Penn head coach Steve Donahue sat behind the podium alongside one of his players following his team’s gut-wrenching 73-71 overtime loss to Princeton at the Palestra on Saturday.
He described the loss as “disappointing” and went on to say his team just isn’t ready to win a game of that nature in that particular moment. Yet, nothing hit him harder than a question regarding Antonio Woods and the ruling the morning of Saturday's rivalry game that the sophomore is academically ineligible .
Donahue said he didn’t want to get into it before choking up a bit and taking a 10-second pause.
The loss of Woods is devastating. The guard averaged 10.7 points with a team-high 3.3 assists per game. He also averaged the most minutes. If there was a heartbeat to the team, it was Woods.
That’s why the news of his being out for the remainder of the season hit Donahue so hard.
“You’re going to miss a player like Antonio,” Donahue said. “I think he’s one of the best players in this league. We’re going to miss him but we’ll get better.”
Princeton’s head coach, Mitch Henderson, also said after the game that Woods is one of the best in the Ivy League and knows how big of a loss he is to Penn.
So where do the Quakers turn?
A pair of freshmen: Jake Silpe and Jackson Donahue.
“They deserve to play,” said Penn's first-year head coach. “I haven’t played many freshmen in my coaching career to the extent of these two. I really believe in them.”
In the loss to Princeton, Silpe registered a whopping 42 minutes while Donahue came in just behind him with 41 minutes. Penn had three players in double-digit scoring figures with two of them being Donahue (16) and Silpe (11).
Henderson was rather impressed what he saw in the Cherry Hill product, saying Silpe is a “heck of a player.”
“We were prepared for Silpe but I think our guys kind of found out how tough he is,” Henderson added.
To date, Silpe is posting 3.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game in 20 minutes of action. Those numbers, though, will all jump significantly in his new role. Aside from his 11 points on Saturday, the guard filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds and seven assists and got to the foul line a team-best four times.
“I was trying to play towards my instincts, find open guys and everything that comes natural to me,” Silpe said.
As for Donahue, he’s put up 5.8 points per game this year but has been red-hot as of late with 17 points per game over his last three. Between him and Silpe, Penn has a really talented but young backcourt.
Nonetheless, Steve Donahue maintains his confidence in them as the team moves on from Woods.
“I think it’s great that we can play two freshman guards in a Penn-Princeton game and expect the poise and toughness that they showed,” Steve Donahue said. “There’s seven or eight loose balls that one of them came up with. That’s how we’re going to build this program with guys like that. Guys that understand there’s more to the game than just how you look and making shots. There’s another aspect that both Jake and Jackson understand.”
Both of the freshman guards as well as the team as a collective whole will have to figure out life after Woods.
There’s going to be an offensive drop-off at first, particularly in the flow of the game. Penn compiled an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers on Saturday to go along with some poor clock management at times.
Those are both things that Steve Donahue says were in Woods’ wheelhouse.
“I think there’s an adjustment to be made,” he explained. “They’ll learn and we’ll adjust without Antonio.”