No. 17 Villanova aim for Big 5 sweep at Penn

PHILADELPHIA -- Villanova will be attempting to secure its 26th consecutive Big 5 victory when it battles Penn Tuesday night at the Palestra.

The No. 17-ranked Wildcats (8-2, 3-0 Big 5) have already defeated La Salle, Temple and Saint Joseph's and have a chance to complete a Big 5 sweep for the sixth straight season. Penn will enter this game with an 8-2 mark overall.

Villanova's last loss in the Big 5 came on Dec. 5, 2012 to Temple.

The Wildcats defeated the Hawks 70-58 on Saturday in the annual game dubbed the "Holy War."

Senior Eric Paschall paced Villanova with 14 points and nine rebounds while Phil Booth and Joe Cremo added 12 points apiece. Jermaine Samuels came off the bench for his second consecutive strong performance with 11 points and eight rebounds.

After a 2-2 start, the defending national champion Wildcats have won six in a row.

"I say this every time, this was a Big 5 battle," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said after the win against Saint Joseph's. "A big part of this game was (Saint Joseph's) not having two starters. That put a lot of pressure on Lamarr Kimble and Jared Bynum. I thought they did a really good job. They were tough to handle and they did a really good job of keeping us off the glass. We didn't shoot the ball great but we didn't get any easy baskets and couldn't get to the foul line.

"We're happy to get out of it with a win."

Villanova took 43 shots from beyond the arc against the Hawks, the second-highest total in program history. Earlier this season in a loss to Furman, it launched 44.

"We don't go in choosing how many we want to take," Wright said. "It's just what they give us. Sometimes teams decide they aren't going to give us 3's. Then you've got to get to the rim or the foul line."

Wright holds a 15-2 career record against the Quakers since arriving on the Main Line in 2001. The Wildcats have won the last eight meetings against Penn at the Palestra dating to '03.

Penn's last win against Villanova came on Dec. 10, 2002 and have dropped 15 in a row overall in the series.

At 8-2, Penn is off to its best 10-game start since the '94-95 team also started 8-2. The Quakers have also won 11 games in a row at the Palestra and 14 of its last 15.

In Penn's last game, it defeated La Salle, 83-65, while shooting 57 percent from the field. Freshman Michael Wang led the way with 18 points while A.J. Brodeur added 17. Antonio Woods also scored 17 points.

Wang is shooting 60 percent from the field, including 47 percent from beyond the arc.

"The shooting is there, passing is there. Everything looks like it comes easy for him," Penn head coach Steve Donahue told reporters of Wang. "For him, his ability to get more and more minutes by defending will really help us. He's a terrific kid, works really hard, and I don't even think he's scratching the surface on the level of talent he has."

Penn is 6-0 this season when leading at halftime.