Fearless M.Hoops wins again

Call it a knack for winning, a productive chemistry, or, as Penn coach Fran Dunphy did, "a certain something."

Whatever it is, the Penn men's basketball team had it last night, just as it has all season.

The Quakers (6-1, 1-0 Big 5) won yet another close game, this time 75-74 in overtime against Philadelphia rival Villanova (3-2, 0-2) in front of 7,182 fans at the Palestra. Penn, which saw many of its supporters storm the court after the victory, is now 5-1 in games decided by 10 or fewer points.

"There's something about this group that's got a chance to be real special... There's a certain something about their chemistry that gets them over the hump in times that adversity hits," Dunphy said.

Adversity hit Penn like a prize fighter's uppercut last night. Andrew Toole played with a stress fracture that could have turned into a full break at any second and will sit for the next month-and-a-half after he has surgery today. Adam Chubb, returning from a stress fracture of his own, looked lost on the court, committing three turnovers and three fouls in just four minutes. And with 6:45 remaining in regulation, three Quakers' starters had four fouls.

But no punches were going to knock Penn out.

'Nova opens an 11-point lead five minutes into the second half? That's fine -- the Quakers go on a 17-2 run.

Penn has the ball with 41.2 seconds to go in the second half and the game tied at 64, but 35 seconds later, Toole turns it over on a shot-clock violation? No problem -- Koko Archibong sticks to the Wildcats' Brooks Sales like a band-aid after the inbound pass, forcing a desperation three-point miss by Derrick Snowden.

Villanova turns a 73-68 overtime deficit into a 74-73 lead with 18 seconds remaining? Don't worry. Toole, who ended with 21 points, drives, gets fouled by Sales and calmly sinks his two foul shots.

A certain something indeed.

The game ended when 'Nova guard Reggie Bryant's eight-footer was blocked by Penn's Ugonna Onyekwe at the buzzer, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that block came as a result of that chemistry, that certain something.

"I was kind of concerned that [Bryant] might dump it off to Ricky Wright at some point," said Onyekwe, who struggled again and has now hit just 6 of 25 shots and scored 18 points in his last two games. "But I just had to trust that someone else would come over."

Trusting their teammates -- it's something the Quakers have done all season.

Make that almost all season.

"For the first time this year, we were selfish in the first half," Dunphy said.

And Dunphy was right. In the first 20 minutes, the Quakers made a habit out of eschewing post players and multiple-pass possessions in favor of the dump-in, kick-out strategy that worked so horribly for them last year.

But Penn soon reverted to the form that has helped it get off to its best start in seven years. The Quakers shot 52.2 percent in the second half and went 4 for 5 from the field in overtime.

It was the type of performance that seemed to justify Penn's eight votes in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll, the type of performance that gets players thinking NCAA Tournament -- Toole mentioned it explicitly in the post-game press conference -- and opposing coaches gushing with praise.

"I love their team," said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose squad helped Penn out by committing 23 turnovers. "I love how they play."

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