In a game that has been condensed into a single play by major sports outlets around the country, Penn’s loss to La Salle was not caused solely by a half-court overtime buzzer beater. The game was neck-in-neck until the final whistle.
Here are my takeaways from Penn’s Big 5 Classic loss:
1. Spinoso shines
Junior Nick Spinoso did it all for the Quakers. In a game where Penn started three guards, the 6-foot-9 forward/center led the team in assists. Racking up dime after dime, Spinoso methodically delivered the ball into the hands of his teammates, setting them up for open shots and layups. With 13 minutes left in the second half, Spinoso recorded a game-defining block in the paint. Following the block, Spinoso threw a full-court rainbow pass to senior guard Clark Slajchert, who converted a layup on the other end.
2. Going small has big consequences
Coach Steve Donahue opted for a small lineup against the Explorers on Saturday. Without counting Spinoso, the average height of the lineup was 6-foot-3. Due to this lack of height, the Quakers gifted the Explorers 23 second-chance points. Many of these came from simple put-backs.
3. Quakers start hot from beyond before freezing-up
Shooting 48% from three, the Quakers scored 36 points from three-pointers alone. Slajchert led the team from deep, shooting 5-8. However, the Quakers shot 0-4 from three in the last five minutes of regulation and overtime. An old saying in basketball is that if you live by the three, you die by the three. Unfortunately for Penn, this mantra proved correct as their luck from beyond the arc ran out in crunch time.
4. Sam Brown shy
Freshman guard Sam Brown seemed to lack confidence in his shot throughout the game. Scoring just three points in 30 minutes, he avoided shooting the ball. Admittedly, Brown was sharing the court with both freshman guard Tyler Perkins and Slajchert, who both exploded on offense, scoring a combined 55 points. It was still surprising to see Brown give up open looks throughout the course of the game since he has delivered impressive performances versus Lafayette and Maryland Eastern Shore. In both those games, however, Brown came off the bench. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if Donahue elects to keep Brown in the starting lineup or relegate him back to the bench.
5. Big 5 Classic delivers, but Penn fans get short end of the stick
The Big 5 Classic was a celebration of all things Philadelphia basketball. However, the Penn student section lacked in both numbers and ferocity compared to the other Philadelphia schools. It is easy to chalk this up to Penn’s lack of a sports culture, but I feel this was a failure on behalf of the University as the game was inconsistently marketed to students. The availability of student tickets and the existence of a fan bus was not sent out to students until two days before the tournament. At this point in the semester, students are seeing an influx of work leading up to final exams. It is not fair to expect Penn students to drop their perfected studying plans on a whim. Additionally, the brand of Big 5 basketball is not enough to draw in the average Penn student, as the majority of students are not local to Philadelphia.
Penn will return to the Wells Fargo Center and face Kentucky on Dec. 9. If more is done to promote this matchup, students will show up in greater numbers to cheer on the Red and Blue.
CONOR SMITH is a sophomore and current sports reporter studying communications from Mount Royal, N.J. All comments should be directed to dpsports@thedp.com.
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