VILLANOVA, Pa. – A busy week of Philadelphia Big Five action for Villanova continues Wednesday when the No. 23/22 Wildcats host Penn (5-3 overall, 1-0 Big Five). The Wildcats knocked off La Salle 83-72 Sunday night at Finneran Pavilion in their City Series opener.
 
Villanova (5-2 overall, 1-0 Big Five) built a 48-28 halftime lead against the Explorers, before La Salle rallied to close the gap in the second half.
 
"Every experience we go through is a new one for this team," stated Wildcats head coach Jay Wright. "Sunday was our first Big Five game as a group. You get a 20-point lead at halftime and then don't respond well to that in the second half. You've got to play every minute. You've got to do that every time, but especially in a Big Five game.
 
"We've learned from that. Now we play a great Penn team and we'll learn a lot from this game, guaranteed."
 
The Quakers already own wins this season away from home over Alabama, Providence, UCF and Long Beach State. The first two were true road games and the last two came in Anaheim, Cal., last weekend, where Penn finished third at the Wooden Legacy Classic. Last season, Penn knocked off Villanova 78-75 at the Palestra, snapping the Wildcats' 25-game Big Five winning streak in the process. The Quakers posted a 4-0 mark in the City Series last season with current senior AJ Brodeur helping to lead the way.
 
"This is a tough, well-coached Penn team," noted Wright of the Quakers, who also defeated La Salle (75-59) for their first Big Five win of 2019-20.
 
Wednesday night's game airs on FS1 (Scott Graham, Dr. John Giannini, and Donny Marshall) as well as 610 ESPN Radio and the TuneIn app everywhere (Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby). The Villanova radio broadcast can also be heard on Sirius 137/XM 207.
 
On Monday, the Wildcats' Justin Moore was selected as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for his 25-point, five steal performance in the win over La Salle. Moore becomes the second Villanova rookie to earn that honor through the campaign's first four weeks, joining Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (week of Nov. 11).
 
After Sunday's win, Wright talked about some of the challenges facing players in their first year of college basketball (Villanova features five first year players on its roster).
 
"For young guys it's an adjustment to know the whole scouting report," explained Wright. "In high school, young guys are used to learning who the best two guys are (on the opposing team). Here, when they bring in someone off the bench, like La Salle did, you've got to know this kid's a great driver or creator or shooter because that guy can change the game.
 
"You could tell in the second half the other night, we weren't dialed in on that."
 
The stretch of Big Five action resumes Saturday for the Wildcats, who will make the short trek to City Line Avenue to face Saint Joseph's. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. for a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2 and 610 ESPN Radio.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.