M. Hoops can't shoot, win vs. SJU

The opening tip last night between Penn and Saint Joseph's was hotly contested, and the ball needed to be tossed up twice before the Quakers won the opening possession. The game was not competitive for much longer after that opening sequence. Early Penn turnovers and timely St. Joe's shooting were enough to keep the Quakers at arms length nearly the entire game, with the Hawks winning, 66-48, at the Palestra Saturday night. Senior forwards Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong were rendered ineffective for much of the night by foul trouble and St. Joe's size on the inside. Despite coming off the bench for the fifth straight game, Onyekwe picked up two first-half fouls and a third just seven seconds into the second half. Archibong fouled out. Meanwhile, the hot shooting that had been instrumental to the Quakers' four-game winning streak was conspicuously absent. Penn was held to 35.4 percent (17-for-48) from the field and 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from behind the three-point line. "They're a very good defensive team," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said of St. Joe's. "Delonte [West] and Jameer [Nelson] are very good at putting pressure on our guards." Nelson and West kept the Quakers' backcourt under wraps all night, as starting guards Andrew Toole and Tim Begley combined for only seven points and only one in the first half. Penn's other starting guard Jeff Schiffner shot well -- 4-for-7 from the field for 12 points -- but could not get many open looks against the Hawks' swarming defense. "To be honest I didn't think any of those guys [Penn guards Dave Klatsky, Schiffner and Begley] could beat us off the dribble one-on-one," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "The only guy we thought could drop his shoulder and beat us was Toole... the rest we just challenged to shoot over us." Toole struggled offensively all night, but did have success guarding St. Joe's star point guard. Nelson was held to just 4-for-15 shooting, although he still put up 18 points. And timely points they were. With 11 minutes remaining in the first half, Nelson hit back-to-back threes and led a fast break that ended in a dunk by St. Joe's forward Dwayne Jones. The Nelson-engineered 8-0 run left the Quakers down 18-11, and they never came closer than seven the rest of the night.

Nelson was hardly alone on the offensive end for the Hawks. With fellow guard West also struggling with his touch, going 6-for-17 from the floor for 15 points, sophomore forward Pat Carroll stepped up. Carroll hit five three-pointers in nine attempts, each of which seemed to be crucial in either stopping a Penn run or igniting one for St. Joe's. Carroll hit a three as time expired in the first half to give the Hawks' their largest lead to that point, 32-19. The Quakers came back in the second half behind a pair of Schiffner threes, cutting the Penn deficit to 38-30 when West and Carroll hit back-to-back threes from nearly identical locations on the left wing, leaving Penn down 14 with only 14 minutes remaining. "We let Carroll get some air in the first half which hurt us," Dunphy said. "We obviously concentrated a lot of efforts on Delonte [West] and Jameer [Nelson], and if you look at it, 10-for-32 [combined shooting], I thought Schiff [Schiffner] and Andy Toole did a very good job defensively." The Quakers made one final run behind Toole, Onyekwe and Archibong. Onyekwe, who finished with 13 points, was the only Penn player capable of creating his own shot. Archibong had 10 points. Down 46-30 with less than 13 minutes to play, Toole had a three-point play. Archibong followed with a free-throw and a runner in the lane. Onyekwe then scored five straight points, cutting the deficit to 49-41 with six minutes left to play. However, Penn was unable to get closer, as Archibong and Onyekwe missed short jumpers, and Toole committed an offensive foul on Penn's next three possessions, and the Hawks hit their foul shots down the stretch to pull away.

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