Same opponent, familiar result as Penn men’s basketball suffers 112-70 rout at Illinois
The Quakers and Fighting Illini met for the second time in eight months and Penn was again on the business end of a 30-plus-point blowout.
In a March Madness rematch to tip off its season on Thursday night, Penn men’s basketball could not overcome a sea of orange in Champaign, Illinois.
The Quakers kept within striking distance for the first six minutes of play before a 14-0 Illinois run opened the floodgates to a 112-70 win for the Fighting Illini. The score was reminiscent of the matchup between the two earlier this year, a 105-70 Penn loss to Brad Underwood’s eventual Final Four squad in a first round NCAA tournament matchup in Greenville, S.C.
“We wanted to challenge our team, have a difficult atmosphere on the road, and see if we could maintain our composure, which we did at times. We did not for 40 minutes,” head coach Fran McCaffery said.
The size and speed of Illinois proved difficult to overcome, and Penn was shaking off its offseason rust against a Fighting Illini team playing its second game. Nonetheless, there were some moments that showed that the Quakers, picked in the preseason to win the Ivy title, could run it back again this year.
Willing to hustle
Notre Dame transfer Sir Mohammed joined the starting lineup, scoring 4 points and tallying a team-high 7 rebounds, but otherwise the group was similar to last season’s.
Senior Michael Zanoni scored a team-high 16 points, while forward Lucas Lueth (14 points on 3-of-6 shooting) was all over the floor, finding shots on the perimeter and also driving into the paint. Lueth’s dunk over 7-foot-2 Illinois center Zvonimir Ivisic was among the highlights.
Though trailing for most of the game by 20 points or more, Penn finished with 12 steals to Illinois’ 4 and forced the Illini into 19 turnovers.
“Very rarely do you take 13 more shots than your opponent and turn [them] over 19 times and lose by 40,” McCaffery said.
In addition to Mohammad, newcomers Ethan Lin (7 points), Chase Geremia (8 points) and Isaiah Carroll (4 points) also saw notable minutes in their collegiate debuts.
Shots need to fall
But basketball is often won by who has more points in the basket, and Penn’s shooting was rusty in its season-opener. The team shot 29.1% from the field and 10-of-35 from the 3-point line. Two starters, Power and Mohammed, went cold on the perimeter; they were 0-of-8 combined from 3.
Power was locked down offensively. At first he was double-teamed, forcing him to pass it out. When he did get open, his shots didn’t fall. He finished with 6 points.
“They focused on [Power]. I thought he had some good looks,” McCaffery said. “He’s a better shooter than he shot tonight, and I know he’s frustrated.”
Penn’s style of basketball under McCaffery emphasizes speed, but the Quakers were outpaced and outrebounded by Illinois. With the Fighting Illini’s size, hitting the glass and scoring in the paint was difficult.
“I think we have to be better as the game starts to get away from us, to be a little more patient,” McCaffery said. “You have to slow the game down.”
