Game 12: GMU (7-4) vs Penn (4-7) on Sunday, December 22, at 2:00 PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Penn is a member of the Ivy League. They were picked to finish 7th out of the 8 teams in preseason polls.

The game is on ESPN+.

KenPom: Gives us a 94% chance of winning.
GMU - 85
Penn - 302
NET:
GMU - 90
Penn - 346

We are 4-1 against Penn all-time.

Penn is currently 4-7 on the season. They are 3-3 at home, 1-3 on the road, and 0-1 at neutral sites.

Schedule: https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: NJIT (58-57), UMES (85-84), Maine (77-64), Rider (79-66)
Losses: Lafayette (65-63), St. Joe’s (86-69), Villanova (93-49), Navy (86-78), Elon (68-53), Drexel (60-47), vcu (66-47)

Probable Starters: 9 different guys have started for the Quakers this year. The 5 below started the last game against Rider.
6’5” Ethan Roberts - 17.2 ppg & 5.5 reb - Junior
6’9” Nick Spinoso - 13.1 ppg & 7.0 reb - Senior
6’5” Michael Zanoni - 4.4 ppg - Junior
6'8" Braydn Foster - 5.0 ppg & 4.0 reb - Freshman - Played in his 1st game of the season against Rider.
6’3” Sam Brown - 9.0 ppg - Sophomore

Reserves averaging double figure minutes:
6’10” Michelangelo Oberti - 2.6 ppg - Freshman - has 3 starts
5’11” Dylan Williams - 7.3 ppg - Junior - has 9 starts
6’9” Augustus Gerhart - 3.0 ppg - Sophomore - has 4 starts
6’10” Johnnie Walter - 1.9 ppg - Junior - has 1 start
6’0” AJ Levine - 1.8 ppg - Freshman
6’4” George Smith - 3.8 ppg - Senior

Roster: https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Team Stats:

Penn averages 64.1 points per game while giving up 72.3.

The Quakers shoot 39.5% from the floor and 29.1% from 3.
Opponents are shooting 43.9% from the field and 39.3% from 3.

They shoot 65.2% from the free throw line.

They have been out rebounded opponents by 3.8 boards per game and average 11.0 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://pennathletics.com/documents/2024/12/9/2425_Penn_MBK_stats.pdf?path=mbball

Thoughts: This is a team that struggles to score and defend. They currently rank 343rd in scoring offense and 224th in scoring defense. They rank 350th in field goal percentage, 307th in free throw percentage, and 338th in 3 point percentage. We should hold them to 50 points and win going away.

Discuss.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

Chain of beat downs—Duke beats down gmu and gmu beats down penn.

 

[Jack Strop]

Chain of beat downs—Duke beats down gmu and gmu beats down penn.

Yep. Sh!t rolls downhill.

 

[mkaufman1]

I thought this would be a solid buy game but this is nothing more than a cupcake.

This one shouldnt be close.

Mason 84
Penn 55

 

[PDGL Hoops]

As long as we don't shoot 20% we should be fine.

 

[mkaufman1]

As long as we don't shoot 20% we should be fine.

If Mason shoots 20% against Penn they have a huge problem, lol.

 

[Mason2005]

I expect to see 0 offensive boards by Penn.

 

[hoopsjunkie75]

I will be delivereing a flaming bag of poo [in jest people, no need to send out the National Guard] to the athletic office's doorstep for scheduling this against the Eagles game during the playoff push of the NFL season.

Might be the first home game I've missed since Covid year.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I will be delivereing a flaming bag of poo [in jest people, no need to send out the National Guard] to the athletic office's doorstep for scheduling this against the Eagles game during the playoff push of the NFL season.

Might be the first home game I've missed since Covid year.

Yeah, never liked Sunday games. We can't compete against BRYC yet alone the NFL for getting bodies in the stands.

 

[jruby]

Haynes going to drop a 30 piece on them! Mason wins by 40.

 

[Jack Strop]

I will be delivereing a flaming bag of poo [in jest people, no need to send out the National Guard] to the athletic office's doorstep for scheduling this against the Eagles game during the playoff push of the NFL season.

Might be the first home game I've missed since Covid year.

Thankfully, it's the ONLY Sunday game this season.

 

[GreenLantern]

Us 83
Them 48
OT

 

[GMUgemini]

Us 83
Them 48
OT

In just a single OT?! That’s quite an offensive explosion.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Any extra Gold Room passes out there for Sunday (if you're not going to the game)?

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Really hoping to see Anderson get going the next two games. I think we're gonna need him in the Davidson game to help beat their zone.

 

[GMU79]

Really hoping to see Anderson get going the next two games. I think we're gonna need him in the Davidson game to help beat their zone.

I agree. Give him more playing time. Let him shoot more. Someone has to start giving us more scoring. D can't do it all.

 

[Pablo]

As an aside, Ernie Beck, arguably the greatest player in Penn's men's basketball history died on Dec. 12 - https://pennathletics.com/news/2024...mens-basketball-hall-of-famer-ernie-beck.aspx

"A three-year varsity letter winner from 1951-53, Beck held the program's scoring record for a staggering 67 years, with 1,827 points. (When it was broken, by AJ Brodeur in 2020, Beck's standing as Penn's all-time scoring leader had lasted longer than that of at any other Division I institution in the country.) He also still holds the mark for points in a season (673 as a senior in 1952-53), as well as the two highest-scoring games in program history (47 points vs. Duke on December 30, 1952 and 45 vs. Harvard on February 6, 1952).

Beck also still holds the program records for rebounds in a career (1, 557) and season (556 in 1950-51); free throws made and attempted in a season (183-for-229, 1952-53); and scoring average for a season (25.9 in 1952-53). Beck averaged 22.3 points and 19.0 rebounds across 82 appearances wearing the Red and Blue, both program records, and he graduated having put up 81 double-figure scoring games—including 54 games with at least 20 points and 13 with at least 30—and 32 documented double-doubles (several box scores from that era do not include rebound and/or assist totals).

Penn had a combined record of 62-21 in his three varsity seasons. Beck's senior season, the Quakers won the Eastern Intercollegiate League title and played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, losing to Notre Dame in the East Regional second round then defeating DePaul in a consolation game. (Beck scored a combined 47 points across the two games, played in Chicago.)

Following his collegiate career, Beck was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors as a territorial pick in the 1953 NBA Draft and was a member of the Warriors' 1956 NBA championship team. He played six seasons with the Warriors."

It should be noted that prior to 1972, freshmen were ineligible to play varsity D-1 basketball or football.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

How quaint a tradition. I don't mind the idea of having freshman sit out a year.

 

[GMU79]

How quaint a tradition. I don't mind the idea of having freshman sit out a year.

I well remember those days.
Freshman team. JV. team. Varsity team.

 

[psyclone]

I well remember those days.
Freshman team. JV. team. Varsity team.

Me too.