Delaware Uses Early Second Half Run To Defeat Penn, 84-69, in NIT Season Tip-Off, Faces Virginia Tuesday in Second Round
November 12, 2012
File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
• Boxscore
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The University of Delaware men’s basketball team used a big run early in the second half to pull away from the University of Pennsylvania and went on to post an 84-69 victory over the Quakers Monday night in an NIT Season Tip-Off First Round game at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
The Blue Hens, who improved to 1-1 on the season and snapped a two-game losing streak to Penn, will take on the host Cavaliers Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN3.com. Penn dropped to 1-1 on the young campaign.
Blue Hen junior guard Devon Saddler (at right) paced Delaware with 19 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, while freshman Terrell Rogers contributed 14 points off the bench. Senior forward Josh Brinkley narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine boards, while sophomore Jarvis Threatt chipped in with 12 points and five assists. Junior Carl Baptiste was nearly the fifth Blue Hen in double figures, as he also barely came up short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Fran Dougherty led the Quakers with 21 points and six rebounds, while Miles Cartwright had 20 points and five assists, although he scored just four points after the break.
Delaware shot 45.6 percent from the field and held a commanding 47-24 edge on the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to a 23-8 advantage in second chance points. The Blue Hens were also effective at the foul line, knocking down 28 of 38 free throws including an 8 of 9 performance by Threatt.
Penn led throughout most of the opening nine minutes of the game, before consecutive three-pointers by Rogers and Saddler put Delaware back in front 17-15 at the 10:13 mark. The lead then changed hands six times over the next six minutes, with neither team leading by more than three points.
Penn was up 31-30 but Delaware proceeded to hit eight consecutive free throws, five by Saddler and three by Threatt, to take a seven-point advantage. The Blue Hen lead eventually grew to double figures on a layup by Brinkley, before a bucket by the Quakers’ Dougherty made it a 43-35 game at the half.
Delaware then opened the second half with five consecutive points, going up 48-35 on a fastbreak layup by Hagins and forcing a Penn time out with 18:43 remaining. Kyle Anderson added a baseline jumper, and after Cartwright answered with a free throw for the Quakers, Threatt scored four points and Hagins added a follow dunk to make it a 56-36 game with 15:10 to play.
The margin grew to as much as 24 points at 62-38 on a jumper in transition by Baptiste, before a 9-1 run by the Quakers closed the UD advantage to 65-49. However Delaware countered by scoring six of the next seven points, going up 71-50 on a Rogers jumper with 8:21 on the clock.
Penn would not go away, using a 10-0 spurt to cut Delaware’s lead to 74-65 at the 3:24 mark. But Threatt answered with a pair of free throws and Saddler added one, and the Blue Hens led by double figures the rest of the way.
“We always try to impose our will during the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, and we did a good job of that tonight,” said Blue Hen head coach Monté Ross, whose team went on a 32-7 run after trailing 31-30. “We extended the margin when we pounded the ball inside; Josh was huge inside and Carl gave us a big lift off the bench. If we do what we’re capable of on the defense end, we have a chance to be good because we can score the basketball.”
