The numbers: 9-5 overall, 2-0 Ivy, 110th RPI, 67th Sagarin, 97th Pomeroy
The recent results: won 105-73 vs. Lafayette (1/16)
The upcoming schedule: vs. La Salle (1/25), vs. Saint Joseph’s (1/28)

Defense keying offense
The Quakers have struggled offensively at times this season, but they’ve put up three straight gaudy point totals. In all three games the swarming Penn defense created turnovers galore, and the offense took advantage. The Quakers outscored Cornell, Columbia, and Lafayette 93-34 in points off turnovers and 30-2 on fastbreak points. Fran Dunphy historically has opted to play conservatively on defense instead of going for steals, but this year his team is averaging over 10 steals per game, easily the best in the league.

Rotation solidified
Dunphy appears to have settled on his customary eight-man rotation with Friedrich Ebede, Brian Grandieri, and Tommy McMahon joining the starters in the Dunphy Eight, which has played 2,677 of 2,800 total minutes this season. Brennan Votel has played in 12 of 14 games, but generally only in spot duty when the Penn big men need a quick breather.

Jaaber continues to shine
He’s not getting much attention for it yet, but Ibby Jaaber is having a monster junior year. Jaaber leads the league in scoring average (18.9), effective field goal percentage (.642), points per weighted shot (1.30), steals (45), and minutes per game (35.0). He’s dominating at both ends of the floor while simultaneously making his teammates better with unselfish play. And Jaaber has played remarkably consistently, scoring at least 14 points in every game and shooting 50.0 percent or above in 12 of 14 games.

Whitehurst running hot and cold
David Whitehurst is the anti-Jaaber. If you graphed out his shooting game to game, it would look like a sine wave. In the Siena, Colorado, Temple, Duke, BYU-Hawai’i, Citadel, and Lafayette games, Whitehurst shot 32 of 60 (53.3 percent) and hit 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) three-point attempts. In the other half of his games, the sophomore guard is shooting 8 of 40 (20.0 percent) and 1 of 21 (5.8 percent) from three. There’s no discernable pattern there, as his performance has varied at home and on the road and against high majors and low-level Division I opponents alike. Penn’s record isn’t even that different in the two sets of games: 4-3 in his good games, 5-2 in his bad games.

Osmundson breaks out
Point guard Eric Osmundson went into a deep funk in the third game of the season and found himself shooting an abysmal 22.2 percent from the arc and 25.0 percent overall after eight games. But after hitting some huge shots late in the win at Hawai’i, Osmundson has found his shooting touch, hitting on 17 of 43 (39.5 percent) three-point attempts and 33 of 69 (47.8 percent) total field goals in the last six games.

Zoller gets healthy
Mark Zoller battled ankle injuries in the preseason and the first seven games this year, missing the opener and averaging just 9.3 points per game on 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) shooting. But after resting the ankle over the exam and holiday break, Zoller has been a totally different player. Starting with the Hawai’i game on December 30, he’s averaging 14.0 points and shooting 44 of 71 (62.0 percent). He’s also been able to push off better on his outside shot and has hit 5 of 8 from three-point range in the last five games.

Statistical oddities
Penn’s leader in assists? That would be Steve Danley at 3.0 assists per game. On the season Danley has 39 assists against just 23 turnovers… McMahon has showed off a nice stroke and an ability to drive from the perimeter and attack the basket, but he has just three assists in 153 minutes this season… After missing his first eight attempts from three-point range, Grandieri hit his first collegiate three-pointer in the win over Cornell… Zoller was a 70-percent free throw shooter his first two seasons, but this year he is a league-worst 15 of 33 (45.5 percent) from the free throw line.