+1
A late run by Kentucky erased Penn's lead completely.
In the definition of a trap game for the Kentucky Wildcats, the University of Pennsylvania is down just one at halftime on the road at Rupp Arena. This is UK's last game before SEC play gets going and it's no surprise that their young players are looking ahead to their game against Georgia.
Penn (5-5) has lost both of their top 25 matchups handily, falling to #5 Pittsburgh and #12 Villanova already this season. This John Calipari team is 11-2, only losing on the road to Connecticut and North Carolina, and lead the lifetime series against the Quakers 4-0.
Tonight, however, Penn has been shooting lights out from beyond the arc, hitting 7 three's in the first half. Tyler Bernardini continues to get open looks and converting them, scoring 16 points on just 6 shots. Along with Miles Cartwright and Jack Eggleston, they provide the biggest offensive weapons for point guard and captain Zach Rosen to go to. Rosen hasn't been able to free himself from the long wingspan of 6-6 DeAndre Liggins and needs to find a way to shake him if Penn can hang in the second half.
Penn's double digit lead evaporated over the last four minutes when the shots stopped falling and UK asserted themselves inside. Terrence Jones and Josh Harrellson are too big for Penn under the basket, and they have 11 rebounds already -- 2 more than the Quakers total. Brandon Knight has been getting by anybody on the offensive end, shooting 3-4 when he takes the ball inside the 3-point line, but he's just 1-5 beyond it. While he's a better shooter than that, he excels at slashing and will continue to terrorize Penn's defense if he commits to the drive.
It would be a shocker if Penn doesn't get blown out in the second half. To have a chance, they need to shoot better, take time off the clock and frustrate this young Kentucky team into making careless mistakes.
Behind Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, Kentucky Overwhelms UPenn
The first half was fun to watch. The second half was fun to watch if you enjoy genocide.
The Penn Quakers were up 10 with four minutes left in the first half. The next 24 minutes, Kentucky outscored them by 34. Tyler Bernardini only had 6 second half points and Zach Rosen could never get going, but that’s not what was Penn’s undoing. The tempo went back to the way John Calipari likes to play it and the Wildcats scored 53 points in the second frame, ending it rather quickly.
Brandon Knight shot 3-3 from the outside in the half, bringing his game total to 22 and fellow freshman Doron Lamb added 16 off the bench to put the Quakers away. Josh Harrellson was far too much for their lack of size and Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins were impossible to get by on defense. Jerome Allen can be proud of his guys for hanging early, but a loss is a loss, even against a national powerhouse.
Penn’s next two games are at La Salle and Temple, then one at home against St. Joe’s before the Ivy League schedule kicks in. It doesn’t seem like this team is strong enough to steal the automatic bid this season.
Jan 03 9:15p by Michael Levin - 0 comments