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NCAA Tournament: No. 16 Penn puts up fight in loss to No. 1 Kansas

03/15/2018, 4:00pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Caleb Wood (above) hit four 3-pointers to help Penn scare Kansas, but the Quakers couldn't catch the No. 1 Jayhawks. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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No, Penn didn’t become the first No. 16 seed to ever upset a No. 1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas, playing in its 29th straight March Madness, playing in Wichita, was a little too big, a little too physical, a little too athletic for the Quakers, who were back in the dance after 11 years away.

But the Quakers certainly didn’t make it easy on the Jayhawks, who advanced into the second round of the 2018 edition by a 76-60 final score.

It was apparent early on that Steve Donahue’s bunch wouldn’t be phased by the atmosphere. Penn led 10-7 at the first media timeout and stayed within range of the Jayhawks for far longer than any of the KU faithful in attendance were happy about.

Caleb Wood’s fourth 3-pointer of the game cut Kansas’ lead to 52-48 with 11:28 to play, but that was the closest that Penn got in the second half after entering the break down seven.

The margin was still single digits until the final seven minutes, when a string of missed 3-pointers allowed Kansas (28-7) to increased the margin for a fairly comfortable victory.

Penn (24-9) didn’t have an answer for Kansas star Devonte’ Graham, who scored 29 points (9-23 FG), collecting six rebounds and assists apiece.

Kansas shot 7-of-17 from 3-point range against a Penn defense which had held opponents under 30 percent from deep on the season; overall, the Jayhawks were 27-of-61 (44.3 percent) from the floor and 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the foul line.

Penn was 22-of-56 (39.3 percent) overall and 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) from 3-point range, but just 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from the charity stripe.

Four different Quakers scored in double figures, led by 14 apiece from Wood and sophomore A.J. Brodeur, who also collected nine rebounds and dished out three assists. Antonio Woods and Darnell Foreman added 10 points apiece for Penn, which last was in the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and had endured a string of five consecutive losing seasons before breaking through for the Ivy title this season.

Kansas advances to face the winner of No. 8 Seton Hall and No. 9 North Carolina State on Saturday, with a tipoff time TBD.


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