Rosen leads Penn past Delaware, 69-60

Penn rode the momentum of its second-half performance Saturday against Villanova to a 69-60 victory over Delaware on Wednesday night at the Palestra.

Zack Rosen scored a season-high 29 points to pace the Quakers (5-5), who had lost four of their last five games.

But Penn was feeling good after outscoring Villanova by 10 points after halftime in its 73-65 Big Five loss to the Wildcats.

"I think we've got something to build on," Rosen said after that game.

The Quakers did so without sophomore guard Miles Cartwright, their third-leading scorer (11.2-point average), who was injured in practice this week. Cartwright said he expects to play in Penn's next game, Saturday in Anaheim, Calif., against UCLA.

Delaware's Devon Saddler, who opened the week second in the country in scoring (24.7 ppg.), finished with a season-low six points. Kyle Anderson led the Blue Hens (3-4) with 13.

Tyler Bernardini and Rob Belcore had strong games for the Quakers. Bernardini notched 16 points, while Belcore had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Rosen, who was one point shy of tying his career high, added eight assists.

The Blue Hens, coached by former St. Joseph's assistant Monte Ross, took their first and only lead, 27-26, on Saddler's layup that started the second-half scoring. But Penn got 17 of the next 19 points, ending with Belcore's two free throws, over 6 minutes, 19 seconds to take its largest lead of the game, 43-29, with 12:53 remaining.

Belcore and Bernardini did the damage during the Penn run by combining for 15 of the 17 points.

Cartwright was replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore Marin Kukoc - the son of former NBA star Toni Kukoc - who was making his first college start.

Also making a rare start for the Quakers was Henry Brooks, who took Fran Dougherty's usual spot in the starting lineup. Brooks, who had made one start before Wednesday, entered averaging 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds. Dougherty, meantime, entered averaging 4.3 points and 4.2 boards.

Minus Cartwright, Steve Rennard, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, saw his first action of the season. Rennard made a key shot late in the half when his three-pointer put the Quakers up, 51-42, with 7:09 left. The shot came after a steal and layup by Khalid Lewis had pulled the Hens within six.

Rennard, who scored a total of four points in 12 games last season, finished with six points in 25 minutes.