Mistakes throughout game too much to overcome

BOSTON -- Oklahoma State may not have been the best team talent-wise Friday, but the Cowboys were definitely the most composed.

Simply put, the Quakers made too many mistakes to win.

First off, there's the obvious one: with the game tied at 35 with 2.4 seconds left in the first half, Penn received a technical foul for substitution infraction. David Klatsky was on the court while standing near the bench, giving the Quakers six men on the court. Victor Williams hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Cowboys a one-point halftime edge.

"I have never seen six guys on the floor on the part of the other team, ever," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. "It happened to me when I was coaching in high school basketball and it happened one other time about 20 years ago. You don't see it happen very often, so even the Ivy Leaguers, I guess, can make mistakes."

The one-point halftime edge for the Cowboys wasn't huge, but it was a sharp downer for the Quakers heading into the locker room.

"My abacus got stuck and didn't add up right," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

Still, the play wasn't a game-killer -- but a late stretch in the second half was.

The Quakers caught a break after Tony Allen made only one free throw after Klatsky's intentional foul, but Andrew Toole turned it over on the next possession, giving Victor Williams a fast-break layup.

Down four with four and a half minutes left, the Quakers turned it over on consecutive possessions. In all, Penn had 18 turnovers -- nine in each half.

It was tied for the second-most giveaways the Quakers had all season -- Penn turned it over 18 times in both games against Harvard, and 20 times in the road game against Brown.

Oklahoma State was the best team the Quakers faced all season. The Quakers escaped unscathed against the Crimson or even the Bears, but against the Cowboys, there were simply too many miscues.

Precision shooting could have bailed the Quakers out, but shots just weren't falling for Penn. It was, apparently, just one of those days. Most of the three-point looks the Red and Blue got were good, but threes rimmed out all afternoon.

It was 61-57 when Ugonna Onyekwe hit a short jumper in the lane with 7:12 left to play. The Quakers would not hit a field goal again, part of a 16-6 game-ending run that sunk Penn.

Oklahoma State scored the last 10 points, several of which came after the game was decided, making the score not reflect the tightness of the game.

Finally, Onyekwe didn't get enough looks in the final portion of the game. Partially it was due to the Cowboys' tight defense, but the Quakers needed to find some way to get him good shots in the final minutes.

Oklahoma State shot better than they did all season Friday, even when Penn had strong defensive pressure.

Yes, there were some Penn mistakes, but sometimes the shots just fall for the other team. And sometimes they just don't fall for you.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.