PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team overcame a sluggish start on Friday night and turned in a strong second half, overcoming Dartmouth at The Palestra, 88-75.
 
The Quakers missed 11 straight shots at one point and were just 5-of-21 from the field through the first 10 minutes of the game. Not surprisingly, they found themselves down by 13, 27-14. Penn shot 27-of 49 the rest of the way, though, and after never leading in the first half they powered past their guests in the second period en route to the double-digit margin of victory.
 
Penn improved to 7-16 overall and kept their Ivy League Tournament hopes alive by moving to 3-7 in league play. Dartmouth—which entered the night second in the Ivy standings—fell to 12-11 overall and 6-4 in the Ivies.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn's 88-point night was its second-highest output this season, surpassed only by the 93 the Quakers scored against Columbia on January 25.
 
*Penn tied a season high with 32 baskets made and set a season mark with 70 attempts.
 
*Penn dished off 20 assists on Friday, tied for the season high set twice previously (1/25 vs. Columbia, 2/14 at Yale).
 
*Penn also shot 15-of-17 from the foul line (88.2 percent), its second-best performance this season—bettered at Penn State, when the Quakers went 11-of-12 (91.7 pct).
 
*Penn finally won a game that it trailed at halftime; previously the Quakers were 1-14 in such games this season, the other win coming in the season opener at NJIT.

*Penn also won for the first time this season when taking, and making, fewer foul shots than its opponent; previously the Quakers were 0-12 when making fewer FTs and 0-11 when taking fewer freebies.
 
*Penn's 15-0 run, which turned a 53-53 tie into a 15-point lead, was the Quakers' second-longest this season, surpassed only by the 17-0 run in that NJIT game back on November 4.
 
*Penn had a staggering 46-22 lead in points in the paint on Friday, tied for its best margin in a game this season (also 40-16 against Navy at the Cathedral Classic Invitational).
 
*Penn outrebounded Dartmouth, 46-34, and won the offensive board battle 10-7; the 46 boards overall marked a season high for the Quakers.
 
*Sophomore Sam Brown flirted with a triple double on Friday night, finishing with 15 points, 10 assists—most by a Penn player this season—and seven rebounds. He also had two steals.
 
*Junior Ethan Roberts also had a double-double, matching Brown in the scoring column and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds which is his season best. He also had two assists and knocked down three three-pointers.
 
*The last time Penn had two different players finish with double-doubles in the same game was January 25, 2020 (AJ Brodeur 19 points/14 rebounds, Ryan Betley 11 points/14 rebounds vs. Temple).
 
*Senior Nick Spinoso matched his career high with 23 points—previously set last season against Columbia—shooting 9-of-10 from inside the arc and 5-of-7 from the foul line. He also had five boards and two assists.
 
*Senior George Smith—who played in his 100th game at Penn—and freshman AJ Levine both scored 10 points, giving Penn five double-figure scorers in a game for the second time this season; Levine also had four rebounds and three assists, while Smith finished with four boards, two assists and two steals.
 
*Michael Zanoni, who had missed the last eight Ivy League games due to various illnesses, played nearly 18 minutes and scored nine points on a trio of treys (on five attempts). He also had three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
 
*Dartmouth got 19 points from Ryan Cornish and 18 from Brandon Mitchell-Day, while Jackson Munro added 12. Cade Haskins and Connor Amundsen added nine each.
 
How It Happened
Dartmouth got out to a hot start on Friday night, draining six of its first nine shots en route to a 15-8 lead by the first media timeout. Penn was 4-of-8 from the field at that point, but after Roberts hit the Quakers' first three-pointer of the night they missed their next 11 shots over a three-minute span. By the time Zanoni ended the skid with a trey, Penn was down 10 but could maybe consider that fortunate.
 
The score was 27-14 when Penn got things going. Levine scored a bucket and then Brown hit what would be his only triple of the night. A Mitchell-Day layup was answered by another Levine layup, then Zanoni drained his second shot from distance. Cameron McNamee scored on a jumper for Dartmouth, but Spinoso answered with the game's next four points. Overall, it was a 14-4 run and Penn was within three, 31-28.
 
Mitchell-Day hit a pair of free throws, but then Brown surprised everyone in the building when he drove the lane and threw down a one-handed dunk over a Dartmouth defender.

1H (4:19) | Dartmouth 35, Penn 34

SAM WITH THE SLAM! Did NOT see that coming. TIME OUT, BIG GREEN!! #Whanau | #FightOnPenn ?????? pic.twitter.com/J2oxkvw5GC

— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) February 22, 2025

Mitchell-Day answered before the crowd had a chance to settle down, but Spinoso scored in the paint on the next two Penn possessions and it was a one-point game at 35-34. That forced a Dartmouth timeout. The stoppage worked, the Big Green going back up by six, but an Augustus Gerhart dunk and a Spinoso bucket were the final points of the period. Dartmouth took a 42-40 lead into the locker room.
 
Smith scored the first points of the second half, tying things up for the first time in the game, and Roberts hit a triple to tie things against at 48-48 at the under-16 media timeout. Out of the stoppage, Zanoni missed a good look from distance but Roberts got the board and was fouled going up. He hit both foul shots and the Quakers had their first lead of the night, 50-48, with 14:53 left. Haskins and Zanoni traded triples, and then Munro hit a pair of free throws to tie things at 53-53.
 
They would be Dartmouth's last points for 4:53 of game time. Penn took advantage.
 
Brown scored the Red and Blue's next two buckets, and that was followed by a pair of baskets from Spinoso, forcing a Big Green timeout. It didn't help, Spinoso scoring again and then Smith scoring five points across a pair of possessions that made the score 68-53. That brought another Dartmouth timeout.

2H (9:07) | Penn 68, Dartmouth 53

Now George is getting into the act! He has our last five, and it's a 15-0 run! TIME OUT, BIG GREEN!!#Whanau | #FightOnPenn ?????? pic.twitter.com/WTtwhKr1dM

— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) February 22, 2025

The lead crested at 16, Brown hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 to make the score 73-57 out of the under-8 media timeout, but Dartmouth showed it wasn't going anywhere when Haskins and Mitchell-Day dialed long distance just 27 seconds apart to get the margin down to 10 with 6:35 left. That brought a quick timeout from Penn head coach Steve Donahue.
 
The margin went to single digits with 5:55 left on a pair of Munro foul shots, and a Munro basket matched a Spinoso score as the clock went under four minutes. Out of the under-4 media, Spinoso hit a pair of foul shots, and then Roberts compounded an empty Dartmouth possession with a triple. That got the margin back to 13 and essentially put this one to bed. Dartmouth never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

FINAL | Penn 88, Dartmouth 75

Great final 20 by our guys tonight. Good way to start this important weekend!#Whanau | #FightOnPenn ?????? pic.twitter.com/sTSYCl5CTx

— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) February 22, 2025

 
Up Next
Penn is back in action on Saturday night, hosting Harvard at 6 p.m. The game will be the back half of a doubleheader with the Penn women who host Cornell at 2:30. Prior to the men's game, the program will honor graduating seniors Reese McMullen, George Smith and Nick Spinoso ahead of their final home game.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.