PHILADELPHIA – For the second year in a row, it's a Thanksgiving smorgasbord of basketball at The Palestra as the University of Pennsylvania hosts the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic. The Quakers are once again in a four-team field, joined this year by Belmont, Lafayette and Monmouth. The teams are scheduled to play doubleheaders on Friday, Saturday and Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
 
Penn won this event a year ago, sweeping through Colgate, Delaware and Hartford.
 
2023 CATHEDRAL OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 24
  *Belmont vs. Monmouth, 2 p.m. – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
  *Penn vs. Lafayette, 4:30 p.m. – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
Saturday, Nov. 25
  *Lafayette vs. Monmouth, 2 p.m. – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
  *Penn vs. Belmont, 4:30 p.m. – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
Sunday, Nov. 26
  *Belmont vs. Lafayette, noon – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
  *Penn vs. Monmouth, 2:30 p.m. – Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats

Ivy League on ESPN+
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all six of this weekend's Cathedral of College Basketball Classic games on ESPN+ with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
Quaker Audio Network (QAN)
Penn fans can listen to most of the 2023-24 Penn's men's basketball season through the Quaker Audio Network, a free Internet-based audio streaming service. Matt Leon will be on the play-by-play call throughout the weekend, with Brad Fadem and Stan Pawlak jumping in as analysts. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Series with Lafayette
*This is the 56th meeting, the Leopards being one of Penn's most regular non-conference foes the last few decades.
 
*Penn holds a 45-10 lead in the overall series and has won five of the last six matchups including a 74-68 decision in overtime last year at Kirby Field House.
 
*On the other hand, Penn has dominated the last three meetings played here at The Palestra and is 30-2 all-time against Lafayette here in Philly.
 
The Series with Belmont
*The Quakers and the Bruins are meeting for the first time in men's hoops.
 
The Series with Monmouth
*The Quakers and the Hawks are meeting for the tenth time, with Penn holding a 6-3 lead in the series but Monmouth winning three of the last five.
 
*The last meeting took place on December 31, 2018, Monmouth escaping The Palestra with a 76-74 win in overtime.
 
*Sunday's meeting comes six years and a day since their truly epic game, when Penn and Monmouth needed four overtimes before the Quakers motored out of Central Jersey with a 101-96 victory on November 25, 2017. It remains one of just two games in Penn program history (2,993 games in total) to need four OTs.
 
Penn Picked Fifth in Ivy Preseason Media Poll
Penn was picked to finish fifth in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, which came from the votes of two members of each school's media contingent. The poll was announced on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
2023-24 Ivy preseason media poll (first-place votes in parentheses)
  1. Yale, 124 (14)
  2. Princeton, 110 (2)
  3. Cornell, 80
  4. Brown, 77
  5. Penn, 68
  6. Harvard, 66
  7. Dartmouth, 28
  8. Columbia, 23
 
That's Not All
A quick scan of some other preseason predictions for the Quakers...
*Blue Ribbon picked Penn second, selected senior Clark Slajchert for its preseason all-conference team, and selected freshman Tyler Perkins as its preseason Newcomer of the Year.
 
*Lindy's picked Penn fourth and selected Slajchert as second-team All-Ivy.
 
*KenPom rates Penn fifth among Ivy League teams and 215th overall in NCAA Division 1.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
1 - Collegiate double-doubles by freshman Tyler Perkins, who led all players with 24 points and 14 rebounds against Bucknell in his first game against a Division 1 opponent; the last player with a double-double in his first such game? AJ Brodeur (23 pts/11 rbs at Robert Morris).
 
2 – Penn players who have collected a double-double this season. In addition to Perkins, junior Nick Spinoso posted his first double-double of the season (second of his career) with 11 points and 11 rebounds last Saturday at UMES.
 
2 - Non-conference opponents who are ranked in this week's Associated Press (AP) Preseason National Poll: Houston (#6) and Kentucky (#16); Villanova was ranked the first two weeks but dropped out on Monday, in part thanks to its loss at Penn last Monday.
 
6 - Consecutive double-figure scoring games by Slajchert, dating back to last season's Ivy League Tournament semifinal; including last season, Slajchert has hit double digits in the scoring column in ten of Penn's last 11 and 11 of its last 13 contests.
 
6 - Returning players who have had at least one double-figure scoring game during the course of their Penn career: Slajchert (31), junior Nick Spinoso (18), junior George Smith (8), senior Andrew Laczkowski (2), junior Ed Holland III (1), and sophomore Cam Thrower (1).
 
6 - Newcomers on the roster: freshmen Sam Brown, Augustus Gerhart, Perkins, and Niklas Polonowski; sophomore transfer Johnnie Walter (from CSU-Northridge); and sophomore walk-on Jake Hsu (who played football for the Quakers last year).
 
9 - Free throws made by Perkins to start his collegiate career.
 
16 - Double-figure scoring games by Slajchert last season, including a pair of 30-point outings—33 vs. Colgate, 31 in the Ivy opener at Brown—and four others with at least 20 points.
 
17 - Points scored by Brown in his collegiate debut last Saturday at UMES; the freshman guard missed Penn's first four games due to an injury but on Saturday knocked down four three-pointers (two of them within mere seconds of each other in overtime) and was 5-of-5 at the foul line.
 
40.7 - Percentage of points returning to the lineup in 2023-24 (915 of 2,249) including three of the team's five leading scorers from last year: Slajchert (13.6 ppg in 2022-23), Spinoso (8.8 ppg) and Smith (5.6).
 
58 - Points scored by Slajchert in two road games this season; he had 27 on November 10 at Saint Joseph's, then dropped 31 last Saturday at UMES.
 
+64 - Penn's rebound advantage through five games this season (224-160); the Quakers have outboarded all five opponents so far including a 52-22 (+30) advantage against Bucknell, their largest margin against a Division 1 opponent since going +37 in a win over Columbia on February 2, 1974 (65-28).
 
76 - Points scored by Perkins through five games, second among Penn players behind only Slajchert; the freshman also leads the Quakers in rebounds (37) and steals (11) and is second in assists (14) and 3FG (8).
 
93 - Assists dished out last season by Spinoso, the team high; that included an 11-assist game against Saint Joseph's and ten others with at least four dimes. Spinoso also was second on the team in rebounds (168) and third in both steals (22) and blocked shots (13).
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.