LEXINGTON, Ky., March 15 - The clock at Rupp Arena showed 11 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game. Penn had gone on a 19-3 run to take its first lead of the afternoon at 39-37.
On Texas A&M;'s next trip down the floor, senior guard Acie Law missed a runner, but Joseph Jones slammed home the rebound to tie the game. And A&M;'s next same play saw the same result: Law missed a runner and Jones dunked the follow.
The third-seeded Aggies never looked back from there, going on a 10-0 run and cruising the rest of the way to a 68-52 win.
Penn hurt itself by falling behind early. The Quakers (22-9) were down 7-0 after 3:30, and did not even score until a three-pointer by sophomore forward Brennan Votel after 5:25 had elapsed - and after Penn missed its first seven shots.
Many of those looks were open shots, too.
"When you play against such a good team as Texas A&M;, when you have those open opportunities you have to knock down a reasonable amount of shots," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "We dug ourselves a hole."
A&M; (26-6) used its advantage for the rest of the half after Penn rallied to make the score 11-9. First it was the All-American Law, who scored seven straight points to put the lead at nine on a three, a driving layup, and a mid-range jumper.
But the Aggies were also spurred in large part by an unlikely source.
Junior Dominique Kirk had 10 points, including eight of the Aggies' first 10, in the first half. Kirk had averaged 6.5 points per game coming into the contest.
The Quakers were down 31-18 at the half - their worst deficit and lowest first-half point total of the season.
That first period featured such lows as a 8-for-27 mark from the field (2-for-10 from three-point range). A&M; outscored Penn 7-0 on second-chance shots.
Seniors Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller were not ready to pack it in yet, though.
After the Aggies extended the lead to 14 early in the second half, Penn made its run.
Zoller converted a three-point play to cut it to 11. Freshman Justin Reilly hit a three. That brought the Louisville fans, whose Cardinals had already earned a date with the game's winner, to their feet rooting for an upset.
Meanwhile, the Aggies were missing easy shots and rushing others. Penn raced out in transition to get closer. Zoller rattled in a three to cut the lead to 37-34 with 14:13 left.
"They did a great job of converting those plays and we did a bad job of finishing them," Law said.
After Jones missed a jumper, Jaaber slashed through the lane and was fouled. He got a good bounce on his free throw and tied the game.
Then Law tried to take over again, but rushed his shot. Jaaber pulled up for a jumper in the paint and Rupp exploded as the Quakers took a two-point lead.
Penn had a chance to extend its lead, but Reilly badly missed a three. The Quakers' next trip was the shot-clock violation.
During that media timeout, A&M; coach Billy Gillispie made his most important coaching move of the game. He switched the 6-foot-8 Marlon Pompey onto the 6-2 Jaaber, and allowed the 6-3 Kirk to guard the 6-7 Zoller.
Penn did not immediately respond to the mismatch, and the offense stagnated. Penn went 4:59 without a point, and the Aggies reestablished control.
Several of those shots, including a backbreaking three by Kirk with 4:11 to play, came right at the end of the shot clock.
"Coach always tells me to shoot the ball, don't worry about it," Kirk said. "So I let it rock."
A&M; scored on three straight possessions, missed on two, and then had at least one point on 14 straight trips to end the game.
In the end, a senior class that went 79-37 and 48-8 in Ivy League play finished its career with a third straight loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
When Jaaber and Zoller walked off the floor with a minute to play, joining fellow senior Stephen Danley, who was limited to six minutes with a back injury, they received a rousing ovation from the Penn fans.
"Getting taken out of the game, just knowing that there's not a tomorrow, it kind of hit me there a little bit," Jaaber said.
And although the team does leave 11 players behind for next year, Miller will have a lot of work to do if he wants to replicate the feats of this year's team.
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