PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team continues its crazy early-season schedule in Florida this week, as the Quakers participate in the Gulf Coast Showcase. The eight-team mid-major tournament starts Monday and continues through Wednesday at the Germain Arena in Estero, Fla. Penn opens tournament play Monday night at 5 p.m. with Northern Illinois out of the Mid-American Conference.
 
GAME 5 – PENN (2-2) vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (2-0)
Gulf Coast Showcase first round
Monday, November 20, 2017 * 5 p.m.
Germain Arena (Estero, Fla.)
 
THE SERIES
• This is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Huskies in men's basketball.
 
• This trip to the Gulf Coast Showcase marks Penn's third trip to Florida in the last two seasons. The Quakers made separate trips to the Sunshine State last year, losing at Miami but defeating UCF.
 
• The Gulf Coast Showcase represents Penn's first appearance in an exempt event since the 2012-13 season, when the Quakers were in the NIT Season Tipoff and played two games each at Lehigh and Virginia.
 
PENN vs. THE MID-AMERICAN
Amazingly, in the long history of Penn basketball, this marks just the fifth time the Quakers have faced a current Mid-American Conference squad and the first time since they defeated Buffalo 77-52 on February 7, 1994. The Red and Blue are 3-1 all-time against teams currently in the MAC, and they will face another MAC team on December 29 when Toledo comes to The Palestra.
   Akron ... 1-0 (met in 1908-09 season)
   Bowling Green ... 1-0 (1985-86)
   Buffalo ... 1-0 (1993-94)
   Ohio ... 0-1 (1983-84)
 
PENN BY THE NUMBERS
3 • Senior Caleb Wood hit a trio of three-pointers in each of Penn's first three games this season; in fact, 10 of his 13 made field goals have come from beyond the arc. He had 13 points vs. Navy on Wednesday, his first double-figure scoring game since he had 15 last November 26...at Navy..
 
4 • Four different players have led or tied for scoring honors in a game so far this season: Ryan Betley, Max Rothschild, Jarrod Simmons, and Wood.
 
8 • The Gulf Coast Showcase marks the start of a stretch that sees Penn playing eight games away from its home court, the famed Palestra, The Quakers' next home game is not until December 27 when Delaware State comes to town.
 
13 • Players on this year's roster with at least one double-figure scoring game at Penn. That includes six players who have had at least one 20-point game, and five with at least one double-double.
 
+27 • Penn is +27 in turnovers so far this season, committing 39 while opponents have committed 66. The Quakers also enjoy a +34 advantage in points off turnovers through four games.
 
39 • Three-point shots taken by Penn each of the last two Saturdays (11/11 at Fairfield; 11/18 vs. PSU-Brandywine), a program record for a game.