PHILADELPHIA – A share of the Big 5 championship is already in hand, but the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team can claim the title outright on Saturday. The Quakers are at Macquarie Court at The Palestra to close out the city series for 2018-19, facing Saint Joseph's in what has become an annual late-January Palestra tussle. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
 
What's at Stake on Saturday
• If Penn wins, the Quakers will finish Big 5 play at 4-0 and be outright champions of the city series. It would be the Red and Blue's first crown since the 2001-02 season—also the last time the Quakers went 4-0—and just the second in the four-game round-robin format since the 1980-81 season. Penn's 1991-92 and 1993-94 titles came in the two-game format that was adopted from 1991-92 to 1998-99.
 
• If Saint Joseph's wins, Penn will share the Big 5 championship with Villanova which also finished 3-1 in the city series this year. That loss, of course, came to Penn on December 11 at The Palestra.
 
GAME 18 – PENN (11-6, 3-0 Big 5) vs. SAINT JOSEPH'S (9-10, 0-2)
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019 | 7 p.m.
Macquarie Court at The Palestra (Philadelphia)
Penn Game Notes | SJU Game Notes
 
NEW IN 2018-19: The Ivy League on ESPN
Saturday's game, as well as all Ivy League games the rest of the season, will air on ESPN+ as part of The Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.  
 
The Series with Saint Joseph's
• Saturday represents the 87th meeting between the Quakers and the Hawks in men's basketball, with SJU holding a 50-36 lead. Penn has not played any other non-Ivy League opponent more than Saint Joseph's; Navy is second, with 85 meetings against the Quakers.
 
• These teams have split the last eight meetings, with Penn taking last year's game 67-56. Prior to that, SJU had won two in a row, 78-71 two years ago and 75-60 three years ago.
 
• Penn and Saint Joseph's have played every game since the 1996-97 season in The Palestra; in fact, just 11 of the previous 86 games have taken place outside of The Palestra.
 
Fun Stuff to Know
• For the first time in program history, Penn had 10 wins prior to the New Year.
 
• Penn is 11-4 in non-conference games entering today's contest; the last time the Quakers had a better record outside of Ivy play was the 2001-02 season when they went 13-3.
 
• Penn has had nine different players reach double figures in scoring at least once this year, the latest being junior Kuba Mijakowski who had 14 (all in the first half) last Saturday at Temple; he was named co-Big 5 Player of the Week on Monday with Villanova's Phil Booth.
 
• Junior AJ Brodeur has a streak of 11 straight double-figures scoring—averaging 17.8 ppg over the last nine—with four double-doubles during that stretch.
 
Penn by the Numbers
4 • Penn players with at least 30 assists this season: seniors Antonio Woods (45) and Max Rothschild (32) and juniors Brodeur (team-high 60) and Devon Goodman (41); another senior, Jake Silpe, has 26 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 • Combined Big 5 wins for the Penn men's (3) and women's (3) basketball teams this year, a record; they are a combined 6-1 heading into Saturday's final Big 5 game. The previous mark of five was only achieved once, in 2001-02 (men 4, women 1).
 
7 • Games this season in which Penn has hit more than 10 three-point shots; the most recent came last Saturday at Temple, when the Quakers hit 12.
 
12 • Previous Big 5 titles won by Penn; that said, the Quakers have only won three since the 1980-81 season (1-1 in 1991-92, 2-0 in 1993-94, 4-0 in 2001-02).
 
14 • Points scored by junior Kuba Mijakowski over a span of 15:33 in the first half last Saturday at Temple; he entered the game with 28 career points, just 14 of them against Division 1 competition.
 
41 • Penn players who have scored 1,000 career points all-time, after Brodeur reached the mark at Toledo on December 29; he enters the Saint Joseph's game with 1,073 points.
 
52.7 • Penn's field-goal percentage in its 11 wins this season; on the flip side, the Quakers' field-goal percentage in its six losses is 34.6.
 
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 Penn's 12/29 game at Toledo and has scored just 14 points in the last five games.
 
75.0 • Penn's assist-to-basket ratio last Saturday at Temple (21 assists on 28 baskets); the Quakers had 21 assists and just 11 turnovers, a 1.91 ratio which has been bettered only one time this season (2.56 vs. Miami, 23 assists/9 turnovers).
 
181 • Points scored by Brodeur over the last 11 games, all double-digit outings; he has 160 in the last nine contests, a 17.8 per-game average.