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Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: Penn Quakers

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GAME 14

January 3, 2011  –  7 PM

RUPP ARENA – Lexington, KY

PENN QUAKERS (5-5)

TV  –  ESPNU

SERIES HISTORY

Kentucky leads 4-0

LAST MEETING:

11/17/1999:  Kentucky  67  Penn 50

The Ivy League invades Rupp Arena on Monday night for Kentucky’s last game before they enter SEC play versus Georgia on Saturday.  Kentucky does not play teams from the Ivy League a lot, but this is the second Ivy League team Kentucky has faced in the past 20 games, as Kentucky defeated Cornell in the NCAA Tournament.  The Quakers have faced a couple of  top 10 teams this season already, losing to #6 Pitt  82-58 and #8  Villanova 65-53.  In the game against Villanova, Penn was in the game virtually the whole time and gave the Wildcats all they wanted.  Now, Penn gets ready to face another top 10 rated (hopefully) Wildcat team on a rare Monday night matchup.

THE STARTERS

#1 -G – ZACK ROSEN – JR  6’1  175

16.7 ppg, 4.3 apg, 3.7 rpg

#0 – G – MILES CARTWRIGHT – FR  6’3  170

11.5 ppg, 2 apg, 1.7 rpg

#4 – G/F – TYLER BERNARDINI –  SR  6’6  205

7.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg

#24 – F – JACK EGGLESTON – SR  6’8  215

13.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.1 apg

#44 – F/C – CONOR TURLEY – SR  6’7  220

6.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.8 apg

BACK COURT

Zack Rosen is a tremendously talented writer for the Wildcat Blue Nation staff  is the heart and soul of the Quakers and is a threat whenever he touches the basketball.  He is nailing 43.6% of his three-pointers this season and is the best passer on the team, with a 1.72 A/TO ratio.  Rosen is a very consistent scorer and has not scored less than 12 points on the season.  He also has a 30 point performance and two 20 point performances.  The one Achilles heel for Rosen may be foul trouble as he has four games with 4 fouls and four others with three fouls.  More than likely, Miles Cartwright is going to get the start versus Kentucky.  Cartwright is a bit inconsistent as a scorer (as freshman are prone to be) but he is a very solid defender and leads the Quakers with steals and he is able to score from all over the court.  He is hitting 34.1% of his 3-pointers and is the best FT shooter for the Quakers.  If the Quakers decide to go with a little bigger lineup, Rob Belcore may get the start instead of Cartwright.  Belcore has been largely unproductive as a score though (3 games with 0 points, 2 games with 2) and he appears to have lost his starting spot totally to Cartwright.  Belcore is 6’6 and is averaging 3.2 points and 2.9 board a game while averaging 29 minutes. 

FRONT COURT

Tyler Bernardini is listed as a G/F and he will start at the SF position.  He missed last season with an injury and is providing solid senior leadership for the Quakers.  Bernandini used to be a serviceable three point shooter before his injury, but is just hitting 18.2% this season, and his overall shooting percentage has declined to just 35.4%.  Bernardini is coming off a 18 point performance, so he can’t be ignored as  a scorer, but he is inconsistent.  He does not grab the rebounds you want out of the three spot and he has four games with four fouls thus far.  The real front court presence comes in the form of Jack Eggleston.   Eggleston has been very solid this year with two double doubles and four games with over 10 rebounds.  He is only averaging 2.7 three point attempts a game, but he is hitting 40.7% of them.  His scoring has decreased lately as he has hit double digits just once in his last four games.  As a frame of reference, Eggleston had a 16 point 6 board game against Pitt and a 12 point 5 board game against Villanova.  Conor Turley should start but only averages about 17 minutes a game.  Despite the limited minutes, he does have three games with double digit points, but his rebounding is not the type of production you want from a center.  Turley did hit 6-15 3-pointers last season but has not attempts this year.  If the Quakers plan a 3-point assault, you may see him take a few shots.  Freshman Fran Dougherty, at 6’8 and 230, adds some bulk to the front court, but his numbers have been largely unimpressive.  He averages 2.0 points and 2.9 boards a game.  Andreas Schreiber is a fifth year senior that played just 4 games the past two seasons due to injuries, but is gradually knocking the rust off.  When he plays, he has been productive, averaging 4.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in just nine minutes a game.  That said, he has missed the last three games so he may or may not be a factor. 

OUTLOOK

When you look at the players individually for Penn, there is not a lot to be concerned about sans Rosen, Cartwright, and Eggleston.  But like a lot of Ivy League school, they are very well coached and very solid on the fundamentals and tough defensively.    Keep in mind, this team only lost to Villanova by 12 at Villanova.  That is really all you need to know about Penn.  They will come to play and will not back down and give you a fight.

That said, the big factor here will be the talent discrepancy.  Kentucky has a clear advantage at every position and this should be an easy win.  This Penn is not a very good 3-point shooting team or a scoring team either.  And they are one of the worst rebounding teams in the NCAA (27.6 rebounds p
er game – 344th overall).  When you take into account Kentucky is the 19th best rebounding team (40.8 a game) and you can kind of get an idea how this game is going to go. 

Nothing personal against the Quakers but this is going to be a long game for Penn.  Kentucky 77  Penn 50

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