Quick Report: Penn 80, Binghamton 45

Matt Howard (above) had 20 points for the first time against a Division I opponent as Penn downed Binghamton. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Penn went on a massive run to close out the first half against Binghamton and never looked back, running away to its easiest win of the season, 80-45 at the Palestra on Saturday.

At First…
Neither Penn nor Binghamton could get the ball through the hoop, as the Quakers (6-7) led just 3-2 at the first media timeout, and it was a 5-5 game nearly five minutes into the game. Penn got 3-pointers from freshman Jake Silpe, sophomore Sam Jones and junior Matt Howard to open up a bit of an advantage, but it was just a 19-14 game with 7:53 left in the first half after the Bearcats’ Marlon Beck II knocked home one of his own.

Turning Point....
That Beck triple provided the last points that Binghamton (3-10) scored in the opening period, as Penn absolutely locked down on the defensive end. The Bearcats turned it over five times and missed all seven of their shots during those final nearly eight minutes of the opening period, while the Quakers went on an 18-0 run to take a 37-14 lead at halftime.

Standout Stars…
Penn junior Matt Howard took a little while to get going, missing his first shot and then spending five minutes on the bench. But when he re-entered the game with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, he started to play like a man possessed. Howard’s 23-point performance was the first time he’d reached that number against a Division I opponent; he also had 23 last month against D-III Ursinus to set his career high. The 6-3 wing was 8-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

Freshman guard Jackson Donahue added 17 points for the Quakers thanks to four 3-pointers of his own (6-of-11 overall), hitting double figures for the second game in a row after dropping 18 against Villanova. Prior to that, he’d scored just 18 points total over the first nine games of the season.

Noteworthy number(s)...
12: The Quakers made 12 3-point shots to set a new season high, after making 10 triples three other occasions on the season. As a team, Penn shot 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc, only the third time this season they made more than one-third of their long distance attempts.

5: The number of years it's been since Penn beat a team by 30 points: the Quakers beat Dartmouth 78-47 on February 4, 2011. The last time Penn beat a team by 40 points came on Jan. 13, 2006, against a Cornell squad coached by current Penn coach Steve Donahue.

Up Next…
Penn (6-7) vs. Princeton (Jan. 9, 4:30 PM)
Binghamton (3-10) vs. Stony Brook (Jan. 6, 7 PM)