George Smith

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 79-78 overtime loss to Harvard

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Penn’s flickering postseason aspirations were officially snuffed out on Saturday night after the Quakers endured another heartbreaking loss, this time in overtime to Harvard at the Palestra, 79-78.

The Quakers (7-17, 3-8 Ivy) managed to lose despite having free-throw shooters heading to the line with a three-point lead twice in the final 11 seconds of regulation. But both junior wing Ethan Roberts and senior wing George Smith missed their one-and-one front ends.

Harvard (10-14, 5-6) forced overtime after Penn guard Sam Brown deflected a Crimson home run pass into the arms of senior guard Evan Nelson, who drained a contested three over Brown’s outstretched arms with a second to play.

The Crimson took the lead for good when freshman Robert Hinton converted two free throws with 26 seconds to play in overtime. Penn missed three game-winning shot attempts in the final 12 seconds of OT, with senior big man Nick Spinoso missing a desperation hook shot off the front rim just before the buzzer sounded.

Here’s what we learned from another devastating defeat:

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 88-75 win over Dartmouth

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In a season that’s been filled with painful finishes, Penn delivered a moment of unabashed joy at the Palestra on Friday night against Dartmouth.

The Quakers used a 15-0 run in the second half to power past the Big Green, 88-75. It didn’t matter one bit to Penn (7-16, 3-7 Ivy) that Dartmouth (12-11, 6-4) entered the game in second place in the Ivy League or already had a win in hand over the Quakers. Penn delivered one of its most aesthetically pleasing performances of the season.

That aforementioned 15-0 run shattered what was a 53-53 game with just inside 14 minutes to play. Sophomore Sam Brown — the game’s biggest story — scored what proved to be the game-winning basket when he drained a mid-range jumper in the middle of the lane over the Big Green’s Ryan Cornish, then added a layup and an assist.

Senior George Smith drained the dagger with an open three from the left wing.

It’s all happy Quakeaways, starting with how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 61-59 loss to Princeton

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There have been plenty of excruciating losses in Penn’s 12-game losing streak to arch-rival Princeton, but none have inflicted a pain quite like Friday’s 61-59 loss to the Tigers at the Palestra.

With less than a minute to go, there was Penn (6-14, 2-5 Ivy) in the lead despite being forced to play without star wing Ethan Roberts, who sat out the contest with an undisclosed injury. As has happened in so many of these losses to Princeton (16-6, 5-2), every break possible went the wrong way for the Quakers when it mattered most.

After sophomore guard Sam Brown missed the back-end of a one-and-one which would have extended the Penn lead to 59-56, junior forward Johnnie Walter had the offensive rebound in his hands for a split-second but couldn’t quite corral the ball. The Tigers secured possession and then saw sophomore guard Dalen Davis break free to drain a wide-open three-pointer from the left wing, giving the Tigers a 59-58 advantage with just over 30 seconds remaining.

On the next possession, senior big man Nick Spinoso drew heavy contact as he went up for a layup, hit his first free throw to tie the game, but missed the freebie which would have given Penn the lead. Walter then fouled Princeton’s Jackson Hicke as he put up a midrange jumper with six-tenths of a second to play.

There was zero doubt Hicke would miss. The 6-foot-5 sophomore hit both shots at the line to kick Penn fans back into a familiar pit of misery.

What could Penn fans take away from yet another disheartening loss?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 88-79 loss to Brown

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Penn’s renewed Ivy Madness hopes didn’t last for long.

The Quakers are once again behind the eight-ball after a series of late mistakes against Brown led to a tough-to-accept 88-79 loss at the Palestra.

It fell apart for Penn (6-12, 2-3 Ivy) beginning with 5:39 to play in the game. The Quakers had the ball with a 72-69 lead, having erased a 17-point first-half deficit. The first domino fell when sophomore forward Augie Gerhart was correctly called for an offensive foul after he used his elbow to create space in the low post. On their next trip down the floor, the Bears (10-8, 2-3) hit a jumper to make it a one-point game.

Penn had a chance to extend the lead once again, but the otherwise brilliant junior wing Ethan Roberts missed the front end of a one-and-one. Brown’s Aaron Cooley hit a layup after the miss to give the Bears a lead they would not surrender. The Quakers got a clean fastbreak look for Roberts after the Cooley bucket, but it wouldn’t fall.

For Penn, Friday’s loss could quickly snowball. The Quakers will be heavy underdogs in their next three games against Yale, Princeton and Yale again. That 2-3 Ivy record could turn to 2-6 in the blink of an eye.

What did Penn fans learn from a disappointing evening?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 93-78 win over Columbia

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Penn is back in the mix for Ivy Madness after a second consecutive strong shooting performance.

The Quakers rained in 18 threes on 35 attempts in a 93-78 home dismissal of Columbia. Penn (6-11, 2-2 Ivy) is now tied with Dartmouth for fourth place in the league standings, while the Lions (11-6, 0-4) are pretty much toast after a stellar nonconference campaign.

Saturday afternoon’s hero was Sam Brown, who dropped in a career-high 30 points on 12 shots. He became the first Penn player to hit at least eight threes in a game since Jordan Dingle’s 2022 demolition of Harvard in the first Penn game at the Palestra open to fans since COVID hit.

The Quakers won on Saturday thanks to an excellent stretch of complementary basketball early in the second half. They held Columbia without a field goal for 7:38 on the defensive end, while five different Penn players hit threes on the offensive side of the floor. Penn used the dominant stretch to extend a four-point lead into a 19-point advantage inside of 10 minutes to play.

It’s all good vibes again, thanks to how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 82-67 win at Harvard

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For 40 minutes of basketball on Monday, Penn looked like the team optimists thought it could be in a surprising road win over Harvard.

The Quakers entered the matchup with the Crimson as healthy underdogs — six points by KenPom and seven-and-a-half by Vegas oddsmakers.

No matter. The Red and Blue used efficient offense, crisp passing and excellent outside shooting to produce an 82-67 triumph.

A nine-point Penn (5-11, 1-2 Ivy) halftime lead had dwindled to as little as two around the under-eight media timeout. But a catch-and-shoot three from senior wing George Smith pushed Penn back to a five-point advantage. Then, after an exchange of free throws, Smith found junior wing Ethan Roberts for threes on back-to-back possessions.

The latter of those shots, a deep pull-up shot in transition, gave Penn a 64-53 edge with just under five minutes to play. Harvard (6-10, 1-2) never seriously threatened after.

Penn put up a season-best 1.28 points per possession. How did the Quakers pull it off?

It all started with how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 85-53 loss at George Mason

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Penn hasn’t won consecutive games since its 2-0 start to the season in early November. The Quakers will have to wait a little longer to put together a winning streak after familiar problems torpedoed a solid early effort against host George Mason in what ultimately wound up as an 85-53 loss.

For about 15 minutes of game action, Penn (4-8) saw its efficient outside shooting carry over from Friday’s win over Rider. The Quakers started out 6-for-10 from deep and were all level at 23 with the Atlantic 10-contender Patriots with 6:49 left in the first half after senior guard George Smith drained an open transition three from the right wing.

It wound up being Penn’s high-water mark. Penn squandered three chances to take the lead — including a tough-luck moment when junior wing Ethan Roberts just barely missed an open reverse layup following a backdoor cut — before George Mason (8-4) restored order with an extended 12-2 run to end the first half that surely delighted this writer’s father-in-law, a Mason alum.

The Patriots are one of the better defensive teams in the country, and they lived up to that reputation when they held Penn to a paltry 32.2% field goal percentage for the afternoon.

How did it happen? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 86-69 loss to Saint Joseph’s

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PHILADELPHIA — There are losses, and then there are capital L “Losses” that are so embarrassing and so complete that they force you to reevaluate your priors about the team you cheer for.

The 86-69 beating Penn took at the hands of Saint Joseph’s on Friday night at the Palestra falls into the latter category.

The Quakers (2-2, 0-1 Big 5) were never seriously competitive against the Hawks (3-1, 2-0) in their sole nonconference home game against a premier opponent. The Hawks used a 14-2 run early in the first half to break a 9-9 game wide-open, then tacked on a 15-2 run midway to expand its lead to a high of 32 points.

As of early Saturday, Penn has fallen nearly 75 spots in KenPom’s rankings in less than two weeks of play, plunging from 186 to 260.

Red flags abounded on Friday, starting with how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 65-63 loss at Lafayette

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Penn’s undefeated start to nonconference play wasn’t going to last forever. But it certainly didn’t need to end the way it did on Tuesday night.

The Quakers lost a very winnable game on the road against a shorthanded Lafayette squad, 65-63, thanks in large part to a dreadful performance at the free throw line.

Penn (2-1) shot 14-for-24 from the charity stripe, which comes out to a ghastly 58.3% shooting percentage.

The game’s deciding points came with 2.5 seconds to go when Leopards sophomore guard Mark Butler drove into the lane, drew contact from Penn reserve forward Johnnie Walter and calmly drained two free throws.

Penn tried for a home-run pass to set up either a tying or game-winning buzzer-beater, but Nick Spinoso’s inbounds pass to a waiting George Smith at midcourt was deflected away.

There’s much to think about ahead of a Friday home contest against a Saint Joseph’s team coming off a statement win against Villanova, starting with 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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