I tried to warn you. Honestly. I knew this game would be close and just about nothing that happened last night surprised me. That includes Darnell Harris. Okay, maybe I didn't think he'd shoot that well in the first half, but it shouldn't be news to anyone that he can hit threes if left open.
I've had good things to say about Rodney Green on here and on the podcast already, but last night was the first time I got to see him in person and I like him even more now. Yeah, he's skinny, but I guarantee you that outside of the La Salle student section, no one in the A-10 is going to treat him as a freshman. Well, the league office might if it gives him the Rookie of the Year award.
The Explorers had another good night on the offensive glass, pulling down 14 offensive boards compared to 21 defensive boards for Penn. That's a 40 percent offensive rebounding rate. Interestingly, La Salle got five offensive rebounds in the first half and nine in the second half, even though it played better in the first half than the second. But as the guy sitting behind me said last night, in order to get offensive rebounds you have to miss shots, and the Explorers didn't do that as much in the first half as they did in the second.
If you're a Penn fan, you have to be pleased at how seniors Mark Zoller and Ibrahim Jaaber stepped up in the second half. Both scored 16 points after intermission, with Jaaber adding two steals and seven assists and Zoller pulling down seven rebounds.
Their biggest contributions, though, came in the final minute and change. After Zoller's two free tthrows with 1:03 remaining, the St. Joe's Prep grad stole a pass from Kimmani Barrett that was intended for Mike St. John. I am fairly sure that the above photo is of that play, as Zoller had to corral the loose ball after knocking it away.
After Zoller got over the halfcourt line, Penn coach Glen Miller called timeout. On the ensuing play, the Quakers ran the shot clock down to five seconds, at which point Jaaber hit a runner in the lane that pushed Penn's lead to five points with 11 seconds remaining. That, ladies and gentlemen, is leadership.
I guess in the end one thing did surprise me. This was the second time this season that Penn has played a Big 5 game that became an offensive shootout instead of a defensive slugfest. And it's not just a Penn thing. The average score of this season's Big 5 games has been 83.8 points for the winners and 72.8 points for the losers. The lowest scoring game was Villanova's 64-51 win at La Salle, which is much more what we're used to.
This is something I'll keep an eye on for the rest of the season. Granted, a big part of the low-scoring nature of Big 5 games is that teams miss a lot of shots, even if the number of attempts isn't that low.
Nonetheless, I can't help thinking that it wasn't so long ago that the Big 5's game of the year ended 53-52, and that everyone thought it was a classic.
Photo by Barbara L. Johnston of the Inquirer. You can see a slideshow of her shots from the game here.
(EDIT: It was Kimmani Barrett who threw the errant pass, not Kenny Tribbett, who plays for Drexel. Thanks to this guy for the correction)
