Villanova basketball seeks redemption after last season’s court-storming loss to Penn in the Palestra.
General Information:
Teams: Villanova (2-3) and Penn (2-2)
Tip-Off Time: 7 p.m.
Watch: Peacock
Listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network
What to know about Penn:
Penn is off to a rough start alongside Villanova, losing two of its first four games. The Quakers lost their first Big 5 game of the season to St. Joe’s, 86-69, on Friday, Nov. 15.
With Villanova and Penn losing to Saint Joe’s, the winner of Tuesday night’s game will play in the third-place Big 5 championship game, and the loser will play in the fifth-place game.
Penn’s leading scorer and rebounder is Army transfer Ethan Roberts, averaging 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. In Penn’s game against Saint Joe’s, Roberts was limited to nine points, his lowest-scoring game of the season. He is a decisive part of being able to win.
Lower Merion native Sam Brown leads the backcourt. The sophomore is averaging 13.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
For reference, Penn lost to Lafayette and beat NJIT by one point, both of which were teams Villanova beat. The Wildcats beat NJIT by 37 points.
Latest on Villanova basketball:
Sophomore guard Tyler Perkins will face his former team for the first time. Last season, Perkins made a big impact for Penn as only a freshman, now his talents are on the Main Line.
The Wildcats are off to their worst start to a season since 1997. Villanova must win to snap its four-game Big 5 losing streak.
According to KenPom, Villanova has performed the worst relative to expectations, falling from 19.72 to 10.71 on the adjEM rankings. Penn is also a part of the 10 teams that have performed not to expectations, going from -2.16 to -7.92 on adjEM.
A win would allow the Wildcats to play in the third-place game at the Big 5 Championship. Last season, Villanova finished sixth in the new Big 5 format.
Graduate forward Eric Dixon is still playing lights out, averaging a team-high 24.8 points and 8.3 rebounds. Dixon is ranked 12th in the country in points per game.