Lucas Lueth

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

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PHILADELPHIA — The streak is dead.

After 14 consecutive losses to its most hated rivals, Penn finally — finally — took out hated Princeton at the Palestra on Saturday by the thinnest of margins, 61-60. The Quakers (11-10, 4-4 Ivy) now sit atop a four-team morass in third place in the Ivy League and hold their destiny in their own hands.

It should have surprised no one that Penn needed to extend to its absolute limit to finally take out the Tigers (8-15, 4-4). The Quakers led by as many as 12 points in the second half on the back of some intense defense, but an extended offensive outage let Princeton climb back into the game.

The afternoon came down to a one-on-one defensive stand by Quakers sophomore point guard AJ Levine against the Tigers’ best player, Dalen Davis. Levine poked the ball away from Davis at the top of the key as the game clock wound below 10 seconds, then forced Davis into a difficult contested midrange jumper which caught front iron and bounced harmlessly away.

Levine was mobbed by his teammates as he flexed to the crowd, a moment of catharsis after eight years of frustration of heartbreak.

What did Quakers fans learn from an exhilarating day?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s loss at Harvard

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Penn men’s basketball fell just a few inches short of holding onto a share of first place in the Ivy League standings Monday after it took a tough road loss to Harvard, 64-63.

The Quakers (9-8, 2-2 Ivy) rallied back after giving up an 11-0 run that spanned the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to take multiple leads.

The Crimson (10-8, 3-1) seized back momentum after their star sophomore, Robert Hinton, delivered a highlight-reel, and-one dunk over Quakers big man Augustus Gerhart with 5:31 to play. Penn rallied back to tie the game twice after Hinton’s one-handed flush thanks to the efforts of sophomore point guard AJ Levine, but surrendered baskets at the rim to Harvard on five straight possessions in the game’s final three minutes.

Despite that interior defensive collapse, the Quakers had two long-shot chances to tie or win the game in the final two seconds. But Levine was unable to intentionally miss a free throw with 1.9 seconds left and Penn down two. Harvard missed the front end of a one-and-one after Levine’s unintentional make, but TJ Power’s desperation heave came up short.

There’s nothing wrong with splitting two games on a tough road trip, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that Penn let a big opportunity slip through its fingers.

What did fans learn from a tough afternoon?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball downing Dartmouth

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Penn men’s basketball picked up a critical victory in its first extended road trip of Ivy League play on Saturday, taking advantage of a spectacular second half to down Dartmouth, the last unbeaten team in the league standings, 84-74.

The Quakers (9-7, 2-1 Ivy) overcame a string of early self-imposed issues thanks to dominant halves from their two best players. Ethan Roberts carried the team in the first half while TJ Power was confined to the bench with foul trouble; Power scored nine points in the 12-0 run early in the second stanza which gave the Quakers the lead for the rest of the afternoon.

Power lived up to his last name during that decisive run. He started it off by dribbling into a wide-open three, then gave the Quakers the lead with a spinning drive on Dartmouth (8-8, 2-1) wing Jayden Williams. No one the Big Green threw at Power could handle the 6-foot-9 junior.

Suddenly, the Ivy season looks wide-open for the Quakers, who are now in a five-way tie for the league lead. Monday’s matchup with fellow 2-1 team Harvard looms as a massive opportunity.

What did Penn fans learn from a happy start to the long weekend?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s loss at George Mason

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For a second consecutive weekend, an undermanned Penn team — again without leading scorer Ethan Roberts — pushed a double-digit Vegas favorite on the road to the absolute limit before submitting.

This time, they’ll have fewer regrets.

The Quakers (6-6) built six-point leads in the second half twice against George Mason (12-1), a contender to win the Atlantic 10 conference. But a 10-0 Patriots run midway through the second half and bad luck on the defensive glass at the worst possible time sent Penn to an 83-79 defeat.

After TJ Power hit an open corner three to trim the George Mason lead to two points with 41 seconds to play, the Quakers got the critical stop they needed to get the ball back with a chance to win the game after Lucas Lueth rejected a wild attempt by the Patriots’ Jahari Long. However, the rebound popped to George Mason, which converted a layup amid a scramble for the ball.

Penn scrapped and clawed in this one against the Patriots, who were favored by 15.5 points heading into Sunday. Unlike last Saturday’s collapse against Rutgers, Penn didn’t give this one away. George Mason went out and took it.

What did Penn fans learn from an encouraging effort?

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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 Big 5 Classic loss to Villanova

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PHILADELPHIA — What briefly looked like an opportunity for Penn to snatch a signature win in Fran McCaffery’s first season as head coach spiraled over the course of a half-hour into a nightmare that recreated the worst moments of the Quakers’ last two nightmarish seasons.

Just like last season, Penn played Villanova competitively on Saturday for about 15 minutes of game time. Once again, the game devolved into a blowout. This time, the Wildcats put up 1.36 points per possession in a 90-63 rout that delivered Villanova a Big 5 title.

After junior wing Lucas Lueth tied the score at 27 with an open catch-and-shoot three from the left wing, Villanova (7-1, 3-0 Big 5) went on a 17-2 run to break the game open, which was capped off by two runout layups off turnovers in the final 15 seconds of the first half. The Wildcats were never seriously threatened after that.

The final score, though, was ultimately a secondary concern. The season itself for Penn (5-4, 3-1) is at a crossroads after senior wing Ethan Roberts went down with a scary-looking injury early in the second half. Roberts took an inadvertent high hit while being called for a foul, seized up for a few moments while crumpled in a heap on the ground, and then looked visibly unsteady returning to his feet before walking off the floor under his own power.

McCaffery did not comment on the specific nature of Roberts’ injury but said his player was headed to the hospital.

Roberts’ injury brings back bad memories of the ankle sprain Clark Slajchert suffered in a blowout loss to powerhouse Houston just before New Year’s in 2023. By the time Slajchert returned, Penn was in too deep of a hole to seriously compete for an Ivy Madness spot.

Where do the Quakers go from here?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s Cathedral Classic loss to Hofstra

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Playing its third game in a three-day span, Penn men’s basketball simply ran out of gas against one of the better teams it will face this season.

Penn shot a grisly 32% from the field in a 77-60 home loss to Hofstra that rounded out the fourth edition of the Cathedral Classic.

Penn (5-3) managed to hold a two-point halftime lead against the Pride (5-3) that disappeared within the first minute of the second frame. Hofstra drained some shots and generated a modicum of offensive flow, while the Red and Blue struggled to play with pace and generate open looks.

Any chance the Quakers had at a comeback died shortly after the under-eight media timeout. Sophomore forward Lucas Lueth missed a free throw that would have pulled Penn within nine of Hofstra. Though senior wing Ethan Roberts corralled the offensive rebound, the Quakers couldn’t get a shot off and committed a shot clock violation.

At the other end of the floor, Penn got an initial stop, but Hofstra’s German Plotnikov drained a killer three after an offensive rebound. What could have been a four-point possession wound up as a three-point swing in the opposite direction.

The Quakers will surely be watching Monday night’s contest between Temple and Villanova to find out their opponent in the Big 5 title game next Saturday. Until then, they’ll be thinking about how …

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s Cathedral Classic win over Merrimack

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Penn started its three-day homestand for the Cathedral Classic off right Friday with a convincing 77-65 win over Merrimack — even if it didn’t play out the way Quakers fans might have expected.

The Quakers’ (4-2) offense looked stagnant and disjointed for long stretches, clearly disrupted by the Warriors’ (2-5) aggressive 2-3 zone. Instead of folding, though, the Quakers found another way to win.

Instead of relying on finesse and outside shooting, Penn won by exploiting a size mismatch and physically overpowering Merrimack. The Warriors are one of the shortest teams in Division I, with no rotation player standing taller than 6-foot-8.

The Quakers responded by scoring 50 points in the paint and a plud-14 rebound margin. They took control of the game with a 10-0 run late in the first which flipped a 30-25 deficit into a 35-30 edge; an inside finish from forward TJ Power off a slick feed from fellow big Augustus Gerhart gave Penn the lead for good.

What could Quakers fans take away from a successful afternoon?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s loss at Providence

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For about 30 minutes or so Tuesday night, Penn men’s basketball put forth a competitive showing at heavily favored Providence, hanging in there against its Big East opponent using a combination of excellent outside shooting and opportunistic turnovers.

But it was obvious that the Quakers’ defensive dam would eventually break, and break it did. The Friars wound up crossing the century mark in a 106-81 win at the arena now affectionately known as “The AMP” (Amica Mutual Pavilion).

The biggest individual swing came when junior forward TJ Power missed three free throws midway through the second half when he had a chance to cut the Penn (1-2) deficit to just 10 points. Providence (2-1) responded with a corner three after the string of misses, a six-point swing.

Penn’s offensive charge was led by senior wing Michael Zanoni, who dropped in a career-high 30 points. His performance was Penn’s biggest highlight in an evening that had moments of brilliance, frustration and everything in between.

The matchup with Providence — one of the better teams Penn will face all year — exposed the Quakers’ biggest weaknesses and showcased their strengths.

So where exactly does Penn stand after playing three games in five days?

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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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