PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team is back in action after the completion of fall-term exams. The Quakers will play two times in three days before breaking for the Christmas holiday, hosting Rider on Friday night—the Red and Blue's only home game over a 48-day span—before traveling to George Mason for a Sunday matinee.
 
GAME 11 – PENN (3-7) vs. RIDER (4-7)
Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Philadelphia | The Palestra
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
 
GAME 12 – PENN at GEORGE MASON (7-4)
Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 | 2 p.m.
Fairfax, Va. | EagleBank Arena
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
 
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Rider Game Notes (PDF) | Mason 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 all of the 2024-25 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 for both of these games, with Stan Pawlak providing analysis. To access the Quaker Audio Network, simply type www.pennathletics.com/audio into your computer or device.
 
The Series with Rider
*Friday's game represents the seventh meeting between the Quakers and the Broncs in men's basketball, with Rider holding a 4-2 lead in the series.
 
*Four of the six games in this matchup have gone to overtime and one of the non-OT games was decided by one point (Rider winning 89-88 in 2013).
 
*Penn won last year's game at the Broncs Zoo, 77-73 in overtime.
 
*Penn is 21-17 all-time against programs that currently play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
 
The Series with George Mason
*Sunday represents the sixth meeting between the Quakers and the Patriots in men's basketball, and the fifth to be played in Fairfax (third in a row).
 
*Mason holds a 4-1 lead in the series, Penn's only win coming 72-71 on November 6, 2018.
 
*The most recent meeting took place on November 12, 2021, the Patriots running away with an 87-66 victory
 
*The Quakers are 99-122 all-time against current A-10 programs, including losses to Saint Joseph's and VCU already this season.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
2 – Consecutive one-point wins by Penn to start the season; the last time the Quakers had two straight one-point wins was the 1978-79 Final Four season (59-58 in OT over Princeton on 1/13, then 43-42 over Saint Joseph's on 1/16). Prior to this season, the last time Penn even won ONE one-point game was February 19, 2022, an 89-88 decision at Brown.

3 – Transfers who have joined the Penn roster for the 2024-25 season: Ethan Roberts (Drake), Dylan Williams (Triton College) and Michael Zanoni (Mercer). Of the group, Roberts is the most decorated as he was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year at Army in 2022-23 before spending last season at Drake (missing the campaign due to injury). Williams, meanwhile, started at point guard for a Triton team that went 34-3 last season and advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship game.
 
7 – Total newcomers on the 2024-25 roster: in addition to the trio of transfers mentioned above, the Quakers also have the freshman quartet of Bradyn Foster, AJ Levine, Alex Massung, and Michelangelo Oberti.
 
7 - Returning players who have recorded at least one double-figure scoring game during their collegiate career: seniors Reese McMullen, Nick Spinoso and George Smith; junior Cam Thrower; and sophomores Sam Brown, Augustus Gerhart and Niklas Polonowski.
 
7.1 – Rebounds-per-game average by Spinoso so far this season, fourth among Ivy League players; he is averaging 8.6 boards per game over Penn's last five contests.
 
9 – Rebounds snared by Gerhart at Lafayette on November 12, a season/career high for the sophomore.
 
9 – Points scored by Roberts in the final 5:38 of the season opener at NJIT; he had nine of Penn's last 10 points in the contest, including the winning free throw with 1.6 seconds left.
 
10 – Free throws taken—and, thankfully, made—in the final minute of Penn's home-opening win over UMES on November 7, eight of them from Brown and two by Roberts. Penn needed all of them in taking an 85-84 win, as the Hawks scored a staggering 18 points in that same time.
 
13 – Free throws made (on 14 attempts) by Brown vs. Maine on November 30; that is a Penn player high in the Steve Donahue era, breaking the previous mark of 11 set by Sam Jones against Cornell on February 26, 2016.
 
14 – Points scored by Smith against UMES, his first double-figure scoring game in nearly a year and most points in a game since he dropped 14 in back-to-back games against Harvard and Columbia his sophomore season.
 
17 – Deficit that Penn made up in the opener at NJIT; the Quakers were down, 52-35, with just over 13 minutes left but outscored the Highlanders 23-5 the rest of the way. It marked the largest comeback in a Penn victory in the Steve Donahue coaching era. (The Quakers made up a 21-point deficit at Princeton on January 7, 2017 but ultimately lost to the Tigers, 61-52.)
 
17 – Points scored by Williams at NJIT, leading the Quakers; he has four double-figure scoring games this season, most recently 12 in last Saturday's win over Maine.
 
20.2 – Points-per-game average by Roberts over the last five games; he has reached double figures in all of them and is currently fourth among Ivy League players in points per game this season (16.9).
 
21 – Rebounds snared by Maine in Penn's Cathedral Classic Invitational win over the Black Bears, tied for the fewest by a Penn opponent in the Donahue era.
 
29 – Starts made last year by Spinoso; he was the only player on the team to start all 29 of the Quakers' games. Other returnees who were regular starters are Smith (19), Brown (18), and Thrower (9).
 
34 – Consecutive starts made by Spinoso—in fact, he had started 58 of the Quakers' last 59 games—before he came off the bench against Saint Joseph's on November 15; he has started every game since then and nearly had a triple-double (14 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) in Penn's win over Maine.
 
61 – Three-pointers knocked down by Brown last season, on 141 attempts (.433); he finished third among Ivy League players in 3FG percentage and fourth in 3FG per game (2.44). Brown's 61 treys were the second most by a freshman in program history, behind only Jackson Donahue who had 62 in 2015-16.
 
234 – Assists dished out over the last two-plus seasons by Spinoso (34 so far in 2024-25, 93 in 2022-23, 107 last season); he finished fourth among Ivy League players in assists/game last season (3.69) and was the only big man among the top 12.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.