Radnor PA: There is a certain feel in the air when the Philadelphia Big 5 goes to battle & that is what we saw on Tuesday night as the Villanova Wildcats took on Penn Quakers from Finneran Pavilion. The Winner of this game would end up playing for 3rd place in the upcoming Big 5 Classic while the loser ends up in the 5th place battle.
Villanova & Penn both come into the game off bad losses, Villanova fell to Virginia while Penn made their way to the Main Line after a loss to Saint Joseph’s
Before the game, Villanova would have some news
Villanova guard Wooga Poplar will not start tonight's game vs. Penn after being late to a team meeting. Tyler Perkins starts in his place.
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) November 19, 2024
Lineups:
Villanova:
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) November 19, 2024
Penn:
STARTERS ARE IN! Just a few minutes from tipoff here on the Main Line. A reminder, national TV tonight on Peacock, and Matt, Brad and Vinman on the audio call. Follow along!
📺 Peacock ($)
📻 QAN | https://t.co/b9TkK7mdir
📊https://t.co/CarEQXSuU4#Whānau | #FightOnPenn 🔴🔵🏀 pic.twitter.com/SeJaGaqYU7— Penn Men's Basketball (@PennMBB) November 19, 2024
How the game went:
Early in the first half, both Penn & Villanova would come out making their shots & the Quakers would have an early 6-4 lead on 3 by Sam Brown. The Wildcats would start to pull away & the Quakers would fight back to get the game tied at 26 on 3 by Nick Spinoso. The rest of the game would change from that point as Penn would end the first half with a 9-minute scoring drought & Wildcats would take full advantage of it as they took a 43-26 lead into half & could the Quakers make whatever changes to get back into the game & the answer was NO, the defense by the Wildcats were good & Eric Dixon would have some big plays including a 1 handed breakaway dunk
ERIC DIXON WITH AUTHORITY 🔨
VILLANOVA IS ON A 30-3 RUN. pic.twitter.com/DAhT4KqBvI
— Tommy Godin (@tommygodinjr) November 20, 2024
The Wildcats would have the lead go over 30 points a couple of times in the second half & the final would be 93-49. This was the type of game Villanova needed to show after their performance against Virginia last week.
Postgame:
Villanova Coach Kyle Neptune
Penn Coach Steve Donahue:
What I asked to #Penn Coach Steve Donahue on tonight's loss to #Villanova pic.twitter.com/N6LJhuPm8P
— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) November 20, 2024
Final Numbers:
What is next:
Villanova will now prepare for battle with Maryland on Sunday in the Empire Classic from the Prudential Center, as for Penn, they will have a couple of days off before doing battle with Navy on Black Friday at the Palestra in the Cathedral Classic Invitational.
