PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team used an inspired start and—after some nervy moments down the stretch—held off visiting Brown, 77-73, on Sunday afternoon at The Palestra. The game was the Ivy League opener for both squads.
The Quakers improved to 4-10 overall, while the Bears fell to 8-8.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn defeated Brown for the seventh time in eight games and the eighth time in 10 meetings.
*Penn won for the first time this season when shooting a lower percentage from the field than its opponent (Penn 45.0, Brown 47.4); previously the Quakers were 0-10 in such games.
*Penn also won for the first time this season when shooting and making fewer foul shots than its opponent (Penn 16-20, Brown 17-22); previously the Quakers were 0-7 when making fewer free throws, 0-8 when taking fewer free throws.
*Penn went 16-20 at the foul line, setting season highs in makes and attempts.
*Penn won despite dishing out just nine assists, a season low.
*Penn took just 20 three-point shots, a season low, making seven of them.
*Freshman
George Smith, making his first collegiate start, led Penn with a career-high 23 points. He is the fourth different player to lead the Quakers in scoring in a game (
Jordan Dingle,
Jonah Charles,
Clark Slajchert).
*Smith is the fourth different Penn player with a 20-point game this season (also Dingle, Slajchert and
Michael Wang).
*Dingle finished the game with 20 points, his ninth such game already this season, and tied a season high with five rebounds.
*For the second straight game, junior
Michael Moshkovitz set a season/career high in the scoring column with 16 points.
*Mosh also had five assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
*Freshman
Nick Spinoso saw his first action since being injured early in the Arkansas game on November 28.
How It Happened
After Brown scored on the opening possession of the contest, the Quakers would not trail for the remainder of the contest as
Max Martz knocked down a three-pointer to make it 5-2 in favor of the Red and Blue less than 90 seconds into the game.
George Smith made the most of his first collegiate start with six quick points on back-to-back possessions to give Penn a 10-point advantage at 18-8. His first bucket of the game turned into a four-point play and his layup on the ensuing possession capped a 9-0 Quaker run.
Penn took its largest lead of the first half at 27-14 following a trey from
Michael Moshkovitz with just under eight minutes remaining. The Bears whittled the Quaker edge to single digits for just one possession before the Red and Blue answered courtesy of a driving basket from Smith.
Brown scored the final four points of the half, though, and Penn took a 40-30 lead into the break.
The Bears used an early 7-0 run in the second half to cut the Penn advantage to six at 47-41 before the Quakers responded with four unanswered points to stretch the lead back to 10 following a bucket in transition from
Jelani Williams.
Midway through the second half, the Bears used a 6-0 run over a 75-second span to make it a two-possession game at 58-53 in favor of the Quakers. Over the next five minutes, the Ancient Eight foes would trade baskets. Each time Brown cut the deficit to three, Penn would answer to extend the lead back to five
Smith continued his career day with a driving bucket late in the second half, and after Brown hit 1-of-2 at the charity stripe Moshkovitz scored in the post to give the Red and Blue a 68-62 lead with under four minutes to play.
Smith was not done as he hit another triple with two minutes left to stretch Penn's lead to nine at 73-64.
The Bears answered with four straight points, cutting the Quakers' lead to five at 73-68, before a pair of free throws from Smith made it 75-68 with one minute left in the game. However, Brown cut the lead to two at 75-73 after a missed free throw by the Quakers and a three-point play of their own.
Smith would knock down a pair of free throws with eight seconds left, though, and that allowed Penn to escape with the win.
Up Next
The Quakers close out their 2021-22 non-conference schedule with a home tilt against Howard on Tuesday night. The Quakers and Bison are slated to tip off at 7 p.m.
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