Brown all-time moment No. 7: Sean McGonagill scores 39 points with a smashed face

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. Brown is next because Sean McGonagill was also Stanley Ipkiss once.

Sean McGonagill solidified his place as one of the truly great players in Brown (and indeed, Ivy) history on Feb. 4, 2011. But what made the No. 10 entry in our countdown such an outstanding moment actually happened two days before.

In practice Feb. 2, McGonagill had his face smashed while grappling for a loose ball with teammates Dockery Walker and Josh Biber. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and his upper lip had to be reattached to his gums. The accident resulted in 30-plus stitches and a visit to the plastic surgeon.

McGonagill was told not to play for roughly four weeks.

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Season Preview: Brown Bears

Co-captain Tucker Halpern will try to instill some consistency to a talented team that struggled to put together back-to-back forty minute efforts last season. (Photo Credit: brownbears.com)

The Brown basketball team showed last year that it was talented enough to beat anyone in the league when it knocked off tournament-bound Princeton and held double-digit leads twice against co-champion Harvard. Harnessing that talent and executing a game plan for a full forty minutes is the next step for a young Bears squad that looks to leap into the top half this season. Brown is a dangerous offensive team with proven weapons in the backcourt and on the wing, not to mention the help arriving on the interior. Last year though, the Bears struggled on the defensive end, ranking last in the league in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 1.09 points per possession (adjusted for opponent). On several occasions, the Bears failed to generate stops in key situations, including a 46-point half surrendered to Harvard in a head-scratching game at Lavietes. This season, the Bears will look to buckle down and get serious about defending their bucket.

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