Quakers live and die by three-point shot vs. Temple

Temple's matchup zone defense was nothing new to Penn coach Fran Dunphy and the Quakers last night.

Knowledge of the system didn't make it any easier.

The Owls collapsed on each Penn player who brought the ball up court. When a Quakers big man was fed the ball in the lane, three Temple players surrounded him, forcing the ball back outside.

That doesn't mean that Penn did not get shots. It had 61 of them.

But when the Owls fell back on a driving player, Penn did what it needed to get the open shot. It just so happened that 38 of Penn's attempts were from beyond the arc.

"We did move it well on the perimeter but we never got a chance to pound it inside," Dunphy said. "I say this all the time about how they play -- what appears to be open looks are not always as open as you think that they are."

Throughout the game, the Quakers swung the ball multiple times around the perimeter to find the open man. In the first half, the results proved to be beneficial for them.

Penn's star players stepped up and drained their shots. At halftime, senior Jeff Schiffner was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and junior Tim Begley was 3-for-6.

But long distance bombs were the Quakers' only offense.

When it came down to establishing a post presence, the Quakers came up empty.

"I think they're going to give you some open looks on the perimeter," Dunphy said. "But I think if we were a little more patient we could have gotten some shots down low."

The Quakers did not go to the line until 5:23 remained in the first half, and only drew five fouls in the first half from the Owls.

When Penn attempted to solidify its frontcourt, the collapsing zone did its damage.

With 10:21 remaining in the second half, Temple's Keith Butler forced a jump ball after blocking Adam Chubb. It was one of few times that the Quakers even attempted to feed the ball to their big man.

Chubb and freshman Mark Zoller got chances to score down low -- they just weren't scripted. In the middle of the second half, Chubb flew in for the tip-in. Three minutes later, Zoller did the same, but missed.

The Quakers got their shot attempts from three-point range, but that's all they got. Senior Charlie Copp was 4-for-13 from the field, it just so happened that all those shots were three pointers.

Penn's 36.8 percent mark from three-point land constitutes an off night. With 15 more distance shots than two-point field goal attempts, the Quakers did not adapt to the pressure when the shots didn't fall.

With few dominating big men on the upcoming Ivy League slate, Penn will have the chance to run its gameplan of tossing the ball down low and subsequently running the offense.

Whether or not the Quakers hit their distance attempts consistently, low-post play will be crucial in Ancient Eight play.

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