PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team is back at home on Saturday, hosting Harvard. The Quakers and Crimson are slated to tip off at 6 p.m., and Saturday's game will air nationally on ESPNU.
 
This will also be the program's Alumni Weekend, with the alumni game slated for 3 p.m. at The Palestra.
 
GAME 18 – PENN (9-8, 1-1 Ivy League) vs. HARVARD (9-6, 0-2)
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Philadelphia | The Palestra
Watch Live on ESPNU ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Harvard Game Notes (PDF)
 
Ivy League on ESPN+
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy games and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ again this season 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 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 Harvard
*Saturday's meeting is the 185th between the Quakers and the Crimson, with Penn holding a sizable 138-46 lead in the series.
 
*Penn has won the last four meetings and five of the last six in the series, including the last three in a row played at The Palestra; the Quakers' current four-game win streak is their longest over the Crimson since they won 12 in a row from 2002-08.
 
*Prior to sweeping the season series in 2021-22, Penn had not swept Harvard in a season since 2006-07.
 
Preseason Picks
In the Ivy League's preseason media poll, released on October 17, Penn was picked to finish fifth in the league while Harvard was picked sixth. The poll featured two media members from each of the eight schools, so 16 votes in total.
 
Ivy Schedule Changes
The Ivy League has undergone some schedule changes from the last two years...
 
*Penn's MLK Day game at Cornell on Monday came after two years of facing travel partner Princeton on that holiday.
 
*The schedule is backloaded to include four "Ivy weekends" over a five-week span in February and March. As a result, Penn will play just four league games in the month of January this season.
 
*Balance continues to be an issue: Penn opened Ivy play at home (beating Dartmouth 80-51) and will close with three straight Ivy League home games in March. Following Saturday's game with the Crimson, the Quakers will play six of their next eight Ivy League games on the road, with the two home games coming back-to-back on February 16-17.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
2 - Penn players with a double-double this season: junior Nick Spinoso—who has three now after going for 12 points and 11 rebounds Monday at Cornell—and freshman Tyler Perkins (24 pts/11 rbs vs. Bucknell). Spinoso flirted with a triple-double December 2 vs. La Salle with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
 
3 - Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors won by Penn players over the last five weeks: freshman Sam Brown on December 18 and December 26, then Perkins two Mondays ago.
 
4 - Left-handers in Penn's starting lineup, more than any other Division I team in the country; the Quakers have a fifth lefty (sophomore Johnnie Walter), but we cannot recall the team putting all five lefties on the floor at the same time this season.
 
4 - Non-conference opponents who were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll at the time Penn played them: Villanova (#21 on November 13), Kentucky (#16 on December 9), Houston (#3 on December 30) and Auburn (#25 on January 2). The last time Penn played four non-conference games against ranked opponents was 1994-95.
 
4 - Overtime games played by Penn already this season, the Quakers going 1-3 in those contests. Only three teams in program history have played more: 1983-84 (6), 2010-11 (5), 2018-19 (5).
 
4 - 20-point games put up by Perkins so far this season; the last freshman with that many such games was last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, Jordan Dingle, who had five in 2019-20 when he was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
 
+4.9 - Penn's overall rebound margin, tops among Ivy League teams.
 
6 - Minutes played by Clark Slajchert before he injured his ankle in Penn's loss at No. 3 Houston on December 30; the Ivy League's fourth-leading scorer has not played in the last three games.
 
10 - Three-point shots hit by freshman Niklas Polonowski over the last four games—two at Houston and at Cornell, three against Auburn and Dartmouth—in scoring his 30 points; 16 of his 18 field goals this season, including the last 13 in a row, have come from beyond the arc.
 
11 - Penn players with at least one double-figure scoring game this season, including four players with at least one 20-point game (Slajchert 5, Perkins 4, Spinoso 1, Brown 1).
 
13 - Consecutive shots Penn made from the 12:19 mark to the 2:37 mark of the first half in its Ivy opener against Dartmouth two weeks ago, nine of them coming from beyond the arc; in the process, the Quakers grew their lead from 9-4 to 46-17.
 
25 - Points scored by junior Reese McMullen over Penn's two Ivy League games (10 vs. Dartmouth, 15 at Cornell); that's more than he totaled across the Quakers' 15 non-conference games (23).
 
29 - Penn's margin of victory against Dartmouth; it was the Quakers' largest Ivy-opening win since 2005-06, when they beat Cornell at The Palestra, 84-44.
 
37 - Of senior Andrew Laczkowski's 59 rebounds this season, 37 of them (62.7 pct.) have come on the offensive glass.
 
39.7 - Penn's overall 3-point FG percentage this season, tops among Ivy League teams; the Quakers have hit double figures in 3FG each of the last three games, five times in the last six, and eight times in the last 10.
 
47.6 - Percentage of Penn's points scored by freshmen in the last three games (42 of 68 at Auburn, 33 of 80 vs. Dartmouth, 24 of 60 vs. Cornell). Perkins had 39 of them, Brown had 36, and Polonowski 24.
 
56.0 - Penn's 3-point field goal percentage in its Ivy-opening win against Dartmouth (14-25).
 
117 - Three-point baskets made by Penn over its last 10 games (11.7 per game); the Quakers average 10.2 3FG per game overall, second among Ivy teams behind Princeton (10.9).