PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team is back in action after the completion of the University's fall exam period. The Quakers will be on the road each of the next two Saturdays, starting this weekend when they travel to Alburquerque, New Mexico and a visit to one of the historic college basketball venues in the country, The Pit. Penn and the host University of New Mexico will tip off at 2 p.m. (4 EST) in a game that will be televised on the Mountain West Network.
 
GAME 12 – PENN (9-2) at NEW MEXICO (5-5)
Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018 * 2 p.m. (4 EST)
Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Penn Game Notes | UNM Game Notes
 
The Series with New Mexico
• This is just the second meeting between the Quakers and the Lobos in men's basketball.
 
• UNM won the first meeting, 54-51. That game also was played at "The Pit" (now Dreamstyle Arena) and was the championship game of the Lobo Invite after Penn beat Northwestern the first night. The first Penn-UNM game took place 25 years and 51 weeks ago (December 29, 1992).
 
• Penn also played at The Pit in the 1981 Lobo Classic, losing to Fordham (77-73 in 2OT) and Marshall (65-64).
 
• Penn has played just one other game against a current Mountain West program. That came on December 30, 1978, when host San Diego State whipped the Quakers, 110-86. The 110 points were the most ever allowed by a Penn team at the time and remains tied for third nearly 40 years later.
 
FAST START FOR PENN
While Penn enters today's game at 9-2 overall, the Quakers started this season 4-0. Amazingly, it was the first time that had happened since the 1978-79 season, which coincidentally was the year that the Red and Blue made it to arguably the most famous Final Four of all time with Magic Johnson's Michigan State, Larry Bird's Indiana State, and Mark Aguirre's DePaul teams. You could make a case for Penn being the NCAA's original "Cinderella," as the Quakers were the nine seed in a 10-team East Regional. (Yes, if you're paying attention...the team that SDSU dropped 110 points on later made the Final Four!)
 
FUN STUFF TO KNOW
• Penn's December 11 game with Villanova was Steve Donahue's 100th as the Quakers' head coach.
 
• At 9-2, Penn is off to its best 11-game start since the 1994-95 team also started 9-2; that team lost to Saint Joseph's in Game 12. The last Penn team to go 10-2 through 12 was the 1993-94 unit.
 
• Penn is 3-0 in true road games this season and has won four such games in a row dating back to last season.
 
• Penn's win over then-No. 17 Villanova on December 11 was its first over the Cats since Dec. 10, 2002 and the first over an AP-ranked team since a 73-70 win over No. 7 Temple on Nov. 23, 1998.
 
• Penn's 83-65 win at La Salle on December 8 was its biggest Big 5 win since a 71-47 win over the Explorers back on January 14, 2004.
 
• When Penn beat Miami on December 4, it snapped a 13-game losing streak to ACC programs that dated back to 2000-01 and was the Quakers' first over a Power 5 program since 2003 (at USC).
 
Penn by the Numbers
100 • Games coached by head coach Steve Donahue at Penn.
 
38.3 • Penn's win percentage in its first 47 games under Donahue (18-29).
 
73.6 • Penn's win percentage in its last 53 games under Donahue (39-14).
 
0 • Two-point baskets scored so far this season by senior Jackson Donahue; all ten of his field goals this season have come from beyond the arc.
 
0 • Losses suffered by Penn this season in the contiguous United States; the Quakers' losses to Kansas State and Oregon State came at the Paradise Jam which was played on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
 
3 • Points scored by junior Ryan Betley in Penn's season opener, when he drained a three-pointer on Penn's first possession of 2018-19; less than five minutes later he ruptured his patellar tendon, and so last year's leading scorer will miss the remainder of the season.
 
4 • Penn players with at least 28 assists this season: seniors Antonio Woods (31) and Max Rothschild (28) and juniors AJ Brodeur (team-high 44) and Devon Goodman (29); senior Jake Silpe has 21.
 
5 • NCAA Division 1 players this year from China, including freshman Michael Wang. He shares the distinction with Michael Ou (Cal State Northridge), Johnny Wang (Cal State Fullerton), Kevin Zhang (Tulane) and James Zhao (California).
 
14.5 • Penn's average margin of victory in its eight Division 1 wins this season.
 
24 • Penn wins last season, most since the Quakers had 25 in 2001-02. All time, the Red and Blue have had nine seasons with 24 or more victories.
 
25 • Consecutive Philadelphia Big 5 games won by Villanova—a city record that covered six years and three days—before Penn beat the 17th-ranked Wildcats, 78-75, on December 11.
 
26 • Ivy League titles won by Penn. That is behind only Princeton (27). The rest of the league has 20 combined.
 
36 • Points needed by Brodeur to reach 1,000 for his career; he would become the 41st player in program history to achieve the milestone.
 
55 • Points scored by the freshman Wang over the last three games (23 vs. Miami, 18 at La Salle, 14 vs. Villanova).
 
58 • Points scored by all-tournament pick Goodman at the Paradise Jam (career-high 27 vs. Northern Iowa, 18 vs. K-State, 13 vs. Oregon State).
 
71.5 • Penn's assist-to-basket ratio over the last three games (63 assists/88 FG).
 
72 • Points scored by Brodeur over the last five games, all double-digit games; he has 51 in the last three contests (18 vs. Miami, 17 at La Salle, 16 vs. Villanova).
 
107 • Three-point baskets by Penn this season, a 9.7 per-game average; the Quakers have hit double figures in that category five times in 11 games.
 
112 • Penn's point total against Stockton on Nov. 24, the fourth-highest total in program history and most since scoring 114 vs. Haverford on December 18, 1993.
 
291 • Three-point baskets by Penn last year, a program record. The Quakers have also set program marks each of the last two years in trey attempts (690 in 2016-17, 830 last season).
 
1.000 • Combined win percentage of Penn (5-0) and Old Dominion (7-0) since both teams were stranded together for nearly 24 hours at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands trying to fly back from the Paradise Jam.