PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team will close out the non-conference portion of its 2017-18 schedule over the next two Saturdays, facing a pair of city rivals in the process. The first of those two games takes place this Saturday at 2 p.m., when Temple (and old friend Fran Dunphy) make the short trip from North Broad to The Palestra.
 
Locally in Philadelphia, Saturday's game will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, and fans also can listen to the game on WFIL (560 AM). Worldwide, fans can watch the Quakers and Owls on the Ivy League Network (ILN), now available on Apple TV, Roku and the ILN app for Android and Apple devices.
 
GAME 18 – PENN (12-5, 0-2 Big 5) vs. TEMPLE (9-9, 1-2)
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018 * 2 p.m.
The Palestra (Philadelphia)
 
THE SERIES WITH TEMPLE
• The Owls lead, 47-19, having won the last 10 and 13 of the last 14 in this series.
 
• Five of the last six games have had a single-digit margin, including last year when Temple won 70-62 at the Liacouras Center on North Broad. Two years ago, here at The Palestra, the Owls nipped the Quakers, 77-73.
 
• Penn's last win in the series came here at The Palestra, a 76-74 decision on January 24, 2007.
 
ABOUT THE OWLS
• After a fast start that included wins over Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina and Wisconsin, the Owls have cooled off in recent weeks with just one win in its previous six games (not including Wednesday's contest with Tulsa).
 
• Temple is 1-2 in Big 5 play with a win over Saint Joseph's (81-78) and losses to La Salle (87-83) and Villanova (87-67).
 
FRIENDLY RIVALS
Saturday's game, of course, pits a pair of extremely close friends against each other. Prior to his arrival at Temple, Fran Dunphy was head coach at Penn for 17 seasons and remains the program's all-time winningest coach. During 10 of those, one of his assistant coaches was current Quakers head coach Steve Donahue (1991-2000). During their time together, Penn won 182 games and six Ivy League titles (including four unbeaten Ancient Eight campaigns).
 
TEAM IMPACT
The friendly rivalry extends off the court, as well. Both Penn (Tommy Johnston) and Temple (Mason Wycoff) signed young men to their roster through Team IMPACT earlier this year. Tommy and Mason will be involved in festivities during the night. Co-founded by Jay Calnan and Dan Kraft, Team IMPACT connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses by "signing" them to local college athlete teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes.
INFO: www.goteamimpact.org
 
FULL COURT PRESS ON ALS
In addition, both teams will celebrate "Full Court Press on ALS" during tonight's game. Founded by Micheal Honrychs, FCP on ALS was formed to help major ALS research and medical organizations have an annual revenue stream for research with funding through educational awareness summits and collegiate basketball games.
INFO: www.fullcourtpressonals.com
 
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
• At 12-5—including four in a row and six of the last seven—Penn is off to its best start through 17 games since the 2002-03 season. That team was 7-5 at one point, then reeled off 15 straight wins to close out the regular season before falling to Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 77-63.
 
• Since taking a 64-49 loss to archrival Princeton last February 7, Penn has gone 18-7 in regular-season play and 9-2 against Ancient Eight opponents.
 
• Penn entered the week leading the Ivy League in scoring offense (78.5), scoring margin (+8.2), field goal defense (.414), 3-point FG defense (.297), rebound margin (+1.9), turnover margin (+1.29), and assist/turnover ratio (1.31).
 
• Penn is 11-1 this season when leading a game at the half, and 28-4 in such games in the Donahue era.
 
• Penn made 12 three-pointers last Saturday against Columbia, the eighth time the Quakers have hit double digits in that category this season.
 
• Penn had just nine turnovers last Friday against Cornell, the fourth-straight game (seventh time this season) the Quakers were in single digits in that category.
 
• Sophomore AJ Brodeur's 30 points against Columbia were not just a personal season high, it was the most by a Penn player this season.
 
• Brodeur had 22 points in the first half vs. the Lions. The last time a Penn player did that was last February 17, when Ryan Betley had 23 in the first half at Brown.
 
• Brodeur's six three-pointers against the Lions were a personal best—he entered the game with seven for the season and 15 for his career—and tied for the most by a Penn player this season.
 
• Brodeur—who was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday—also tied a season/career high with three steals and tied a season best with three blocks in the Columia game.
 
• Speaking of Betley, the three-time Ivy League Player of the Week this season reached 20 points for the third time in the last four games and the sixth time this season. He has reached double digits in the last four games (18.5 ppg in that span) and 11 of the last 12.
 
• Senior Caleb Wood had eight rebounds against Columbia; prior to the game his season high was two and his career best was five. He also scored nine points.
 
• Senior Darnell Foreman (7 points) had six assists vs. Columbia, one shy of his season high.
 
• Junior Max Rothschild has dished off five assists in two of the last three games, tying a season/career high both times.