PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team stunned No. 21/21 Villanova on Monday night at The Palestra, 76-72, to close out Philadelphia Big 5 pod play.
The Quakers scored the last four points of the first half to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room, and never gave up that lead in the second en route to its first win over a ranked opponent since a 78-75 victory over this same Villanova program—ranked 17th at the time—back in 2018.
Penn improved to 3-1 with the win and finishes Big 5 pod play at 1-1. The Wildcats (2-1) lost for the first time this young season; this was their Big 5 opener.
Quaker Notemeal
*This was Penn's first win over an AP-ranked team since the Quakers knocked off then-No. 17 Villanova on December 11, 2018 here at The Palestra, 78-75.
*Penn is now 1-2 all-time against teams ranked 21st in the AP poll; prior to tonight Penn had lost at #21 Princeton in the 1990-91 season and at #21 Wisconsin in the 2004-05 season.
*Penn has now won 16 games against ranked opponents at home and 21 all-time.
*Penn shot 51.1 percent from the field—its second time over 50 percent this season—and was a season-best 41.2 percent from beyond the arc (7-17).
*Penn continues to rebound strongly; the Quakers outboarded Villanova on Monday night, 38-35, and now has a +55 rebound margin through four games.
*Penn scored 44 second-half points, the most for a second half so far this season.
*All five starters scored in double figures on Monday night, the first time that has happened in a game since a 92-86 win over Cornell last February 4.
*The leading scorer was freshman
Tyler Perkins, who had 22 points for his second 20-point performance in Penn's three games against Division I competition.
*Perkins also tied for team-high honors with six rebounds, sharing it with junior
George Smith.
*Philadelphia native
Ed Holland III was 2-3 from beyond the arc and 4-6 from the field overall en route to 12 points; he added five rebounds and three assists to his stat line.
*Senior
Clark Slajchert scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had a team-high four assists which is one shy of his career high.
*Sophomore
Cam Thrower also had 11 points, knocking down two of his four trey attempts.
*Junior
Nick Spinoso had his first double-figure scoring game of the season, with 10 points, and added five rebounds and two blocked shots.
*Villanova got 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Justin Moore while Jordan Longino added 14 points and Eric Dixon had 12. Dixon also snared nine boards while Tyler Burton finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Mark Armstrong had four steals on the night.
How It Happened
Monday's game was slow to build, both teams starting sluggishly. The score was just 7-3 at the first media timeout and 15-9 as the first half reached its midpoint.
Villanova got within one on two separate occasions as the half went on, the first time at 15-14 (answered by a Holland trey) and again at 20-19 (
Johnnie Walter answering with a pull-up jumper). The Wildcats tied it at 24-24, only for Spinoso and
Andrew Laczkowski to score on back-to-back possessions to push Penn back in front by four.
Villanova finally took its first lead in the final minute of the first half when Moore drove for a layup, was fouled and hit the free throw. That made the score 30-28, but Perkins was fouled on a trey attempt and hit two of his three shots to tie things at 30-30. The Wildcats then missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Slajchert hit a low-angled runner off the glass to send the Quakers into the locker room up, 32-30.
Villanova got within one four times in the second half, the last time at 45-44. The Wildcats then had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but threw it away. Penn came down and Thrower tossed in a trey, then after a Nova miss Spinoso spun in a baby hook in the lane and the lead was 50-44 at the under-12 media timeout.
The lead expanded to nine, 57-48, on a Perkins stepback trey and that seemed to spur what was up to that point a crowd that seemed hesitant to get excited. Moore responded with a trey, only to be matched by Thrower. However, Penn went quiet for the next two-plus minutes and the Wildcats took advantage, scoring six straight points to get within 60-57. The unease set back in.
There was no unease among the players wearing the Red and Blue. Holland hit a turnaround J in the lane, Smith knocked down one of two free throws, Slajchert hit a patented floater, and as the clock hit the four-minute mark Perkins knocked down yet another triple. It was an eight-point run, the lead was 11, and The old barn was rocking. The lead was still a double-digit margin with 2:30 to play, at 69-59.
This is Villanova. It wasn't over.
Dixon hit a second-chance putback, and then Villanova turned Penn over twice, converting the second one into an Armstrong dunk that made the score 69-63 and had the Wildcats fans in the house on their feet.
Penn was deliberate on its next possession, Slajchert finally putting up a floater the banged off the rim. The senior got his own miss and brought the ball back out, but then mistimed a pass which set Villanova off on another fast break. Thrower fouled Armstrong as he went up, and the Wildcat sophomore missed his first but made his second for 69-64.
The clock was inside a minute as the Quakers again went deliberate, Slajchert getting it over the timeline and then passing it to Perkins who dribbled...and dribbled...and finally drove, getting fouled as he went up with 39.5 seconds left. He made the first but missed the second, Moore grabbing the rebound and rushing down the floor to get fouled. He made both, and the score was 70-66 with 32.3 left.
Thrower was fouled on the ensuing inbounds, missing his first foul shot but making his second to get the margin back to five, and then Villanova missed on two bites at the apple—one a long jumper from Longino, the other a putback by TJ Bamba—and Perkins came down with the board. He was immediately fouled, and the freshman calmly knocked down both of his freebies to make the score 73-66 with 17.4 seconds left.
Moore rushed the ball down the floor and canned a trey, and the Wildcats fouled Slajchert on the ensuing inbounds after a timeout. The senior missed his first but made the second, moving the margin back to five at 74-69 with 10.2 seconds left. Once again, Moore was cool as you like with a three-pointer which made it a one-possession game, and once again Penn got the ball to the senior Slajchert on the inbounds. This time, with just 3.8 seconds left, he canned both of his foul shots and all that was left was the court-storming.
Up Next
After playing four games in the season's opening eight days, the Quakers are off until Saturday when they travel to play Maryland-Eastern Shore. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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