PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team had little trouble in its midweek tune-up ahead of Saturday's big matchup with No. 16/17 Kentucky, downing Division III FDU-Florham on Wednesday night, 111-57.
 
Head coach Steve Donahue has made defense a priority since Saturday's 93-92 overtime loss to La Salle, and it was evident on Wednesday as the Quakers came up with 14 steals. At the other end, the Red and Blue was red hot as they hit a program-record 21 three-pointers on just 34 attempts, a staggering 61.8 percentage. Overall, Penn shot 62.9 percent from the field in amassing 111 points, tied for the fifth most in a game in program history.
 
Penn improved to 6-4 with the win.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This was the highest-scoring game by Penn since the Quakers scored 112 against another Division III program, Stockton, on November 24, 2018.
 
*The only other time the Red and Blue scored 111 points in a game was February 25, 1972, in a 111-82 victory against Ivy League rival Cornell.
 
*Penn scored 56 points in the first half; the last time the Quakers achieved this was against PSU-Brandywine in 2017.
 
*Penn's 21 treys demolished the program mark of 17, set on December 21, 2019 against Widener. (The Quakers' record for treys against a D1 opponent is 16 set three times, most recently last season at Missouri.)
 
*Nine different players hit a trey on Wednesday, one shy of Penn's NCAA Division I record ten set against Delaware State on December 27, 2017.
 
*The Red and Blue also posted their best field goal percentage so far this season at 63 percent (39-62), while also hitting the most shots this season with 39.
 
*Penn had 29 assists, tied for the program's high mark in the Steve Donahue coaching era, and had a season-low seven turnovers (4.14 A/TO ratio).

*The 29 assists are great; what will really get Coach Donahue excited is that 13 different players had at least one.
 
*Penn's 14 steals were tied for a team high in the Donahue era; the Quakers also had 14 in an 82-63 win over Cornell on February 12, 2017.
 
*All 15 players saw at least six minutes in Wednesday night's game—in fact, only two saw more than 20, Johnnie Walter (21:56) and Niklas Polonowski (20:09)—and 14 of them scored.
 
*Senior Clark Slajchert led the Quakers with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting (4-5 from distance), getting there in less than 15 minutes of action. He also had two steals.
 
*Freshman Sam Brown scored 16 points, 11 in the first half, and set a season/career high with four assists.
 
*The freshman Polonowski also had 16 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 night beyond the arc. He also dished out three assists.
 
*Junior Reese McMullen drained a career-high eight points, hitting two three-pointers, and grabbed a team-high three steals which was a career best.
 
*Sophomore Chris Ubochi scored his first collegiate bucket and finished with eight points. He also snagged two rebounds, distributed two assists, blocked a shot, and collected a steal.
 
*Senior Colin Chambers broke his career high with nine points, hitting a trio of three-pointers.
 
*Junior Ed Holland III broke his career best with a game-leading six rebounds and added six points and three assists.

How It Happened
FDU-Florham opened the scoring on Wednesday night, Jamal Santana draining a three-pointer on the game's first possession. However, Penn scored the next six points and extended the run to 11-2 to quickly gain control.
 
Penn had a bit of trouble shaking the Devils early on, leading just 14-11 after six minutes. However, Sam Brown knocked down a trey—his second of the game—and that set the Quakers off on an 11-0 run that was essentially the knockout punch. The lead was extended to 20 by the 5:20 mark of the first half (35-15), reached 30 with a little over a minute left in the period (51-21), and was 33 at the break (56-23). In all, Penn's run over the final 14 minutes was a staggering 42-12
 
Any ideas that FDU-Florham had of getting back into it in the second half were quickly squelched, as Penn needed less than three minutes to score the first 12 points of the period. That made the score 68-23 and from there it was just a matter of where things would end up.
 
Up Next
Penn is back at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday to play No. 16/17 Kentucky. That game will tip at noon and air live on ESPN2.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.