PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team will face La Salle in the third-place game at Saturday's Big 5 Classic.
 
The tripleheader, which is being held at the Wells Fargo Center, will start with No. 18 Villanova and Drexel meeting in the fifth-place game at 2 p.m., followed by the Quakers and the Explorers at 4:45 p.m. Saint Joseph's and Temple will play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m.
 
A reminder that all of Saturday's Big 5 Classic games will air live locally on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus (NBCSP+), and Big 5 fans around the country can tune in via Peacock.
 
GAME 9 – PENN (5-3, 1-1 Big 5) vs. LA SALLE (5-2, 1-1)
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 | 4:45 p.m.
Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia
Watch Live on Peacock ($) | Listen Live on QAN | Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | La Salle Game Notes (PDF)
 
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 Saturday, with Brad Fadem and Vince Curran providing analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Series With La Salle
*The Quakers and the Explorers are meeting for the 76th time, with Penn holding a 42-33 lead in the series.
 
*La Salle has won the last two meetings, taking an 84-81 decision in overtime last year at The Palestra and a 76-74 win two years ago at the Tom Gola Arena.
 
*Prior to that, Penn had won four of five with three of the victories coming by double digits. La Salle's only win in that five-game span came in the 2017-18 season, a 75-71 double-overtime decision that was the last multi-OT game in Big 5 play before Wednesday's 3OT epic between the Explorers and Temple at the Liacouras Center that set Saturday's matchups.
 
Hello, Friend
*Penn will tip off against former coach Fran Dunphy on Saturday. Currently head coach of the Explorers, Dunphy recently reached 600 wins with more than half of those coming at Penn (310).
 
*Dunphy was Penn's head coach for 17 years, from 1989-90 to 2005-06. He won ten Ivy League championships and three Big 5 titles and was named Big 5 Coach of the Year three times.
 
*Dunphy, of course, originally brought current Penn head coach Steve Donahue to University City as an assistant coach. Donahue was on Dunphy's staff from 1990-91 to 1999-00, and during that 10-year span the Quakers won six Ivy League titles that included four undefeated conference campaigns and an Ivy-record 48-game conference winning streak. Penn was 182-91 during Donahue's time as an assistant including a 114-26 mark in Ivy play.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
2 - Games played by Penn at what is now the Wells Fargo Center—a number the Quakers will double over the next week. (In addition to the Big 5 Classic, they play Kentucky here next Saturday). The Quakers split a pair of games with Villanova back when it was called the First Union Center, losing 80-51 on February 6, 2001 and winning 72-58 on December 10, 2003.
 
2 - Penn players who have collected a double-double this season: freshman Tyler Perkins (24 pts/11 rbs vs. Bucknell) and junior Nick Spinoso (11 pts/11 rbs at UMES).
 
3 - Non-conference opponents who are ranked in this week's Associated Press (AP) National Poll: Houston (#6), Kentucky (#12), and Villanova (#18).
 
6 - Returning players who have had at least one double-figure scoring game during the course of their Penn career: senior Clark Slajchert (31), Spinoso (18), junior George Smith (8), senior Andrew Laczkowski (2), junior Ed Holland III (1), and sophomore Cam Thrower (1).
 
8 - Consecutive double-figure scoring games by Slajchert, dating back to last season's Ivy League Tournament semifinal, before he was held to nine points in last Sunday's win over Monmouth (on a trio of second-half treys).
 
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.
 
21 - Of Laczkowski's 32 rebounds this season, 21 have come on the offensive glass.
 
25 - Turnovers committed by Penn last weekend (9 vs. Lafayette, 8 vs. Belmont, 8 vs. Monmouth); the Quakers averaged 16.0 turnovers per game across their first five games, then just 8.3 turnovers per game at the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic.
 
30 - Of Penn's 39 first-half points in last Sunday's win over Monmouth, 30 of them were scored by freshmen (14 by Sam Brown, 6 by Augustus Gerhart, 5 each by Perkins and Niklas Polonowski).
 
36 - Rebounds snared by Spinoso over the last four games (9.0 rpg); the junior had averaged 6.3 rebounds per game across the Quakers' first four contests.
 
40.7 - Percentage of points returning to the lineup in 2023-24 (915 of 2,249) including three of the team's top five scorers: Slajchert (13.6 ppg in 2022-23), Spinoso (8.8 ppg) and Smith (5.6).
 
48 - Points scored by Brown through four games this season; he missed Penn's first four contests due to injury but made his first two collegiate starts last weekend and has shot 50 percent on 3FG (11-of-22).
 
50.0 - Penn's overall field-goal percentage in last Sunday's win over Monmouth (30-60); the Quakers went 12-25 from three-point land in the game (48.0 pct) and shot at least 50 percent for the third time this season.
 
54 - Points scored by Perkins last weekend at the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic (14 vs. Lafayette, 25 vs. Belmont, 15 vs. Monmouth); he was named all-tournament along with Slajchert.
 
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.
 
+68 - Penn's rebound advantage through eight games this season (328-260); the Quakers have outboarded seven of their eight opponents so far this season 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).