PHILADELPHIA—Penn guard Jeff Schiffner picked a heck of a time for Harvard to break out of his season-long slump.

The senior—who last season led the NCAA in three-point accuracy by hitting at a 49.3-percent clip—had been criticized all season for a drop-off in production.

Entering Friday night’s game against the Crimson, his three-point percentage had declined to a more pedestrian 35.6 percent and his free-throw percentage had dropped from a team-leading 88.2 percent last year, when he was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, to 73.9 percent this season.

That criticism had only intensified with the Quakers’ recent three-game losing streak, a stretch over which Penn shot barely 40 percent from the field.

The last two of those contests were the start of Penn’s Ivy campaign, leaving the Quakers with their first 0-2 conference mark since the 1981-1982 season.

In Penn’s Ivy opener at Yale on Jan. 30, Schiffner shot just 2-for-5 while missing his only three and failing to get to the free-throw line as the Bulldogs snapped Penn’s 23-game conference winning streak with a 54-52 win.

But Friday night went a long way toward making all that a distant memory.

Schiffner exploded for a season-high 24 points in just 24 minutes, hitting a career-high eight field goals (on 12 attempts), shooting 6-for-8 from behind the arc and making both of his free throws.

“He’s taken a lot of heat for not having a good year,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “So I think Schiff really took it on tonight to generate some energy.”

Schiffner’s points came in bunches, too.

There were 10 in a 3:09 stretch early in the first half as the Quakers began to pull away, extending a one-point lead to seven. The Crimson never got any closer.

Then eight more in 1:59 at the end of the first half, capping a 15-0 Penn run to end the half.

And finally, two threes 5:25 and 7:12 after halftime at the start of a 13-0 Quaker spurt that led to Penn’s biggest advantage, a 45-point margin at 83-38.

By the end, Schiffner had the Palestra faithful chanting for his return, if only because they considered him their best chance to get the free cheesesteak a local eatery was offering if the Quakers topped 100 points.

But the 3,886 fans in attendance for Penn’s Ivy home opener didn’t have just Schiffner to thank for their complimentary dinner.