5/5 Villanova at Penn

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pa.

Webcast: Ivy League Digital Network via espn3 (Brian Seltzer and Vince Curran)

Radio: Villanova IMG Network: 610 AM / Sirius 92/villanova.com and TuneIn Radio (Ryan Fannon & Whitey Rigsby)

Series: Villanova leads 18-4

Game Notes / Listen

VILLANOVA, Pa. - A visit to the hallowed Palestra is on tap for the No. 5 Villanova Wildcats as they pause briefly in the midst of the BIG EAST regular season to wrap up the Philadelphia Big Five portion of the schedule.

"It's one of the most historic arenas in our country," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I don't think our guys have any idea what that's going to be like - we'll have to talk to them about that. It's going to be a heck of an environment. Penn is playing better. It will be a tough game."

Villanova defeated La Salle, Saint Joseph's and Temple in December to extend its City Series winning streak to 10 games. A win Saturday would allow the Wildcats to post consecutive undefeated Big Five campaigns. VU is also unbeaten (12-0) in non-conference action thus far in 2014-15 and this will complete that part of its slate.

Penn improved to 4-8 overall with a victory at Niagara on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats have averaged 86.3 ppg in amassing three straight BIG EAST victories following a 66-61 overtime defeat at Seton Hall on Jan. 3. Villanova downed Xavier 88-75 on Wednesday night at the Pavilion and Musketeers coach Chris Mack praised the Wildcats following the contest.

"A lot of times, you sit behind this microphone and you lament about your own team," stated Mack. "You say, `We didn't do this tonight, we didn't do that.' But I am going to be very, very honest and just tell you that Villanova is a better team right now.

" They've got juniors and seniors; they are terrific. I think Jay Wright's got, not to put any pressure, a Final Four quality team. They are loaded at every position. They are experienced at every position. They're selfless. The ball doesn't miss too much from the three-point line, especially early on.

"I don't know if our team wasn't ready to play, but to that level, to the level we saw early on, I think it was a little eye opening for a few guys. You can watch it on film. You can show the kind of range that a guy like [Darrun] Hilliard has or the pace that [Ryan] Arcidiacono plays with, the improvement that [Daniel] Ochefu's made. You can shows those guys, but it's another thing to experience it on the floor."

The Wildcats defeated the Quakers 77-54 in the meeting between the two teams last season but Wright understands that contest in the friendly confines of the Pavilion will look far different before a packed house of Penn fans.

"One of the things that has been a concern for us with Penn is their quickness at the guard spot," stated Wright. "We also know the tenacity that they are going to play against us with. We've had some success with them but where we've had trouble is keeping them out of the paint and from breaking down our defense."

The Wildcats will then have a fast turnaround as they resume BIG EAST action on Monday evening at Georgetown (9 p.m./Fox Sports 1/610 WTEL AM).

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