Howard falls at the Palestra, 78-65, as Penn's TJ Power takes over

Howard left Philadelphia with another loss Saturday night, falling 78-65 to Pennsylvania at the Palestra and dropping to 1-2 on the season.

The Bison kept it competitive early. Cedric Taylor III got things going with a 7-foot jumper and added a driving layup later in the first half. Cam Gillus hit a 25-foot three-pointer off a Taylor assist, then turned around and set up Drew Harris for another three from deep. Lucas Lueth threw down a dunk off a Dalton Scantlebury feed. For stretches, Howard looked like it belonged.

But Penn had TJ Power. He finished with 23 points, and the Quakers built a lead Howard could never fully erase. Scantlebury hauled down 8 rebounds for Penn, and AJ Levine ran the offense with 5 assists.

Gillus was Howard's best player by a wide margin. He put up 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, the kind of line that usually means your team wins. It didn't here. He threaded passes to Josiah Lawson for a layup, then another to Harris for the three. He was everywhere.

The rest of the Bison couldn't match the Quakers' production. Penn got contributions from multiple spots, including James Brown's hook shot, an Ethan Lin pullup, a Michael Zanoni jumper and a layup from Augustus Gerhart. Howard had answers at times, but never enough of them, and never at the right moments.

Final: Penn 78, Howard 65. The Bison head home having now lost two straight, with Gillus accounting for all 6 team assists on the night.