Penn men’s basketball team falls to Princeton in regular-season finale, 93-70
Missing their coach on the court, in addition to a key injured veteran player, the Quakers lost to the Tigers.
It was a rather unusual scene of conflicting emotions at the Palestra on Saturday night as Penn fell to Princeton, 93-70, in the Quakers’ regular-season finale.
Penn head coach Steve Donahue and George Smith were not on the sidelines, as both were in COVID protocols, which was likely disheartening for players. It was also Senior Night for a handful of players, including outspoken team leader Jelani Williams, which was more likely heartening to the team.
Regardless of the games’ outcome, the Quakers (12-15, 9-5 Ivy) and Tigers (22-5, 12-2) had both already punched their ticket to the Ivy League tournament next weekend in Boston. That didn’t make the game completely meaningless, but there was little at stake besides pride and seeding ramifications.
“[The game] was different,” said Penn acting head coach, usual assistant coach Nat Graham. “Everything we tried to do defensively, [Princeton] found the one thing wrong with it and took advantage of it. They were a veteran group and took it to us a little bit.”
Jordan Dingle led Penn with 31 points.
Jaelin Llewellyn led Princeton with 24 points.
Senior day
Jelani Williams, Griffin Ryan, and Bryce Washington were the three seniors that started for Penn. Williams hasn’t played since Feb. 12 due to a wrist injury, but came into the game with a cast on his left hand and participated in the opening tip. Penn committed an intentional tip-off violation, and Williams walked off the floor for the last time at the Palestra to a roaring applause.
Ryan played just the first three minutes. Washington, who averaged just 5.5 minutes per game heading into Saturday, played 37 minutes.
On the court
Penn struggled on the defensive end, giving up 45 first-half points.
Penn wasn’t terrible in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 45% from the field and scoring 31 points. But from three, the Quakers were 1-7. On the other end, Princeton was 6-13 from deep and 52.7% from the field.
In the second half, Princeton shot even better than the first half (58% FG), and created some breathing room following a one minute, 9-0 run to increase its lead to 19. The Quakers forced only two Princeton turnovers in the game.
Tourney time
Penn will be the third seed in the Ivy League tournament, playing second-seed Yale next Friday evening. Princeton, the Ivy League regular-season champion, will face Cornell.