PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team is on the other side of exams and finally plays back at home. The Quakers host Division 3 Widener on Saturday. The Pride come to The Palestra off a loss to Division 1 Lafayette on Thursday night, but they are undefeated across all 10 of their Division 3 games to date.
GAME 10 – PENN (5-4) vs. WIDENER (10-1)
Saturday, Dec. 21 | 1 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia
Quaker Audio Network (QAN)
New this season, Penn fans can listen to every men's basketball game through the Quaker Audio Network, a free Internet-based audio streaming service. On Saturday, Matt Leon will be on the call while Stan Pawlak provides analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type
www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
The Penn-Widener Series
• The Quakers and the Pride are meeting for just the fourth time in history and the first time in more than 84 years. Every meeting has taken place on Penn's campus.
2/19/1924 - Penn win, 32-18
12/30/26 - Penn win, 21-17
12/18/35 - Penn win, 32-18
• If you want to deal in semantics, Penn has never played Widener; the previous three meetings came against Pennsylvania Military College, which adopted the Widener name in 1972.
• Little-known fact: Penn and then-PMC played the first
actual game in The Palestra. That took place on December 30, 1926 with the Quakers' second team winning 21-17. The grand opening was two days later—Jan. 1, 1927—when Penn hosted and beat Yale, 26-15.
• This will be Penn's fourth game against a non-Division 1 opponent in the
Steve Donahue coaching era. The Quakers played Ursinus—Donahue's alma mater—in the 2015-16 season, winning 73-66. Two years ago, Penn rolled Penn State-Brandywine (99-40) and last year the Red and Blue had no trouble with Stockton (112-63).
There's No Place Like Home
Penn is playing just its second home game this season and its first since November 13. After this, the Quakers are next at home on January 4 against archrival Princeton.
A Bit About AJ Brodeur
• The senior enters the Widener game with 34 straight double-figure scoring games, the fifth-longest streak in program history...
Ernie Beck, 74 from 1951-53
Stan Pawlak, 60 from 1964-66
Ron Haigler, 41 from 1974-75
Keven McDonald, 38 from 1977-78
AJ Brodeur, 34 in 2019
• AJ has started all 101 games played during his career; his streak of starts is currently tied for ninth-longest at the NCAA Division 1 level.
• AJ is tied for seventh on Penn's all-time scoring list with 1,518 points;
he needs one point to move past Ibrahim Jaaber (2004-07) into seventh place alone and 35 to move past Ron Haigler (1973-75) into sixth place.
• AJ is on the cusp of becoming the first player in Ivy League history to reach all of the following five milestones...
*1,500 points (AJ at 1,518)
*750 rebounds (767)
*300 assists (298)
*150 blocked shots (166)
*100 steals (97)
Penn by the Numbers
1 • Among the program's 1,795 all-time wins, the number that have taken place on an SEC opponent's home court; that happened in the season opener, when Penn won at Alabama 81-80.
1.94 • Penn's assist/turnover ratio in its last three games: Arizona, Long Beach State and Villanova (68/35);
the Quakers' overall assist/turnover ratio (1.22) is best among Ivy League teams.
3 • All-Ivy players in Penn's lineup: senior captains
AJ Brodeur, (two-time unanimous first-team All-Ivy),
Ryan Betley (second-team in 2017-18) and
Devon Goodman (second in 2018-19).
5 • Consecutive games in which Penn had knocked down a double-figure total of three-point shots, a program record, before being held to seven at Villanova on December 4;
the Quakers lead the Ivy League with 9.6 treys per game overall this season.
6 • Double-doubles by
Brodeur through nine games this season;
that includes his first-ever points (11)/assists (10) double-double, which occured against Arizona on November 29.
10 • Penn players who have recorded at least one double-figure scoring game during their career; that includes six players with at least one game of 20 or more points and four with double-doubles (
Brodeur,
Betley,
Eddie Scott,
Bryce Washington).
10 • The number of NCAA Division 1 players who finished the 2018-19 season with at least 500 points, 250 rebounds and 100 assists.
That list included guys like R.J. Barrett (Duke), Grant Williams (Tennessee) and Ethan Happ (Wisconsin). It also included Brodeur, who led Penn with 547 points, 257 rebounds and 113 assists.
12 • Assists by
Goodman over Penn's last two games (7 vs. Beach, 5 at Villanova);
his assist/turnover ratio over that span is 4.00 (12/3).
14 • Three-point baskets by freshman
Jordan Dingle over the last three games (7 vs. Arizona, 3 vs. LBSU, 4 at Villanova).
15 • Three-pointers hit by Penn on December 1 against Long Beach State, most by the Quakers against an NCAA Division 1 opponent since they tied a program record with 16 against Harvard on February 21, 2003.
15.2 • Betley's points-per-game average over Penn's last seven contests (106 points in that span).
15.3 • Goodman's points-per-game average over Penn's last seven contests (107 points in that span).
25 • Assists by
Brodeur over the last three games, against just six turnovers (4.17 ratio);
Brodeur leads the Ivy League with 5.3 assists per game.
27 • Assists by Penn on December 1 against The Beach, most by the Quakers against a D1 opponent since Nov. 20, 2007 (30 vs. The Citadel);
overall, Penn's 16.7 assists per game are tops among Ivy teams..
35/104 • First-half/second-half points by
Dingle this season;
of his 66 points over the Quakers' last three games, 53 of them have come in the second half.
43 • Overall wins by Penn during the previous two seasons, 24 in 2017-18 and 19 in 2018-19; that is the most since the Quakers had 47 wins across the 2001-02 (25) and 2002-03 (22) seasons.
49.7 • Penn's field-goal percentage over the last four games (146-294).
73.3 • Penn's assist (85) to basket (116) ratio across the Quakers' last four games.
76.3 • Penn's scoring average this season, tops among Ivy League teams.
83.3 • Freshman
Max Martz's three-point field-goal percentage against Long Beach State on December 1 (5-6); he scored a career-high 17 points in the win over the 49ers.
101 • Games started and played by
Brodeur at Penn;
he is the first player in program history to start the first 100 games he played for the Red and Blue.
#Whãnau
#FightOnPenn