Gamecenter: Penn 69, Columbia 43

Posted on by Jake Wilson in Columbia, Gamecenter, Ivy League, Penn
1st 2nd Final
Penn (9-6, 2-0 Ivy) 37 32 69
Columbia (10-6, 1-1 Ivy) 23 20 43
Levien Gym – New York, NY Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Penn led by nine late in the first half when Ben Nwachukwu couldn’t convert a shot in close and Ibby Jaaber went 1 of 2 at the line on consecutive possessions. With a small differential between the game and shot clocks, the Lions had a chance for the final possession of the half, but Justin Armstrong couldn’t get his shot to drop, and Brian Grandieri hit a runner from just inside the halfcourt line at the buzzer to send the Quakers into the locker room with a 14-point halftime lead. After intermission, Penn would pick up where it left off, scoring the first six points of the second half to cap off a 14-2 run bridging halftime and open up a 20-point lead.
Key sign it was over Down 22 just before the midpoint of the second half, Columbia looked poised to make a run when Niko Scott came up with a steal and took it in for a bucket and foul. The freshman missed the free throw, but John Baumann grabbed the offensive board and put it back, drew a foul, and hit the free throw for a five-point possession. However, Armstrong was whistled for a very questionable intentional foul on Mark Zoller, who hit both free throws. This would begin a stretch of five straight perfect trips to the line for the Quakers, resulting in a 10-0 run that made it a 64-37 game with just 5:13 remaining.
Key performance In addition to his game-changing halfcourt heave at the first-half buzzer, Grandieri had some big buckets for the Quakers. The junior wing hit a number of driving, leaning shots, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Grandieri added eight rebounds, one assist, and a steal.
Key statistic Just 24 hours after shooting the lights out against Princeton, Columbia connected on just 15 of 55 field goal attempts — a mere 27.3 percent. The Quaker pressure man defense forced the Lions to run much of their offense far from the hoop and didn’t allow many open looks. The vaunted Baumann-Nwachukwu frontcourt combined for 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) shooting, and Columbia was just 13 of 43 (30.2 percent) inside the three-point arc as a team.
Notes

– Jaaber was the game’s top scorer with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting, but was just 1 of 4 from three-point range. Zoller was the only other Quaker in double figures with 11 points, adding nine rebounds and four assists on a gimpy ankle.

– Nwachukwu led the Lions with 15 points — 11 of which came in the first half. The junior center hit his first four shots, but was just 1 of 12 the rest of the way.

– The Quakers committed 14 turnovers to 12 for the Lions, but Penn outscored Columbia 17-10 in points off turnovers. Eight of the Quakers’ 14 turnovers came in the final 10:37, after they had built up a hefty lead.

– Columbia hit two of its first three attempts from three-point range, then missed its final nine attempts. Penn had no such problems, knocking down 8 of 18 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc.

– Neither team recorded many assists, with the Quakers finishing with 11 and the Lions registering just four.

– Penn takes a break from Ivy play to finish off its Big 5 slate, traveling to La Salle (7-9) on Thursday, January 18 for a 7:00 pm ET tipoff. Columbia plays host to travel partner Cornell (8-8, 1-1 Ivy) on Saturday, January 20 at 2:00 pm ET.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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