PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team got a huge day from sophomore
Jordan Dingle, and that put the Quakers over the top as they defeated Harvard on Saturday, 82-74, in front of a raucous crowd at The Palestra.
Penn has now won five in a row and remains alone in second place in the Ivy League standings at 8-2. The Quakers are 11-12 overall. Harvard fell to 11-10 overall, 3-6 in Ivy play.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn swept the season series from Harvard for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
*Penn's five-game Ivy League winning streak is its longest since the 2017-18 Ivy championship team started the campaign 7-0 in Ancient Eight play.
*Penn improved to 10-0 this season when leading at halftime.
*Penn knocked down 13 three-point shots on Saturday, shooting a season-best 59.1 percent from beyond the arc (13-22);
over the previous five games, the Quakers had 24 treys (4.8 per game) and shot 22.0 percent from beyond the arc.
*Penn had 16 assists on its 28 baskets.
*Penn had nine steals, one shy of its season high (10 vs. Dartmouth on January 15).
*Penn played without sophomore
Max Martz, who was out due to COVID protocols.
*Sophomore
Jordan Dingle scored 33 points, a season/career high. It was the first 33-point game by a Penn player since AJ Brodeur had 33 against Saint Joseph's on January 18, 2020.
*Dingle—who is averaging 27.4 points per game during this five-game win streak—now has three 30-point games against Ivy opponents this season and is the first Penn player to accomplish that feat.
*Dingle now has four 30-point games this season; the last Penn player to accomplish that feat was Stan Pawlak in his junior season (1964-65).
*Dingle knocked down eight three-pointers, tied for second-most in a single game by a Penn player;
most recently, Tyler Bernardini accomplished the feat twice in 13 days, on December 10, 2011 against UCLA and then again on December 23, 2011 vs. Marist.
*Dingle finished 8-of-10 from beyond the arc and 12-of-17 overall from the field.
*Sophomore
Clark Slajchert had 15 points off the bench, his 11th double-figure scoring game this season and highest point total since he dropped 19 on Cornell on January 7.
*Junior co-captain
Lucas Monroe stepped into Martz's starting position, played more than 27 minutes, and scored nine points which was his high since he had 10 against the Big Red on January 7.
*Monroe also had seven rebounds and three steals, the three thefts tying a season/career high set against Utah State on November 18.
*Harvard was led by Evan Nelson, who scored 19 points. Noah Kirkwood scored 14 points while Luka Sakota had 12.
How It Happened
Penn was down 5-2 early but scored seven in a row and 15 of the game's next 17 points for a 17-7 lead. Harvard came back to draw level at 27-27 when Mason Forbes completed a 7-0 Crimson run with a layup, but Slajchert nailed a three-pointer on Penn's next possession and the Quakers were off on an 11-2 run (eight of the points coming from Slajchert) to jump back in front by nine. The lead was 41-33 at the break.
Harvard came flying out of the gates in the second period, Noah Kirkwood and Kale Catchings doing all the scoring as the Crimson opened with a 9-2 run that got them within a point. However, just like that
Michael Moshkovitz converted a layup and then Dingle drove the length of the floor for an emphatic dunk and hit a trey on consecutive possessions for a 50-42 Penn lead.
The Quakers went cold up 52-44, and Harvard took advantage. While Penn went exactly five minutes without a point, the Crimson crept back and eventually tied the game at 52-52 on a Sam Silverstein free throw. At that point, senior co-captain
Jelani Williams put the Quakers on his back with the team's next six points which kept them in front, 58-57. However, Kirkwood trumped Williams' final free throw with a fadeaway jumper to give the Crimson a 59-58 lead with 7:36 to play. It was Harvard's first lead since 5-2.
The Crimson's lead was 63-60 when Penn scored eight in a row to take the lead. Did we say Penn? Sorry, we meant
Dingle scored eight in a row, as he sandwiched a pair of treys around a layup on three consecutive possessions covering 1:26 of game time. Harvard finally ended the run, Nelson hitting a three, but Dingle found Moshkovitz for a layup to put Penn in front 70-66.
Harvard wouldn't go away. Forbes took a Sakota pass and threw it down, and then after Monroe made just one of two foul shots Kirkwood drilled a triple to tie things at 71-71 with two minutes to play.
At that point, fate shown down. With the shot clock nearing its demise, Dingle stepped out of double coverage and hoisted up a three-pointer that banked off the backboard and through the basket. Sakota's trey to tie it was off the mark, and with just 48 seconds left Dingle drove the lane, drew a defender, and kicked a pass to
George Smith in front of the Penn bench. The freshman swished the three-pointer, cool as you like, for a 77-71 lead and The Palestra was in full delirium.
From there, the Quakers went 5-of-6 at the foul line to keep the Crimson at bay and see out the victory.
Up Next
After playing its one and only home game in the month of February today, Penn is back on the road for its next three. The first two take place next weekend, when the Quakers are at Yale on Friday (7 p.m.) and Brown on Saturday (6 p.m.).
