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Penn embracing NCAA history as No. 16 seed against No. 1 Kansas

03/14/2018, 5:45pm EDT
By Sarah Kelly Shannon

A.J. Brodeur (above) and Penn are one of four No. 16 seeds hoping to pull off the first-ever upset of a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. (Photo: Tommy Smith/CoBL)

Sarah Kelly Shannon (@thesarahkelly)
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WICHITA, KAN. -- Steve Donahue isn’t looking to the future. That’s one thing the third-year University of Pennsylvania head coach wanted to make clear Wednesday at a press conference at Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena.

“This is for now,” the third-year Penn head coach said Wednesday in a press conference. “I want this badly, and particularly for our seniors. This is something they can dream about and live this memory forever.”

But Donahue is looking to his past -- like taking Cornell to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and only making it out of the first round on the third attempt -- to glean some wisdom.

“What I learned the first couple of years at Cornell is that I made mistakes,” Donahue said. “I probably overdid it with all this attention and worried about where my guys were, where their heads were. There was attention to detail, and I sense that we played really tight those first couple of years. I let that go that third year, and we had a loose group, if you remember, kind of silly, and I -- there was a part of me that worried at that point, but I let it go.”

Under Donahue, Cornell’s 2009-2010 squad went 29-5 (13-1 in the Ivy League), landing a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red beat knocked off No. 5 Temple and No. 4 Wisconsin to reach the Sweet 16. Top-seeded Kentucky ended their Cinderella season.

If this year’s Quakers want to make a run, they’ll have to make history. A 16-seed has never beaten a 1-seed in the men’s NCAA tournament. That means we’ve seen years of annual speculation that this could finally be the year. Top-seeded teams are careful to say publicly they’re not treating the first round as a gimme. Bottom-seeded teams insist they’re playing to win, not just enjoying the ride.

“My personal opinion is they don't resemble a 16-seed at all,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Steve's done a great job. They're sound, they can shoot. They're physical. They can play through their bigs, and, of course, they got some depth, too. So -- and they can guard. So we know that they pose some issues for us if we don't come ready to play, and they certainly have our attention.”

It would be weird if Self told reporters he’s planning to run up a lead so big he can rest the starters all through the second half. He’ll never admit to focusing on the second-round opponent.

But Kansas really does have reason to take Penn seriously and avoid laying an egg of historic proportions. Penn really isn’t just any 16 seed. Eight teams in this year’s tournament -- including two 15 seeds and a 14 -- are rated lower on KenPom.com. After winning 24 games and winning the Ivy League title, the Quakers really did have a case for a higher seed.

The Ivy League has produced several tournament upsets in recent years. No. 14 Harvard beat No. 3 New Mexico in 2013, No. 12 Yale beat No. 5 Baylor in 2016, and Donahue’s 2010 Cornell squad knocked off fifth-seeded Temple. And the only No. 16 team to upset a No. 1 seed is Harvard -- in the women’s tournament -- against Stanford in 1998.

And Kansas is, by Kansas standards, not that great this year: The Jayhawks went 27-7, with losses to teams like Washington, Arizona State, and Oklahoma State. But they’re still really, really good. They picked up a 14th straight regular-season Big 12 title and won the Big 12 Tournament without top rebounder and blocker Udoka Azubuike last week.

Kansas is fallible. Azubuike, who leads Division I in field goal percentage a 77.4 percent, is still a game-time decision -- head coach Bill Self said he may give the seven-footer a few minutes if he can play “at 80 percent or 70 percent and be confident.” A victory for Penn on Thursday is a popular choice for both pundits and fans, because everyone loves an underdog.

Haunted by five straight losing seasons and an 11-year NCAA Tournament drought, Penn was picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League. The Quakers earned the chip on their shoulder, which has only grown since the committee surprised the Ivy League champion Sunday with a 16 seed.

“All season we've been kind of counted out,” sophomore forward AJ Brodeur said. “We've been underappreciated, I think, in our league, and I think that as time goes on, we're able to prove more and more of what we're capable of doing, and I think this is just another example, and we're going to just try to go out there tomorrow and show what we can do.”

Donahue’s never beaten Kansas or Bill Self before, but he’s come close: He was a Penn assistant coach in 1998, when Kansas eked out a 61-56 win in The Palestra. His 2010 Cornell team took KU, then the No. 1 team in the nation,  down to the wire at Allen Fieldhouse before losing 71-66.

The Quakers are in Wichita to compete -- this isn’t a “just happy to be here” team -- but they’re soaking in the moment, too.

“I want these guys to embrace everything that this NCAA Tournament is about,” Donahue said. “I want them to enjoy the attention, have fun with each other. This is what college basketball is all about. There's a lot of negativity that exists right now. I think you guys, if you take in our players and see the joy that they play with and they enjoy each other's company, I think that's what we're trying to have fun with.”

No. 16 Penn will take on No. 1 Kansas at 2 PM EST on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. TBS will broadcast the game, which can also be streamed using the NCAA March Madness Live app.


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