PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team started the year off with a bang, playing 12 games in less than a calendar month. That preceded final exams, and now the Quakers return to action after 18 full days off from games. The Red and Blue will play at The Palestra twice between Christmas and the New Year, as Delaware State comes calling on Wednesday (12/27) and Toledo visits two days later (12/29). These are Penn's first home games since November 18, and mark the start of a nine-game homestand that extends through the entire month of January and into February.
 
Both games will be televised on the subscription-based Ivy League Network, and the Delaware State game also will air on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Locally in Philadelphia, fans can listen to the Delaware State game on WNTP 990 AM; the Toledo game will not air on any radio network.
 
GAME 13 – PENN (8-4) vs. DELAWARE STATE (2-12)
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017 * 7 p.m.
The Palestra (Philadelphia)
 
THE SERIES WITH DELAWARE STATE
• Wednesday's game marks just the third meeting between the Quakers and the Hornets, all of them coming in the last four years.
 
• The series is tied 1-1, with the road team winning both times. DSU won the first matchup, 77-75 in overtime, here at The Palestra on November 15, 2014. Almost exactly a year later (November 17, 2015), Penn went to Dover and knocked off the Hornets, 60-54.
 
PENN vs. THE MEAC
Penn is 2-2 all-time against programs that currently play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. As it turns out, the only other MEAC team the Quakers have played in their history is Howard, whom they defeated 81-68 earlier this month down in Washington, D.C.
 
GAME 14 – PENN vs. TOLEDO (7-5)
Friday, Dec. 29, 2017 * 4 p.m.
The Palestra (Philadelphia)
 
THE SERIES WITH TOLEDO
• Friday's contest is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Rockets in men's basketball.
 
PENN vs. THE MID-AMERICAN
Amazingly, in the long history of Penn basketball, this marks just the sixth time the Quakers have faced a team currently in the Mid-American Conference. The Red and Blue are 4-1 all-time against the MAC after posting a 93-80 win over Northern Illinois on November 20 in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. Prior to that game, the last time Penn faced a MAC squad was February 7, 1994 when the Quakers defeated Buffalo, 77-52. The last time the Red and Blue hosted a MAC program? Try December 27, 1985 when the Quakers beat Bowling Green, 62-56.
 
PENN BY THE NUMBERS
3 • Prior to exams, Penn won three-straight road games. The last time the Quakers had three-straight non-conference road wins was across the New Year during the 2005-06 season (12/29 at Hawaii, 12/31 at BYU-Hawaii, 1/4 at The Citadel). Overall, Penn's 8-4 mark through 12 games is its best since the 2001-02 season (9-3).
 
6 • Six different players have led Penn in scoring in a game this season: senior Caleb Wood; juniors Max Rothschild and Antonio Woods; sophomores Ryan Betley and AJ Brodeur; and freshman Jarrod Simmons.
 
7 • Sophomore Ryan Betley has scored in double figures in each of Penn's last seven games, averaging 16.4 ppg.
 
8 • Senior Sam Jones has hit nine three-point shots in Penn's last three games, including three at Lafayette and five at Dayton. Prior to that, Jones had just two treys in the Quakers' first nine games.
 
9 • These mark the first of nine straight games that Penn will play at home. (That includes five against Ivy League opponents to start conference play.) Following these games, the Quakers will go the entire month of January and the first weekend in February without a road game before traveling to Princeton on February 6.
 
11 • Penn has had 11 different players reach double figures in the scoring column through 12 games this season. Overall, 14 different players on the roster have reached double digits at least once during their career. That includes seven players with at least one 20-point game, and six with at least one double-double.
 
34 • Penn has hit 34 three-point shots over its last three games (11 at Howard, 10 at Lafayette, 13 at Dayton). Overall, the Quakers have reached double figures in that category six times this season.
 
90 • Penn has scored at least 90 points three times already this season; the last time the Quakers had three such games in an entire season was 2006-07. The last time the Red and Blue had four such games? You have to go all the way back to the 1994-95 season, when they had 10!