PHILADELPHIA – If the intention of reformatting the Big 5 was to make the games mean more, Monday night’s game at the Palestra was a positive data point for the competition.
At the start of the game, the Palestra was filled with the usual quiet murmur of a basketball game. By the end, it had come to life in a raucous celebration of Philadelphia college basketball.
No. 21 Villanova was on the short end of a court-storming, streamer-throwing upset at the Palestra on Monday night, as it fell to Penn, 76-72. The ‘Cats, now 2-1 on the season, lost the first Big 5 game of their 2023-24 campaign.
Graduate guard Justin Moore led the ‘Cats with 25 points on 7-18 shooting. The ‘Cats second high-scorer was junior guard Jordan Longino, who scored 14 on 4-8 shooting. Villanova shot 35% from the field for the evening, and 27% from three.
“I don’t think you can ever 100% rely on making or missing shots,” Neptune said. “If that’s all you’re relying on, you’re not going to be a good team.”
Penn freshman guard Tyler Perkins continued a stellar start to his four-game collegiate career, scoring 22 points on 3-5 shooting from deep. Perkins was also 9-12 from the free throw line.
The ‘Cats only held a lead for 53 seconds, and did not lead the game through the entire second half. Their largest lead was three points. It came after the opening basket of the game, a three from redshirt senior forward Eric Dixon. Dixon finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, seven of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass.
The ‘Cats got off to a slow start, converting just one of their first five three-point attempts. The slow start turned into a slow half, as the three-point shooting woes continued. The ‘Cats were 4-15 from long distance at the end of the first half, and 9-27 from the field.
“They kind of forced us to take some tough twos and contested threes,” Moore said. “We got some shots that we wanted, they just didn’t fall.”
The Quakers didn’t shoot much better in the first. They shot 11-25 from the field and 3-11 from three.
The ‘Cats defense forced seven turnovers in the first half, but converted those turnovers into just two points.
The Quakers controlled a majority of the first half, with the ‘Cats seeing their second lead of the game, after 3-0, at 30-28 with 49 seconds to play. The Quakers reclaimed the lead with a driving layup from senior guard Clark Slajchert right before the end of the half. The score stood 32-30 in favor of the Quakers at the break.
In the second half, shots started to fall for Penn. It shot 13-22 from the field and 4-6 from three. The opposite was true for the ‘Cats. They continued to heave, but shot just 5-18 from deep in the second half. The Quakers were able to build up an 11-point, 68-57 lead with 4:02 to play.
A 9-2 run from the ‘Cats cut the lead to four with 32 seconds remaining. By playing the foul game, the ‘Cats were able to get within two. Moore hit a three with four seconds remaining to make the score 74-72, but Slajchert was able to convert on two free throws to seal a win for the Quakers.
Villanova will now turn its attention to the Nov. 17 game against Maryland. The Terrapins are coming off losses to Davidson and Alabama-Birmingham, and sit at 1-2 on the season. The game will tip at 8:30 at the Finneran Pavilion.
