Nov. 12, 2004

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Philadelphia University Rams visit the Main Line for a men's basketball game for the first time since 1977 on Sunday night as the Villanova Wildcats open the 2004-05 campaign in an exhibition contest at the Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 7:35 p.m. Street & Smith's magazine listed Philadelphia University as its pre-season No. 1 team in the nation in Division II.

The game has been added to the internet radio schedule and will be available at www.villanova.com via Yahoo Audiocasts. Just click on the Audio/Video Link on the top of the front page.

Philadelphia University, previously known as Philadelphia Textile, has faced Villanova 19 times since the Wildcats began playing intercollegiate basketball in 1920. Villanova owns a 17-2 edge in the all-time series but those two wins came in the last three battles in the series. Philadelphia Textile downed the `Cats 65-59 on Dec. 3, 1975 at the Palestra. The Rams picked up their second consecutive win on Jan. 8, 1977 at the Field House when they defeated Villanova 61-57. Villanova rebounded to pick up a 61-57 win over the Rams on Nov. 30, 1977.

Philadelphia University is led by a pair of All-American candidates in Brent Welton and Tayron Thomas. Head coach Herb Magee is entering his 38th season and owns a career record of 772-298.

"Our players and coaching staff are excited to start our season against Philadelphia University," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "Coach Magee is a Philadelphia legend and basketball fans in this area have a real appreciation for the great program he has built. This should be a good test for us to see where we are at this early stage of the season."

Villanova is led by junior guard Allan Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) and junior forward Curtis Sumpter (Brooklyn, N.Y.), both of whom were selected second team pre-season All-Big East. The `Cats will be without the services of forward Jason Fraser, still recovering from arthoscopic knee surgery performed on Oct. 22 and freshman guard Kyle Lowry, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee in August.