CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team let Harvard break open a close game with a 12-4 run midway through the second half, and while the Quakers were able to shut the Crimson down after that they could not find the offensive thrust to make up the deficit and fell, 59-53.
 
With the loss, Penn falls to 16-11 overall and 4-7 in Ivy League play, remaining one game out of fourth place as the two teams ahead of them (Brown and Cornell) also lost on Friday. Harvard improved to 15-9 overall and is 8-3 in Ivy play.
 
Notes
*This marked just the second time in the Steve Donahue coaching era that Penn held an opponent below 60 points and lost; the other was a 53-52 OT loss at Drexel his first season.
 
*Penn fell to 12-4 this season and 48-10 in the Donahue era when leading at the half.
 
*Penn shot 34.5 percent from the field on Friday night; the Quakers have shot 51.9 percent in wins this season but just 36.1 percent in losses.
 
*Junior AJ Brodeur scored 24 points, his 21st straight game in double figures and his eighth time reaching the 20-point mark this season.
 
*Brodeur scored 47 points in two games against Harvard this season.
 
*Brodeur now has 1,279 career points and moved into 19th place on Penn's all-time scoring list.
 
*Brodeur also had three assists, giving him 102 for the season.
 
*Junior Devon Goodman scored 15 points and added two assists, four steals—one shy of a season/career high—and two rebounds.
 
*Senior Jake Silpe had nine rebounds, a career high.
 
*Sophomore Mark Jackson provided a spark in the first half, immediately grabbing an offensive rebound and making one of two foul shots. Jackson entered the night having played eight minutes this season, four against Division 1 competition.
 
How It Happened
Points were hard to come by in the first half for both teams, as the defenses ruled the period. Penn was down 15-11 with less than eight minutes left in the half, but a 9-0 run that included a Jake Silpe three-pointer and AJ Brodeur getting into double figures pushed the Quakers ahead, 20-15. Michael Wang had two open trey attempts to push the lead to eight but missed both, and instead Harvard used consecutive possessions to draw back level at 20-20. Harvard's lead was 22-21, but Devon Goodman hit an and-1 layup—missing the foul shot—then dialed long distance to give Penn a 26-22 lead at the break.
 
Harvard quickly made up the deficit in the second half, scoring the first eight points and 10 of the first 12 to go in front by four. Then the Crimson broke a 42-42 tie with a 7-2 run, and then when Brodeur hit a layup to make it 49-46 the hosts came right back with Chris Lewis on the block and Bryce Aiken on a transition three-pointer with 6:22 to play to make it 54-46.
 
As it turned out, those would be Harvard's final field goals as Penn locked down on defense after that, holding the Crimson scoreless for a 5:49 span of game time. However, the Quakers could only make up three of the eight-point deficit during that stretch, not enough. That forced Penn into fouling, and Harvard hit enough of their shots to keep their guest at bay.
 
Up Next
Penn returns to action tomorrow night at Dartmouth, tipping off with the Big Green at 7 p.m. The Big Green fell to Princeton in overtime on Friday, 77-76. Saturday's game at Leede Arena will be broadcast live on ESPN+.