Urgency lacking in Penn loss to Rider

IF YOU FOLLOW Penn basketball and just look at scores, it would be difficult not to make a few assumptions. Rider lost at Princeton Friday, 64-58, and beat the Quakers last night at the Palestra, 73-57.

Unless you were actually in the old gym, and not many (1,066) were, you would not have seen the first 12 minutes when Penn's offense actually moved the ball pretty well, promising after the turnover fest of the last two seasons. The Quakers had just one TO in the first 17 minutes and three in the first half.

So there was that, and also the reality that Rider (1-1) was much better, and it really showed during a late first-half stretch when Penn had four freshmen and a sophomore on the floor.

"I didn't think we played with the right sense of urgency," Penn coach Jerome Allen said. "I didn't think we played with the right sense of selflessness. It's unfortunate we wasted this opportunity, but with that being said, some of the younger guys, I think, it's a very important learning experience. We've got to get better."

Rider shot just four free throws at Princeton to 20 for the Tigers. The Broncs got Penn's frontcourt in quick foul trouble. Darien Nelson-Henry, who has only practiced full-out for the last 2 weeks, had six points and two fouls in the first 6 minutes. He sat the rest of the half. Greg Louis only got 7 first-half minutes with his two fouls. That was an issue.

"It was pretty difficult," Allen said. "You don't want to put some of the younger guys in a position to have to maintain a certain standard for that amount of time. But that's basketball."

The freshmen had their moments, especially Mike Auger, who plays with a fire that has been missing at Penn the last few seasons. He shot 5-for-7 and had 10 points, but it was how he played that was more important than the numbers.

"After the game in the locker room, we tried to highlight the effort Mike Auger had tonight," Allen said. "Regardless of what the scoreboard said, he left it on the floor."

He did, indeed.

"I just tried to do the things I know I can do," Auger said.

Freshman Sam Jones hit three first-half threes. Point guards Darnell Foreman and Antonio Woods shot just 3-for-15, but gave the hint of potential.

Junior star Tony Hicks (11 points) did not have much time or space as Rider tilted its defense his way.

Penn (0-2) did not get to the foul line in the first half while Rider was 7-for-10 from the arc. That is math that will never work.

"I thought a couple of [the threes] were tough shots," said Allen, who admitted to being discouraged when he kept seeing so many go in. "Outside of that, the closeouts that weren't done properly . . . It's Division I basketball. You make mistakes, guys make you pay at this level."

Penn overcame an early, eight-point deficit to get an 18-16 lead, but then Rider got very comfortable and Penn, rather than continue to play the game, started to chase the game.

"We made a run not only to get back in the game, but to take the lead," Allen said. "After that, it was our effort to get back in transition not making the extra pass. Everybody wanted to start doing it off the bounce.''

Kevin Baggett, the Rider coach and 1989 Saint Joseph's grad, has a nice mix of players who could make the Broncs a factor in the Metro Atlantic. Zedric Sadler (23 points) and Jimmie Taylor (15) were especially hard guards for Penn.

"I thought we set the tone," Baggett said. "I thought we let Princeton set the tone the other day."

Penn, meanwhile, remains a puzzle looking for a solution. Now, there are all these new players in the mix.

"You want to make sure these guys have a winning experience as soon as possible because it's like the only way they buy into the process," Allen said.

And that is the Catch-22. Players need a reward to believe. And they need to believe to get a reward.