Gamecenter: Penn 93, La Salle 92

	1st	2nd	Final
Penn (10-6, 2-0 Ivy)	41	52	93
La Salle (8-10)	49	43	92


Tom Gola Arena – Philadelphia, PA	Boxscore

Postgame audio: Penn \| La Salle

Keys to the Game
Key sequence	With 1:04 to play and La Salle leading 87-86, Brian Grandieri drove to the basket and fought his way for a layup and a foul. Though Grandieri missed the free throw, Mark Zoller got the rebound, was fouled, and hit both free throws. On the ensuing La Salle possession, Zoller picked off a pass to the wing from Explorer freshman Kimmani Barrett and tiptoed the sideline to maintain possession. Out of a timeout, Penn ran down the shot clock with a series of passes around the perimeter, which led to a drive and floater by Ibby Jaaber to put the Quakers up 92-87 with just 12 seconds remaining.
Key sign it was over	After freshman Rodney Green hit a layup to cut Penn’s lead to 92-89 with eight seconds to go, Grandieri converted the front end of a one-and-one to make it a two-possession game. The Quakers backed off defensively, leaving Paul Johnson to hit a three with under a second left that could not fully erase the lead. When Grandieri smartly threw the inbounds pass downcourt to Darren Smith, the clock ran out on La Salle.
Key performance	Jaaber scored 16 of his 27 points in the second half, making 6 of 8 field goal attempts and 2 of 3 three-point shots in that span — including the big shot in the final minute to give Penn the five-point lead. Jaaber also grabbed two steals and dished out seven assists after intermission, finishing with nine assists and four rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.
Key statistic	In a game in which both teams shot exceptionally well, Penn was able to take better care of the ball, finishing with just 10 turnovers on 73 possessions, compared to 16 for La Salle. The Quakers owned a 21-11 edge in points off turnovers and 12-0 in fastbreak scoring, though Glen Miller said after the game he felt there his team had more than 12 points on the break.
Key coaching move	After watching Darnell Harris light up his defense for 20 points in the first half, Glen Miller turned to the freshman Smith, who had missed the previous three games with a separated shoulder and partially torn labrum. After failing to see the floor in the first half, Smith was a surprise second-half starter and played a big role in turning around the game. He limited Harris to 12 points in the final 20 minutes — five of which were scored when Smith was out of the game. On top of that, his layup and pair of three-pointers were huge reasons why Penn finished on top in the shootout.

Notes

– Harris finished as the game’s leading scorer with 32 points on 8 of 14 shooting (57.1 percent) from outside the arc and 12 of 20 (60.0 percent) overall.

– Zoller also enjoyed a big night for the Quakers. Despite going 0-for-4 from three-point range, Zoller scored a team-best 28 points on 12-for-19 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds, and swiped four steals.

– Johnson — a former Penn recruiting target and son of former Penn standout Henry Johnson — had a big night against his father’s alma mater with 17 points, six rebounds, and six assists in 24 minutes.

– Despite a nearly invisible performance by Steve Danley and very little production from his replacements off the bench, Penn outscored La Salle 58-36 in the paint. The Quakers shot 30 of 50 (60.0 percent) inside the arc.

– Penn shot 7 of 14 (50.0 percent) as a team from three, and 37 of 64 (57.8 percent) overall, while La Salle finished 34 of 64 (53.1 percent) overall and 10 of 20 (50.0 percent) from three-point range.

– The Explorers came in ranked 10th in the nation in offensive rebounding, and they dominated on the boards, grabbing 40.0 percent offensively and holding Penn to 31.3 percent on the offensive boards. The hosts owned a 20-12 edge in second-chance points.

– Penn will continue its three-game Big 5 stretch next Wednesday, January 24, when it welcomes Temple (7-9) and former Quaker coach Fran Dunphy to The Palestra. The game will tip off at 8:00 pm ET and will be televised on CN8.

Basketball U.

Gamecenter: Penn 93, La Salle 92

Jonathan Tannenwald

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Basketball U.

Basketball U.

Jonathan Tannenwald

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Basketball U.