PHILADELPHIA – Fresh off a 4-0 week that included three wins at the inaugural Cathedral Classic, the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team turns its attention to Big 5 play. The Quakers begin city series play on Wednesday night with Saint Joseph's in the second half of a true Big 5 doubleheader, as La Salle hosts Temple in the opener at 6 p.m. Tickets for this single-admission event are still available, click here to purchase your tickets!

A reminder that while both games in Wednesday night's doubleheader will air nationally on ESPN+, fans in the Philadelphia region will also be able to watch both games for free on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
 
This is the first of four Big 5 games Penn will play in a row over the next 11 days, ahead of fall exams.
 
GAME 10 – PENN (5-4) vs. SAINT JOSEPH'S (2-3)
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 | 8:30 p.m.
The Palestra | Philadelphia
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Listen Live on QAN | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn Game Notes | SJU Game Notes
 
Quaker Audio Network (QAN)
Again this season, Penn fans can listen to most of Penn's men's basketball games through the Quaker Audio Network, a free Internet-based audio streaming service. Matt Leon will be on the play-by-play call on Wednesday, with Brad Fadem providing analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Series with Saint Joseph's
*The Quakers and Hawks are meeting for the 91st time overall; Penn has played Saint Joseph's more than any other non-Ivy League opponent.
 
*Saint Joseph's leads the overall series, 53-37, but the teams have played pretty evenly the last decade with the SJU advantage just 6-5 over the last 11 meetings (seven of those decided by eight or fewer points).
 
*The Hawks have won the last two meetings, taking a 78-71 decision last year at Hagan Arena in what was just Penn's third trip to Hawk Hill.
 
*The last time these teams met at The Palestra, two years ago, Saint Joseph's escaped with an 87-81 victory.
 
*Penn's last win in the series—its second in a row at the time—took place on January 26, 2019, a 78-70 decision at The Palestra.
 
Big 5 Doubleheader History
*Wednesday will be the seventh time The Palestra has hosted a true Big 5 doubleheader since its formation in 1955-56, and just the third time it has happened this century.
 
*The last true Big 5 doubleheader at The Palestra was January 20, 2016, and it involved these same four teams as Temple defeated La Salle, 62-49, and Saint Joseph's beat Penn, 75-60.
 
*There have been nine other true Big 5 doubleheaders in the history of the informal conference, all of them taking place at the Spectrum.
 
*Wednesday's first game features La Salle hosting Temple. It marks the first time Explorers head coach Fran Dunphy is facing the Owls since he retired as Temple's head coach following the 2018-19 season. Dunphy also is Penn's all-time winningest coach with 310 victories.
 
Penn Picked to Win Ivy League
*Penn was (barely) picked to finish first in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, which came from the votes of two members within each school's media contingent. The poll was announced on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
 
*Penn and Princeton both got six of the poll's 16 first-place votes, but the Quakers finished with 111 voting points while the Tigers had 110. Yale was close behind with 106 voting points including three first-place votes. Harvard was fourth with 86 points and the final first-place vote, while the bottom half consisted of Cornell (54), Brown (53), Dartmouth (31), and Columbia (25).
 
*This marks the first time Penn has been picked first in the Ivy's preseason media poll since the 2006-07 season. That team, behind Ivy League Player of the Year Ibrahim Jaaber and fellow All-Ivy first-teamer Mark Zoller, won the Ivy title with a 13-1 record before losing to Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament's first round.
 
Penn MBB By the Numbers
2 - Ivy League players who were named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List by CollegeInsider.com: Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan and Jordan Dingle. The Henson Award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in the country.

2 - Honors picked up by Dingle on Monday, as he was named Ivy League and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week; it was his third career Ivy POTW and fourth Big 5 POTW honor.

3 - Non-conference opponents who were picked in the preseason to win their respective leagues: Iona (MAAC), Towson (CAA), and Colgate (Patriot League). Penn was picked by the Ivy League media to win the Ancient Eight.

4 - Consecutive double-figure scoring games by junior Max Martz (13.8 ppg) before he was held to nine in Sunday's win over Delaware; Martz had his first collegiate double-double on November 18 at West Virginia (10 pts/10 rbs).

5 - Free throws missed, out of 62, by Slajchert (17-18) and Dingle (40-44); Slajchert started the season 13-for-13, while Dingle hit 22 in a row before missing one last Friday vs. Hartford.
 
6 - Consecutive 20-point games registered by Dingle entering tonight's game (22.5 ppg); the last Penn player to accomplish such a feat was Tony Price,who had eight such games in a row late in the 1978-79 season.

7 - Penn players with a double-figure scoring game already this season; the Quakers returned nine players who had at least two such games in 2021-22.

9 - Points scored by Dingle in OT at Lafayette; he had the Quakers' first seven points in the extra session en route to 22 overall.

10 – Games Penn is playing in the month of November, more than any other NCAA Division I program.

11 - On November 11 at Missouri—or 11/11, you might say—Penn went 11-of-11 at the foul line, the third time the Quakers have shot 100 percent at the foul line in the Steve Donahue coaching era.

17 - Consecutive double-figure scoring games by Dingle dating back to last year; he missed Penn's game at West Virginia due to injury.

16 - Three-point baskets hit by Penn at Missouri, tying a program record against an NCAA Division 1 program (vs. Harvard on 2/21/2003; vs. Drexel on 1/28/2001); the Quakers hit 17 against Widener on December 21, 2019.

17 - Assists dished out by sophomore Nick Spinoso over Penn's last two games (8 vs. Colgate, 9 vs. Delaware); he also had a career-high 18 points vs. the Blue Hens and eight boards against the Raiders, one shy of his career-best nine set last Tuesday at Lafayette.

33 - Three-point baskets hit by Penn in the three Cathedral Classic games (12 vs. Hartford, 11 vs. Colgate, 10 vs. Delaware); the Quakers shot 33-of-69 (47.8 pct) beyond the arc at the event.
 
54.4 - Penn's overall field-goal percentage at the Cathedral Classic (92-of-169); that includes a 60.4-percent game vs. Colgate (32-53), just the second time the Quakers bettered 60 pct from the field in the Donahue era.
 
57 - Games needed for Dingle to reach 1,000 points for his career (he reached the mark Friday vs. Hartford). Only three players reached 1,000 points faster than Dingle, and all of them started their varsity careers as sophomores: Ernie Beck (50 games), Keven McDonald (50), and Stan Pawlak (52). Ron Haigler and Joe Sturgis hit the mark in Game 58.
 
88.5 - Percentage of Penn's points that return from last season (1,785 of 2,017); that includes the Quakers' top four scorers in Dingle (20.8 ppg), Slajchert (10.7), Martz (10.0) and Charles (6.7).

100 - Wins at Penn for head coach Steve Donahue; he has 300 wins as a collegiate head coach after the Quakers defeated Delaware on Sunday, 86-73

138 - Combined points scored by Slajchert (70) and Dingle (68) at the Cathedral Classic; both were named to the all-tournament team.