PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team was severely depleted during Saturday's game at Toledo, and a highly anticipated matchup never materialized as the Rockets rolled over the Quakers. The Red and Blue have no time to dwell on the loss, however, as they host Monmouth in a New Year's Eve matinee on Macquarie Court at The Palestra.
 
GAME 14 – PENN (10-3) vs. MONMOUTH (0-12)
Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 * 1 p.m.
Macquarie Court at The Palestra (Philadelphia)
Penn Game Notes | Monmouth Game Notes
 
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The Series with Monmouth
• This is the ninth meeting between the Quakers and the Hawks in men's basketball—a series that started in 2003—and the fourth to be played here at The Palestra.
 
• Penn holds a 6-2 lead, but these teams have split the last four meetings. Monmouth won the last game played at The Palestra, 71-56, on January 21, 2015.
 
• Last year, of course, these teams slugged it out through four overtimes before Penn prevailed, 101-96. The teams combined for 101 foul shots in a game that saw seven different players foul out and 79 fouls called. Three players hit the 20-point mark for the Quakers in last year's game: Ryan Betley (26), Antonio Woods (23) and Eddie Scott (21). Scott also had 13 rebounds for a double-double and shot 8-of-8 from the field.
 
Weekly Honors For Wang
On Monday, freshman Michael Wang was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the third time this season. The honor came on the heels of his 19-point, 9-rebound, 3-assist game in Penn's win at New Mexico last Saturday.
 
Fun Stuff to Know
• Penn has played 11 times on New Year's Eve, most recently in 2009-10 at Duke; the last time the Quakers played a home game on New Year's Eve was the 1930-31 season, a 24-20 loss to Indiana.
 
• At 10-3, Penn is off to its best 13-game start since the 2001-02 team also started 10-3; that team finished the season 25-7 overall and won both the Ivy League and Big 5 championships.
 
• For the first time in program history, Penn has 10 wins prior to the New Year.
 
• Penn has won 12 games in a row at The Palestra dating back to last season, 15 of its last 16, and 18 of 20.
 
• Junior AJ Brodeur became the 41st player in program history to reach 1,000 career points on Saturday, where he finished with a game-high 19 points.
 
Penn by the Numbers
102 • Games coached by head coach Steve Donahue at Penn.
 
38.3 • Penn's win percentage in its first 47 games under Donahue (18-29).
 
72.7 • Penn's win percentage in its last 55 games under Donahue (40-15).
 
0 • Two-point baskets scored so far this season by senior Jackson Donahue (no relation to Coach Donahue); all 13 field goals have come from beyond the arc.
 
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 (37) and Max Rothschild (28), and juniors AJ Brodeur (team-high 49) and Devon Goodman (32); senior Jake Silpe has 24 assists.
 
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).
 
6 • Consecutive Penn wins prior to Saturday's loss at Toledo; it was the Quakers' longest win streak since the 2011-12 season (7 games).
 
13 • Consecutive Penn losses to ACC programs, dating back to 2000-01, before the Quakers beat Miami on December 4, 89-75.
 
14.1 • Penn's average margin of victory in its nine Division 1 wins this season.
 
18 • Second-half points scored by Penn Saturday at Toledo, a low in the Donahue coaching era; Brodeur had 11 of those points.
 
21.4 • Combined field-goal percentage of players not named AJ Brodeur on Saturday at Toledo (9-of-42); Brodeur shot 52.9 percent from the field (9-17).
 
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.
 
41 • Penn players who have scored 1,000 career points, after Brodeur reached the mark Saturday at Toledo; he enters today's contest with 1,003 career points.
 
74 • Points scored by Wang over a four-game stretch from Miami (12/4) to New Mexico (12/22), an 18.5 per-game average; he was injured early in Saturday's game at Toledo.
 
111 • Points scored by Brodeur over the last seven games, all double-digit outings; he has 90 in the last five contests, an 18.0 per-game average.
 
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.
 
118 • Three-point baskets by Penn this season, a 9.1 per-game average; the Quakers have hit double figures in that category five times in 13 games.
 
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)'