CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – It was three simple words, buried in the middle of a few comments, but they speak volumes.
“Penn teams win.”
That came from Penn freshman guard Zack Rosen, who has quickly made an impact on the Quakers. It was certainly evident on Friday night, when Rosen helped lead them to a 66-60 win at Harvard to start off Ivy League play with a win.
During non-league play, this Penn team didn’t do a lot of that. They entered Friday night’s game with a 4-10 mark, which is just about unheard of for a Penn team. While Penn teams are known for playing a tough non-league schedule, aided by being in the Big Five, usually the Quakers pull off a few more wins. They make their mark in the Ivy League, where they are perennial contenders, but that’s not all.
This year, the Quakers have had a couple of things working against them. One is their youth, as the Quakers start two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. Another is injuries, as Darren Smith and Andreas Schreiber have both been lost for the season and Harrison Gaines did not make the trip this weekend due to illness. That has contributed to the young starting lineup, as the first two projected to start before the season and Gaines, who himself is just a sophomore, has come off the bench after starting last year.
The Quakers also played, as usual, a difficult non-league schedule, and it shows in the results. Every team that Quakers have lost to has a record of at least three games over .500 on the season. That’s the big reason for the 4-10 mark heading into Ivy play, and while there’s a little solace that can be taken in that their ticket to the NCAA Tournament is their Ivy League performance, those losses can add up, especially with a young team.
“It’s tough because losses, when they accumulate like they have, can be very discouraging to the players and the staff,” said head coach Glen Miller. “We try to keep everybody upbeat and ready for Ivy League play, and to clear our heads to get ready is a little bit of a challenge. These guys are competitors, and when you lose, a loss is a loss. It wears on you.”
Even with that record, the Quakers clearly came in looking like a team on a mission Friday night. Although a 12-0 run by Harvard put the Crimson up 18-12, you never really sensed they were playing much better or were on the verge of taking control of the game. By the second half, the Quakers were playing better and it showed on the scoreboard for much of the half.
Miller felt they came into the game with a good mindset, and the players seemed to focus well. That’s a big plus considering the youth of this team. It doesn’t hurt that they felt they were playing better of late, although they would surely like to have a few more wins to show for it.
“We were excited,” said Rosen. “We definitely had confidence, even despite our record. We were playing well as of late, we were practicing hard. We definitely picked up our work ethic in practice. We were just really excited to start league play.”
Rosen leads the Ivy League in assist/turnover ratio, and only helped that with nine assists against four turnovers to go along with 15 points on Friday night. He’s always had an excellent basketball I.Q. and has wasted no time making an impact on this team with that.
“He’s heady out there,” said Miller. “We’ve been encouraging him the whole year to look for his own shot, to have a better balance of scoring and passing the ball. He’s picked up his aggressiveness on offense, which has helped us out quite a bit.”
The other player who was a difference-maker was also a freshman, Rob Belcore. While Jack Eggleston will get mentioned for being the team’s top scorer (19 points), Rosen ran the show and Belcore was the energy guy who made key plays late. Belcore scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards, but he was active at both ends of the floor and around the ball often.
With the usual quick turnaround of having to play Saturday night at Dartmouth, Penn has started off Ivy League play with a win. They’re in familiar territory now, and perhaps some of the losses against solid competition will help in terms of what they could gain from those experiences. They’ve clearly put the losses aside and know that these are the games that will give them a chance at playing through March.
“Going into this game, we were saying we’re 0-0, brand new season,” said Belcore. “You throw all the stats out, all the wins and losses, how we played before, it’s all gone. We come out, we’re 1-0 in our new season, and we’re looking to make a run here.”
Another run that would remind everyone that, like Rosen said, “Penn teams win.”
