PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team continues Big 5 play on Wednesday night, making the short trip out to the Main Line to face Villanova. This is the third of four straight games the Quakers will play in their annual city series, the last one coming Saturday when they host Temple at The Palestra.
 
Wednesday night's game will air live on CBS Sports Network. Tom McCarthy will be on the call, former Wildcats coaches Jay Wright and Steve Lappas will provide analysis, and Jon Rothstein will be the sideline reporter.
 
GAME 12 – PENN (5-6, 0-2 Big 5) at VILLANOVA (3-5, 1-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 | 7 p.m.
Finneran Pavilion | Villanova, Pa.
Watch Live on CBS Sports Network ($) | Listen Live on QAN | Live Stats
Penn Game Notes | Villanova 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 Vince Curran and Brad Fadem providing analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Series with Villanova
*The Quakers and the Wildcats are meeting for the 69th time tonight, with Villanova holding a 49-19 lead in the series including wins in the last two and 17 of the last 18 meetings.
 
*Villanova won last year's matchup at The Palestra, 71-56. Jordan Dingle led Penn with 21 points while Max Martz scored 12.
 
*Penn's last win in the series came on December 11, 2018, a 78-75 win at The Palestra.
 
*Penn has made just one trip to the Finn previously; that was on December 4, 2019, the Wildcats pulling away late for an 80-69 win. (Penn and Villanova played in the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse early in the 2017-18 season.)
 
*That said, Penn has never won a game on the Villanova campus, going 0-12.
 
Rare Jordan
Dingle is scoring at historic rates for the Quakers. Some examples...
 
*He had 37 points in Saturday's OT loss to La Salle, most by a Penn player since Matt Maloney dropped 37 on American on January 13, 1993
 
*He has hit the 20-point mark in his last eight appearances, scoring exactly 200 points (25.0 ppg). The last Penn player to have such a streak was Tony Price near the end of Penn's Final Four season in 1978-79. (The last player with a nine-game stretch? Ernie Beck, who played from 1951-53 and spent 67 years as the program's all-time leading scorer despite playing just three seasons of varsity ball.)
 
*The Ivy League Player of the Week the last two weeks, Dingle reached 1,000 career points in 57 games, fourth fastest in program history. (Beck, 50; Keven McDonald, 50; Stan Pawlak, 52.)
 
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 - Consecutive weeks Dingle has been Ivy League Player of the Week, after he got the honor on Monday; he also was Big 5 POTW last week.

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 just missed the mark with nine points in each of the last two games; Martz also missed last Wednesday's loss to Saint Joseph's due to illness.

8 - Starting lineups used by Penn this season, through 11 games; the only player who has started every game he played is Clark Slajchert, Penn's second-leading scorer, who missed last Wednesday's game vs. La Salle to injury.
 
8 - Penn players with a double-figure scoring game this season, after Eddie Holland III hit for 10 points last Wednesday vs. Saint Joseph's; the Quakers return nine players who had at least two such games in 2021-22.
9 - Free throws made by Slajchert last Wednesday (on nine attempts); it matches the best FT performance by a Penn player in the Donahue era (Dingle at Brown, 2/19/22).

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.

16 - Penn also tied a program record with 16 three-point baskets at Mizzou, a mark that had been met twice before.

16 - Rebounds by senior Lucas Monroe last Wednesday (followed by a team-high seven more Saturday vs. La Salle); that is tied for the most by a Penn player in the Donahue era (AJ Brodeur at Cornell, 2/1/19; Darien Nelson-Henry vs. Cornell, 2/13/16).

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

32 - Assists dished out by sophomore Nick Spinoso over Penn's last four games (8 vs. Colgate, 9 vs. Delaware, 11 vs. Saint Joseph's, 4 vs. La Salle); the 11 he had last Wednesday were most by a Penn player in the Donahue era, the last time a Quaker had 11 dimes was March 7, 2015 (Antonio Woods vs. Cornell).
  
33 - Three-point baskets hit by Penn in its three Cathedral Classic games (12 vs. Hartford, 11 vs. Colgate, 10 vs. Delaware); the Quakers—who have hit 19 more in two games since then—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 Dingle needed to reach 1,000 points for his career (he reached the mark 11/25 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 November 27.

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