In a loss to Cornell, it’s back to the drawing board for a Penn team that has ‘to learn how to win’

For Penn men’s basketball, Saturday’s loss to Cornell was another chapter in a pretty repetitive book.

Following a strong start behind senior center Nick Spinoso, the Quakers fell apart at the end of the first half, resulting in an 86-76 loss inside the Palestra on Saturday. Once they gained one, Cornell (10-5, 2-0 Ivy) never let up their lead, only dropping to single digits momentarily in the second half. For the Big Red, scoring came from everywhere, as four players finished in double digits.

“We got to learn how to win, and that’s what I told the group,” said Penn coach Steve Donahue. “We got to figure this out. It’s not effort. They’re competing, and we’re going to keep figuring this out and get better.”

Notably, the Quakers (4-11, 0-2) were without forward Michael Zanoni due to injury, who scored a career-high 27 points against Penn State two games ago. Donahue declined to comment on the extent of Zanoni’s injury, but the coach confirmed the junior will not play this Monday against Harvard.

Jon Jaques is halfway through his first season as the head coach of Cornell, but he is anything but a new face for the Big Red. He has been on Cornell’s staff since 2013 and played for the program from 2006-10.

His coach through those four seasons? Steve Donahue.

Under Donahue, Jaques was a part of three Ivy championship teams including Cornell’s 2010 run to the Sweet Sixteen.

“[Jaques] has that kind of grit and toughness, and perseverance,” said Donahue. “And you can see it in their team. They’re very steady. Continue to come at you, don’t waver. That’s what Jon was, and I think that’s what’s going to make him a really good head coach.”

Freshman point guard AJ Levine picked off a pass headed to the paint before finding a streaking Nick Spinoso. The senior center converted in transition for the Quakers’ first points. Through the first half, he recorded seven points, five rebounds, and five assists. Spinoso showed off his playmaking on a no-look bounce pass to junior forward Johnnie Walter for an uncontested layup.

“Spinoso is such a presence and just a problem to gameplan for,” said Jaques. “He’s a scorer, but he passes like a guard, and I think that was key [to prepare for].”

The Quakers were rolling through the first, but the Big Red outscored Penn 17-4 in the final four minutes of the half as they played staunch defense, limiting Penn’s stars. Near the end of the half, a thunderous chase-down block on Penn sophomore forward Niklas Polonowski’s attempted layup was the exclamation point on Cornell’s run.

Going into the locker room, the Quakers were down 11 points. Penn’s leading scorer, forward Ethan Roberts, scored 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting through the first.

It was more of the same in the second.

Through the first five minutes of the second half, Cornell’s lead ballooned to 16 as they got to the basket at will. From here, the Big Red never saw their lead fall.

Meanwhile, Penn came out of the locker room looking to feed the hot hand. Roberts built off his strong first half, scoring ten more points to end with 26 on the day, alongside five rebounds.

» READ MORE: A two-time transfer, forward Ethan Roberts has quickly become a leader at Penn

For the Big Red, the paint was open on Saturday. They scored 40 of their points underneath the basket. Sophomore guard Cooper Noard got it going from deep, making 4 of 6 from three. He ended with a team-high 19 points.

After slowly chipping away, a Levine underhand scoop momentarily broke Cornell’s lead to single digits with eight minutes to go. In his third start, Levine scored a career-high 13 points on the day and logged three steals.

“Arguably [Levine has] been our best practice player all year. … He competes at a high level. I think he’s one of the better, if not best, point guard athletes in the league,” said Donahue.

The Quakers aim to win their first conference contest against Harvard on Monday in Cambridge, Mass. (2 p.m., ESPN+).

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