Penn Backcourt Duo Too Much for Blue Hens as Delaware Falls to Quakers 78-68
December 22, 2010
Photo Courtesy of Chris Permar
• Boxscore
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NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Pennsylvania backcourt duo of Zack Rosen and Miles Cartwright was too much to handle for the University of Delaware Wednesday night as the duo combined for 50 points and the Quakers handed the Hens their first home loss of the season with a 78-68 non-league men's basketball victory at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Delaware (5-4), which lost its second straight game - both to Big 5 opponents - was very much in the game until the final four minutes when Penn (5-4) used an 11-2 run to push the lead to double figures and never looked back.
Blue Hen senior guard Jawan Carter (at right) netted 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, including five three-pointers, but was held to just three points over the final eight minutes of action as the Quakers took command. Carter scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and surpassed the 20-point mark for the fourth time season.
Jamelle Hagins had another big night for Delaware as he scored a season-high 17 points while also pulling seven rebounds and matching his league-leading average with four blocked shots. Alphonso Dawson also added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Blue Hens.
Delaware, which was coming off a 78-59 loss to No. 10 ranked Villanova Saturday night that snapped a five-game winning streak, will take a week off before heading to California to compete in the Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara (Calif.) University Dec. 29-30.
Penn, which won for the first time in three visits to the Bob Carpenter Center, got all the production it could want from its backcourt as Rosen matched a career-high with 30 points and Cartwright chipped in with 20 markers. Conor Turley added a season-high 14 points and Jack Eggleston contributed a team-high 10 rebounds and eight points, including the 1,000th point of his career.
"Defensively, we just were not sharp tonight," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. "We were listless and lackluster. Rosen had his way with us tonight. Penn was very strong and finished well so you have to give them credit. It's a shame when you have a good shooting night but you can't capitalize because of a poor defensive effort."
The Hens knocked down half their shots, connecting on 27 of 54 shots from the field and 7 of 19 three-pointers - including 5 of 8 shooting from Carter. Penn shot a solid 45 percent from the field (22 of 49) but committed just four turnovers the entire night and held a 29-7 advantage at the foul line. The Rosen-Cartwright due combined to drain 21 of 28 shots from the foul line with Rosen going 11 for 15 and Cartwright 10 of 13. No Blue Hen got to the line more than five times.
After opening the season with home wins over Howard, Colonial Athletic Association foe Old Dominion, and Delaware State, the Hens were trying to start the season 4-0 at home for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
Delaware trailed by as much as seven points in the first half before using a 10-0 charge, culminating in a slam dunk by Hagins, to take a 23-20 lead with 5:29 left. Penn regained the lead on two Rosen free throws with 2:28 left and a layup by Turley at the 34-second mark gave the Quakers a slim 26-23 lead at the break. Delaware did not score over the final 5:29 minutes of the stanza as they misfired on their final six shots.
Carter, who was held to just five points in the opening 20 minutes, found his rhythm in the second half as he drained a three-pointer to tie the score at 35-35 and later added another trey to push Delaware to its biggest second half lead at 43-40 with 12:23 remaining.
Penn followed with a 7-0 run that included four Cartwright free throws to put the Quakers up for good, but Delaware stayed in close striking distance until Penn’s final push put the game away.
Delaware’s Dawson hit a three-pointer with 6:41 left to cut the Penn lead to 54-53, but Rosen sandwiched a conventional three-point play and a jumper around a basket by Hagins to give the Quakers a 59-55 lead with 5:13 remaining. Delaware never got closer than three points - at 61-58 on a Hagins three-point play with 4:20 remaining - the rest of the way.
Rosen followed the Hagins basket with a three-pointer to push the lead to six and Penn held off Delaware the rest of the way thanks to 12 of 15 free throw shooting over the final 2:34.
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