The Broncs repeatedly forgot to cover sophomore wing Niklas Polonowski when he spotted up from distance. Polonowski responded by dropping in 14 points on four made threes to record his first ever double-figure scoring effort against a Division I opponent.

For the first time in a while, it’s all happy Quakeaways:

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 77-64 win over Maine

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PHILADELPHIA — Brilliant performances from Penn’s two best upperclassmen helped the Quakers finally put an end to their four-game losing skid.

Junior wing Ethan Roberts dropped a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double, while senior big man Nick Spinoso seriously flirted with a triple double in a 77-64 win over Maine at the Cathedral Classic Invitational round robin on Saturday.

For the Quakers (3-4), the win over the Black Bears (4-4) was their first victory over a credible Division I opponent all season. Penn’s offense looked crisp for long stretches on Saturday, a welcome change from the early-season clunkiness that has been all too common.

Penn never trailed after the 14:14 mark of the first half but got pushed into a tie at multiple points in the second half. The Quakers drove in the dagger with a 10-0 run that pushed their lead from one point to 11 around the final media timeout of the game. An open Dylan Williams corner three off a swing pass from Roberts pushed Penn’s lead to 68-57 with 3:37 to go and effectively ended the contest.

For the first time in a few weeks, it’s all happy Quakeaways, such as how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball eking out win over UMES

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After another frenetic final minute, Penn is 2-0.

The Quakers had to survive an 18-point barrage from Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the game’s last 60 seconds but escaped with an 85-84 win in their opening game at the Palestra.

Penn moved ahead for good with 7:13 to go in the first half after senior forward Nick Spinoso laser-beamed an excellent pass to classmate George Smith, who hit a nice layup to give the Quakers a 20-19 lead they would not surrender.

Strong shooting performances in the second half from sophomore Sam Brown (22 points) and Ethan Roberts (23 points) helped Penn build a lead of as many as 16 points, but the Hawks got hot enough to make the end a nail-biter.

How stressful did it get? After Brown drained two free throws to give the Quakers a game-sealing 85-81 lead with 0.8 seconds left, UMES rolled the ball inbounds into the arms of junior guard Jose Cuello, who casually picked up the ball and drained a three from beyond half-court.

So, what have we learned about Penn after two victories against ostensibly inferior competition that were closer than expected?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s comeback win over NJIT

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NEWARK, N.J. — It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty.

Staring down the barrel of a dispiriting opening night loss to KenPom No. 334 NJIT, Penn used a combination of a well-schemed 2-3 zone and a relentless interior attack to slowly turn a 17-point second-half deficit into a 58-57 victory.

The winning moment on Monday night came when junior wing Ethan Roberts got the ball in an isolation backdown on the left block with six seconds to go. The Drake transfer bullied his way into the paint and drew a foul with just 1.6 ticks left on the clock. Roberts missed his first free throw but drained the second, the capper on a 15-point Penn debut.

NJIT got a decent turnaround look for forward Levi Lawal at the buzzer, but the sophomore airballed the jumper and the dozens of Quakers fans assembled in Newark could finally exhale.

There’s plenty for Penn to mull over after a near-certain defeat turned into a celebration, starting with how …

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Ivy men’s basketball Media Day highlights

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With the non-conference schedule set to begin in less than three weeks, the Ivy League held its annual Media Day on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, featured coaches and players from each of the eight programs.

Fans can check out the recording on the conference’s YouTube channel.

Below are some highlights:

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Q&A with Penn men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue, part 2

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(Steve Donahue X page)

Media expectations for Penn basketball are the lowest they’ve been since coach Steve Donahue’s first season on campus in 2015. The Quakers were tabbed to finish seventh in the Ivy League, ahead of only Dartmouth. 

Predictive analytics websites have a slightly rosier outlook and project Penn to be in the mix for a third or fourth-place finish, which would be good enough to earn a trip to Ivy Madness in Providence.

With the season just three weeks away, Ivy Hoops Online spoke with Donahue to take a deep dive into how the Quakers will operate with seven new players on the roster.

Both questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length:

Check out part 1 of the conversation here. 

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