PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team starts a four-game homestand this Saturday, hosting Columbia in a 2 p.m. matinee at The Palestra.
 
GAME 17 – PENN (5-11, 1-2 Ivy League) vs. COLUMBIA (11-5, 0-3)
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 | 2 p.m.
Philadelphia | The Palestra
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Listen on QAN | Live Stats
 
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Columbia 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 Saturday's game, 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 Columbia
*Saturday's meeting will be the 244th all-time between the Quakers and the Lions, with Penn leading the overall series 149-94.
 
*These teams split the season series last year, the home team winning each time (Columbia 84-81 in NYC, Penn 84-72 here at The Palestra). Last year's win here in Philly was highlighted by Clark Slajchert scoring his 1,000th career point for the Quakers.
 
*Prior to last year's games, Penn had won three in row over the Lions back to 2022, five of the last six, and eight of the last 10 going back to 2018.
 
Home Cookin'
Saturday's game is the first of four in a row the Quakers will play at The Palestra. After Columbia, the Red and Blue host a true Ivy League weekend against Brown and Yale, and then a Friday night matchup against archrival Princeton on February 7.
 
Penn MBB by the Numbers
6.9 - Overall rebounds-per-game average for senior Nick Spinoso, which puts him fourth among Ivy players in that category.

8 - Turnovers committed by the Quakers in both of last week's games—Saturday against Cornell and Monday at Harvard—after they had committed 15 at George Mason, 17 at Penn State, and 16 at Dartmouth.

10 - Double-figure scoring streak currently held by junior Ethan Roberts; he has averaged 19.0 during the run, which includes five 20-point games and started with a collegiate-high 33-point outing against Navy on November 29.

11 - Three-pointers knocked down by the Quakers in last Monday's win at Harvard; Penn shot 44.0 from beyond the arc (11-25) and reached double figures in that category for the fourth time in six games and the fifth time overall this season.

12 - Penn players who have started at least one game this season; no one has started all 16 but Spinoso, Roberts and sophomore Sam Brown lead the way with 15 each.
 
17.2 - Overall points-per-game average for Roberts, good for fourth among Ivy League players.
 
19.7 - Points-per-game average for Roberts in Ivy play, third behind Princeton's Xaivian Lee (24.7) and Dartmouth's Ryan Cornish (20.0).
 
34 - Points scored by Brown last weekend, as he dropped 15 against Cornell on Saturday and 19 at Harvard on Monday (14 of them in the second half); they were the sophomore's best offensive outputs since he scored 19 against Maine back on November 30.
 
44.0 - Penn's three-point field goal percentage Monday at Harvard, the Quakers' second-best shooting game from beyond the arc this season (behind their 45.8-percent performance against Rider on December 20).

47 - Points scored last weekend by Roberts, 26 against Cornell on Saturday at The Palestra and then 21 on Monday at Harvard; the junior was efficient, getting to 47 on just 29 shots.
 
48 - Points scored by sophomore Niklas Polonowski over the last six games (8.0 ppg), after he scored just seven over the Quakers' first nine contests.
 
50.9 - Penn's overall shooting percentage Monday at Harvard, the Quakers' second-best shooting game of the season (behind their 52.5-percent performance against Rider on December 20).

80.0 - Roberts' free-throw percentage both overall (48-60) and in Ivy League play (8-10); in both cases he is fifth among Ivy players in that category.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.