Villanova Preview: ‘Cats and Quakers Square Off in Big 5 Championship

Villanova Men’s Basketball will play for their first Big 5 championship since 2022 at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 when they take on the Penn Quakers at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena in the third annual Big 5 Classic. The Wildcats (6-1) picked up double digit wins over both Temple and La Salle in order to claim the title game spot in Pod 2; Penn (5-3) upset Saint Joseph’s at the Palestra before taking care of business in an 84-68 win over Drexel to clinch the Pod 1 throne.

Penn last won the Big 5 during the 2018-19 season. Winners of six games in a row, Villanova enters this Quad 4 matchup as an overwhelming favorite. ESPN Analytics sees the Wildcats winning in 95.9 percent of their simulations. The point spread sits at -20.5, with an over/under of 148.5.

Villanova occupies the No. 44 spot in the NET rankings and the No. 39 spot in the KenPom ratings. Penn checks in at No. 211 and No. 224, respectively.

NBC Sports Philadelphia holds the telecasting rights to each of the three Big 5 Classic matchups.

Scouting the Quakers

Penn’s success runs through their offense, which averages 81.9 points per game. Wing Ethan Roberts leads the team in scoring with 20.3 points per game; forward and former top 40 recruit TJ Power (15.6 PPG) and wing Michael Zanoni (10.6 PPG) also average in double digits.

Power leads the team in rebounds (7.9 per game), while Roberts paces the Quakers in steals (1.5 per game). Despite playing just 18.4 minutes per game, sophomore guard AJ Levine leads Penn in assists with 3.5 per game. Freshman center Dalton Scantlebury, another part-time contributor, averages 1.5 blocks per game to round out the five main statistical categories. 

The Quakers take one-third of their shots from beyond the arc and convert at a respectable 39.8 percent clip. They hold their opponents to a 43.3 percent success rate from the field and 30.7 percent from three, but allow 65 shots per game, their fast tempo allowing plenty of scoring.

Penn also rotates through their lineup with gusto. Power and Roberts both play more than 30 minutes per night, but Zanoni and 6-foot-9 forward Augustus Gerhart are the only other Quakers to cross the 20-minute benchmark. Of the 18 players on Penn’s roster, 16 have appeared in at least one game this season.

Watch for how adjustments affect the flow of this game as head coaches Fran McCaffery and Kevin Willard jockey for an advantage.

Scouting the Wildcats

Each of Villanova’s starters average in double digits, with sophomore Bryce Lindsay (18.1 PPG, 45.1 percent from three) leading the pack. Freshman point guard Acaden Lewis ranks second in scoring with 13.3 PPG and leads the team in assists (5.6 per game) Duke Brennan, the nation’s leading rebounder (13.3 per game) averages 10.8 PPG.

Junior Tyler Perkins, the lone remaining scorer from last season, leads the Wildcats’ defense with 1.6 steals per game and contributes well beyond the stat sheet. He’s also heating up on offense, averaging 12.1 points per game after dropping 19 against Temple and 21 against ODU. Matt Hodge rounds out the starting lineup with 11.1 PPG and leads the team in blocks with an average of 0.4.

Like Penn, offense has powered Villanova to this point in the season, but they’ve managed to score in a variety of ways. Pouring it on from three (to mixed results) against Sacred Heart, Temple and BYU, the Wildcats also demonstrated their ability to win in the paint and draw fouls against Duquesne, Queens and Old Dominion.

Villanova has improved defensively in recent games, but their ability to shut down the Quakers in a high-stakes game will provide a good indicator of their grit heading into a road date with the No. 3 team in the country in Michigan.