Game 13: GMU (11-1) vs Penn (6-5) on Sunday, December 28, at 5:00 PM.

Patriotsince81

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The game is on ESPN+.

Preseason notes:

Penn is a member of the Ivy League.
They were picked to finish 7th out of the 8 teams in preseason polls.

KenPom: Gives us a 93% chance of winning.
GMU - 69
Penn - 228
NET:
Mason - 66
Penn - 237

History:
We are 4-1 against Penn all-time.
12/5/15 - GMU 63 - Penn 44 at EBA.
12/20/16 - GMU 79 - Penn 60 in Philadelphia.
11/6/18 - Penn 72 - GMU 71 at EBA.
11/12/21 - GMU 87 - Penn 66 at EBA
12/22/24 - GMU 85 - Penn 53 at EBA.

Penn is currently 6-5 on the season. They are 5-1 at home, 1-3 on the road, and 0-1 at neutral sites.

They are 0-1 against Quad 1 teams, 0-1 against Quad 2, 0-1 against Quad 3, and 5-1 against Quad 4 teams.

Schedule: https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Wins: Rowan (119-72), St. Joe’s (83-74), Drexel; (84-68), Merrimack (77-65), La Salle (73-71), Lafayette (74-72),
Losses: American (84-78), Providence (106-81), Hofstra (77-60), Villanova (90-63), Rutgers (70-69)

Probable Starters:
6’5” Ethan Roberts - 18.0 ppg - Senior - Taken to the hospital after the Villanova game. Did not play in their last game against Rutgers. Out indefinitely. Minimal chance of return by the time we play.

6’9” TJ Power - 15.4 ppg & 8.1 reb - Junior
6’5” Michael Zanoni - 10.6 ppg - Senior
6’9” Augustus Gerhart - 5.8 ppg & 6.1 reb - Junior
6’0” AJ Levine - 3.7 ppg - Sophomore
6’3” Cam Thrower - 7.6 ppg - Senior - Started in place of Roberts against Rutgers.

Reserves averaging double figure minutes:
6’9” Dalton Scantlebury - 8.5 ppg & 5.2 reb - Freshman
6’4” Jay Jones - 4.8 ppg in 8 appearances - Freshman
6’7” Lucas Lueth - 2.7 ppg - Sophomore

Roster: https://pennathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Team Stats:

Penn averages 78.3 points per game while giving up 77.2.

The Quakers shoot 44.3% from the floor and 38.6% from 3.
Opponents are shooting 44.3% from the field and 32.0% from 3.

They shoot 69.5% from the free throw line.

They have out rebounded opponents by 2.1 boards per game and average 12.4 turnovers per contest.

Stats: https://pennathletics.com/documents/2025/12/8/2526_Penn_MBK_stats__1_.pdf?path=mbball

Thoughts: The loss of Ethan Roberts is huge for the Quakers. From an article on Sunday, December 7. “However, the Quakers will be without their leading scorer after Ethan Roberts suffered an undisclosed injury in Saturday’s Big 5 championship game. The senior hit the floor hard midway through the first half and was slow to get into a seated position, but eventually retreated to the bench under his own power. Roberts did return for a five-minute stretch at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, but was “visibly not in a good place” according to McCaffery, and was taken to a local hospital for observation.

Roberts’ absence leaves a hole in the Penn lineup, along with his 18-point per game average, but the circumstances in which he departed strangely fit with the way the season has gone for the Quakers to this point.

“It’s still a work in progress,” McCaffery admitted. “We’ve had some high moments, some really good wins, some times where we didn’t play as well. We’re still working on lineups, substitution patterns, and now we’ll have to play without Ethan.”

A Quaker basketball board reported 3 days ago that Roberts has been seen around the basketball facility but is not yet practicing.

They have good size and their starters have good experience. For what it is worth they have 2 wins over A10 teams. Against St. Joe’s Roberts had 31 and Power added 23. Power had 29 against La Salle and Roberts added 12. Captain Obvious reports that with Roberts out our primary focus should shift to Power. Limit him and our chances of getting to win number 12 greatly increase.

Discuss.
 
Last edited:

FreeGunston12

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He had street shoes on and no sign of a limp. I am guessing that he will redshirt given how much time he has missed, what rehab he still has in front of him, and perhaps wondering where his minutes might come from.
Yeah. Foot injuries (especially one that require surgery) are really tricky for athletes. He could be fine walking around but not anywhere close to playing basketball. I really hope we see him back with the kind of season we are having, but I’m not holding my breath.
 
Given that Mincy can basically play all 40 minutes at a high level and the other guards are all performing well with our current rotations we're probably better off with him redshirting. We're already gonna be losing Hill, Long, and Troutman at the end of the season. It would be nice to have some consistency in the bank with Brayden for next season.
 

FreeGunston12

All-American
Given that Mincy can basically play all 40 minutes at a high level and the other guards are all performing well with our current rotations we're probably better off with him redshirting. We're already gonna be losing Hill, Long, and Troutman at the end of the season. It would be nice to have some consistency in the bank with Brayden for next season.
Shoot, if we could just keep Mincy and Presley then I’d be ecstatic. With Allenspach down low, we’re actually getting really good contributions from guys with eligibility left. Kanga, Stas, and Booker have all shown flashes that they could develop nicely too.

But with only 1 loss this season and the uncertainty of the portal, I think we stay in “win now” mode if given the chance with Brayden.
 
Shoot, if we could just keep Mincy and Presley then I’d be ecstatic. With Allenspach down low, we’re actually getting really good contributions from guys with eligibility left. Kanga, Stas, and Booker have all shown flashes that they could develop nicely too.

But with only 1 loss this season and the uncertainty of the portal, I think we stay in “win now” mode if given the chance with Brayden.
That's a fair take. Tomorrow ain't promised and we'd be lucky to keep Mincy. Anything Brayden could give us would be icing. However, I think we should give Brayden some credit given that he elected to stay last season when the rest of the team left. It also might damage his potential for playing post college. I know Tony has said he wants to be with these guys for 30-40 years, not just 1-2 years.
 

mkaufman1

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We need a QR code on the jumbo tron after every great play Mincy makes so that people in the arena can donate to bring him back
Probably won't mean much when the old geezers try scanning it with their flip phones.
 

mkaufman1

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Hopefully the guys come in and refocused after the holiday break. Its important to have a good performance going into conference play. Could be another choppy game but I think we have a better showing than against Loyola.

Mason 75
UPenn 62
 

Old Man

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Yeah. Foot injuries (especially one that require surgery) are really tricky for athletes. He could be fine walking around but not anywhere close to playing basketball. I really hope we see him back with the kind of season we are having, but I’m not holding my breath.
I was told O'Conner did not have surgery.
 
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