Steve Donahue

Quakeaways from Tyler Perkins entering transfer portal to leave Penn men’s basketball

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New transfer portal occupant Tyler Perkins averaged 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per game as a freshman in 2023-24. (Penn Athletics)

Penn’s offseason got off to a depressing start on Monday when standout freshman guard Tyler Perkins entered the transfer portal.

With the caveat that I possess no inside knowledge, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Georgetown fans who have been salivating over the Lorton, Va. native since the summer of 2023 finally got their wish.

The Quakers have now lost their best returning player for two consecutive offseasons. At least Perkins ripped the band-aid off early, hopping into the portal on the first day of its 45-day window. Jordan Dingle entered the portal more than a month later in 2023.

Much of this analysis could be rendered obsolete by the time the portal closes, but here’s a first stab at what Perkins’ departure means in the grand scheme of things for both the Quakers and Ivy League at large:

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Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day two

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The Cornell jersey arrived special delivery from Ithaca, and all is right in the world of Ivy hoops. (Photo: Rob Browne)

Another great day in the books at Columbia University and Levien Gymnasium.

Four good press conferences, two very good semifinal games and lots of tasty food (including pizza!) in the media room. It’s really hard to beat a day like that.

Some things of note from an Ivy hoops Friday:

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 84-72 win over Columbia

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There haven’t been too many happy moments for Penn men’s basketball over the course of the last two-plus months. But the Quakers got one on Saturday night.

Penn cruised to a fairly stress-free win over Columbia at the Palestra, 84-72. The Quakers (11-17, 3-10 Ivy) roared past the Lions (13-13, 4-9) on the back of standout performances from the two players they expected were going to carry the team on opening night: senior guard Clark Slajchert and junior forward Nick Spinoso.

Spinoso scored a career-high 23 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field, while Slajchert added 22 and finished with an eye-popping KenPom offensive rating of 163 points per 100 possessions while on the floor. He crossed the 1,000 points scored barrier late in the first half.

For once, it’s all happy Quakeaways.

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 71-64 loss to Brown

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PHILADELPHIA — Brown struck the coup de grace on any realistic hopes Penn had of a miracle run to Ivy Madness on Saturday night.

The death blow at the Palestra came in the form of a killer 13-2 run after the Quakers had tied the game at 47 with about eight minutes to go in the game. The Bears’ Kino Lilly Jr. capped it off with a dagger three-pointer to make it 60-49 with 3:14 to play. Penn showed a bit of late life, but it wasn’t enough in what wound up being a 71-64 loss to Brown (7-17, 3-6 Ivy).

It is hard to believe that Penn (9-15, 1-8) has collapsed like this after a nonconference campaign that included a signature win over Villanova and plenty of indicators that the team was heading in the right direction.

But this is the bed the Quakers have made for themselves.

What could Penn fans take away from a miserable evening?

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 74-58 loss at Yale

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Penn’s losing streak hit five games after one kill shot too many from Yale Saturday night.

The Red and Blue fell, 74-58, after a 10-0 Bulldogs run over 90 seconds at the start of the second half turned a manageable six-point halftime deficit into a 16-point hole. Penn (9-12, 1-5 Ivy) had already fought-back from a 7-0 game-opening Yale (15-6, 6-0) run to take a lead, then promptly surrendered a 10-0 run to flip the scoreboard back in the Bulldogs’ favor.

A rattled-in three from Niklas Polonowski cut the Penn deficit down to nine points with just over eight minutes to play, but Ivy League Player of the Year candidate Danny Wolf responded with a personal 10-0 scoring barrage to put the game on ice.

If you had told the average fan after the Quakers’ stunning upset over Villanova that Penn would be buried in the Ivy standings before the Super Bowl, they would have told you that you were crazy. But that is the sad reality.

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 70-61 loss to Harvard

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PHILADELPHIA — Penn picked a bad day to come out flat.

The Quakers dug themselves a 21-point deficit in the first half against Harvard thanks to stretches of stagnant offense and white-hot shooting from the Crimson. It proved to be too much to overcome in a 70-61 loss, despite a valiant comeback effort in the second half.

The loss isn’t fatal to Penn’s Ivy Madness hopes, but it ratchets up the pressure on the Quakers ahead of upcoming road games against Columbia and Brown. They’ll need to win one — if not both — of those games to feel good about their chances of reaching New York City.

There aren’t too many happy Quakeaways from Saturday. Penn (9-9, 1-2 Ivy) no-showed for 20 minutes against Harvard (10-6, 1-2) in front of a relatively full Palestra — including a packed student section. It wasn’t the type of product that will encourage those students to be repeat customers.

The Red and Blue have lots of questions to wrestle with ahead of next Saturday’s trip to Levien Gymnasium, starting with …

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Cornell men’s basketball’s defense, tighter rotation stepped up in win over Penn

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Down 31-28 at the half, the shots just weren’t falling for Cornell men’s basketball at Newman Arena against Penn on Monday. When a team like the Big Red live and die with offense, 36% shooting wasn’t going to cut it against a Quakers squad that rolled Dartmouth by 29 in its conference opener.

But Cornell went on to make 10 triples in the second stanza as it defeated the visitors, 77-60.

Senior guard Chris Manon stuffed the stat sheet for the hosts — recording 16 points, eight rebounds and finishing with five helpers. He swatted a pair of shots and came up with four steals. Junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. had an efficient afternoon, scoring 16 points off 6-for-10 shooting in front of 1,462 at Newman. Senior guard Isaiah Gray and junior guard Nazir Williams each poured in 10 while senior forward Keller Boothby knocked down three triples.

Here’s are two things we learned after Cornell improved to 2-0 in the Ivy League:

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

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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 …

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

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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…

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

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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 …

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