The Foul Line Not A Friend to Penn
PHILADELPHIA, PA 1/24/2026 –
The Yale Bulldogs came into the Palestra tied for first place in the Ivy League. The University of Pennsylvania lurked behind. The Quakers needed to find what it would take to compete with the top teams in the Ancient Eight. After the 77 – 60 win by the Bulldogs, there is more work to do. Penn was held to a season-low tying 60 points.
The foremost thing they need to do in a game like this is to convert from the free throw line. The Quakers made 11 of 18 attempts. But it helped to explain a larger issue.
“We missed our free throws,” Penn Coach Fran McCaffery said in reviewing the loss. “You can’t miss free throws because we want to get into our press. Especially when we miss our second free throw.”
And Penn did not get into the bonus in the first half.
Penn Stayed in Contention at the Start
The teams played even in the first half. There were 5 ties and 8 lead changes, and Penn made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe. The Quakers stood a point behind at 29 – 28 at the 3:46 mark. Then Yale went on an 11 – 2 run to halftime to take control of the game.
The Red and Blue stayed in contention, getting into the bonus, pulling to within 48 – 44 on an Ethan Roberts foul shot. He was not successful on the second attempt, and the Eli pulled away. The Quakers were in a situation where they could not put a consecutive run together coupled with a lack of key stops. Penn kept trying to climb the ladder without success.
“I thought we settled a little bit in that stretch,” McCaffery said. “You’ve got to keep grinding your offense. If the play breaks down you got to go in motion. We did a good job of that early in the second half.”
But then
Missed shots, Eli offensive rebounds, and the Bulldogs offense contributed to the loss.
“They’re a tough team to guard, they’ve got a lot of weapons,” McCaffery said. “I’ve never seen a team with the assist turnover ratio like that. They are not easy to guard and they make it that way. They don’t settle, kick up bad shots. We got consecutive stops and a couple of chances, but didn’t convert in transition, didn’t convert our free throws, and that made it hard to erase the lead.”
What the Numbers Say
Penn had three players score in double figures with AJ Levine leading the team with 17 points and 7 assists. TJ Power and Ethan Roberts scored 12 apiece. Power had a team-high 7 rebounds.
The Quakers blocked 8 shots, the most this season, led by Augustus Gearhart who swatted away three.
Yale won the battle of the boards 42 – 28 and 14 – 9 off the offensive glass.
Eli forward Isaac Celiscar recorded a double-double with 12 points and rebounds, a season-best in boards. Celiscar led the team in assists handing out 6 and had 4 offensive rebounds.Nick Townsend Scored 17 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Trevor Mullins added 17 points and Casey Simmons put in 14 points.
Up Next
Penn (9 – 9, 2 -3) goes on a two game road swing next weekend. The New York trip takes them to Columbia and Cornell.
Yale (15 – 3, 4 -1) hosts Dartmouth and Harvard at the end of the month Ivy League weekend.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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