Penn struggled to contain Delaware forward Josh Brinkley in Monday’s 84-69 loss. Brinkley scored 15 points and pulled in nine rebounds.
Credit: Ellen FriersonCHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — It’s hard to land a punch when every swing is aimless.
That’s what the Penn men’s basketball team found out Monday night in its 84-69 loss to Delaware as the Quakers hacked, hacked, hacked away to the tune of 31 fouls. If there was a triple bonus, Delaware would have been in it.
Those fouls resulted in 13 points off of free throws for the Blue Hens in the first half, encouraging them to keep driving to the hoop in the hopes of getting fouled and forcing more lineup changes for Penn than coach Jerome Allen would like to see even this early in the season.
“It was a bit touchy,” junior forward Fran Dougherty said of Penn’s foul situation. “Usually it’s not like that, but it is what it is. We’re not going to be able to change the refs.”
More startling than the abundance of fouls was where the penalties kept coming from. Each member of Penn’s starting five committed two personal fouls in the first half, as if to overcompensate for their discombobulated play on offense.
“We gave up 43 points in the first half, and we can’t be giving up that many points … over the course of 20 minutes,” Allen said.
The Quakers were hyperactive all night long, turning the ball over 18 times, including 10 times in the first half.
“[The turnovers are] frustrating,” Dougherty said. “It’s a young team. It’s hard to know all the plays at first, a lot of plays, a lot of different sets, and it’s not always the easiest thing to do, especially for the young guys.”
Whether it was Darien Nelson-Henry dropping easy passes, Jamal Lewis throwing errant passes or Greg Louis losing the ball underneath, too many Penn possessions resulted in miscommunication and Delaware fastbreaks going the other way.
Add up that many errors and you get a Quakers squad that was simply out of control.
That lack of discipline won’t fly against a Fairfield team that held Virginia to 54 points and 40.4 percent shooting from the field on the Cavaliers’ home floor. Fairfield also held Central Connecticut State to 37.3 percent shooting from the floor last weekend. If Penn doesn’t stop hacking on defense and whiffing on offense Tuesday afternoon, the losing will continue — youth or not.
“Some guys struggle, that’s kind of where the game goes and it’s a team sport,” Allen said. “Other guys have to be willing to step up and execute the plan.”
MIKE TONY is a junior English and history major from Uniontown, Pa., and is an associate sports editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. He can be reached at dpsports@thedp.com.
SEE ALSO:
Delaware tops Penn basketball in NIT opener, 84-69
Penn basketball storms back to win season debut
Kasper | Cartwright leads Quakers’ ascent up learning curve
Penn basketball tips off season vs. UMBC
Hoops Supplement | Learning to fly
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