VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Philadelphia Big Five title will be on the line Sunday as No. 15/16 Villanova visits Temple at a sold-out Liacouras Center. Tipoff is set for just after 1 p.m. in North Philadelphia in a game that will air on ESPN (Kevin Brown and Bryce Drew) and 610 ESPN Radio and the TuneIn app (Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby).
 
The Wildcats (18-6 overall, 8-4 BIG EAST) reeled off three Big Five victories in December over La Salle, Saint Joseph's and Penn to guarantee themselves at least a share of the City series crown for 2019-20. Meanwhile Temple brings a 13-11 overall record and 2-1 Big Five mark into Sunday's clash. An Owls' win would give Temple a share of the title.
 
For Villanova, Sunday's game is the first in a stretch run to the finish line of the regular season that includes five of the final seven being played away from home. The Wildcats edged No. 18 Marquette, 72-71, on Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion as freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl posted his eighth double-double of the campaign (17 points and 11 rebounds). Juniors Jermaine Samuels and Collin Gillespie each contributed 14 points to the win.
 
The matchup with Temple also harkens back to the earliest days of Villanova Basketball in its 100^th season of competition. The Wildcats' second game as an intercollegiate program, on Jan. 8, 1921, was a 31-28 victory at Temple.
 
This battle will be contested on a much larger stage with a crowd of more than 9,000 and a national television audience looking on.
 
"Temple always concerns me," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright after a Friday practice session in the Davis Center. "It doesn't matter what their DNA is. I've been at Villanova a long time. I was here as an assistant in 1988 when we were No. 17 and Temple was No. 1. That game is still one of the greatest games I've ever seen. I keep that in my mind all the time."
 
Wright says his staff often talks to the team about Villanova's hoops history and the Big Five is a significant part of that.
 
"We talk to them about basketball history all the time," noted Wright. "Part of Villanova history is the Big Five. Living here in the city, we want them to respect Philadelphia basketball and learn about it. I enjoy talking about it. I'm not sure how much they enjoy listening to it, but I do talk to them about it a lot."
 
In recent victories over SMU and Tulane, Temple has leaned on a guard heavy lineup featuring quickness and perimeter scoring. The Wildcats have taken note.
 
"Those kinds of lineups have hurt us at times this year," Wright said. "Creighton and Marquette are two teams that used those kinds of lineups. That concerns us. We used to have those kinds of teams, but we have a bigger team now. That small lineup is going to be tough for us."
 
Villanova held its own on the glass against Marquette, with each team grabbing 41 rebounds. That reversed a trend over the previous three BIG EAST games – all losses – where the 'Cats were outrebounded by an average of seven caroms per game by Creighton, Butler and Seton Hall. Thus far in 2019-20, Nova is 13-0 when it grabs more rebounds than its opponent. In addition to Robinson-Earl, both Samuels and sophomore Cole Swider each grabbed seven rebounds.
 
The Wildcats return to BIG EAST action on Wednesday night in Chicago against DePaul. That contest at Wintrust Arena gets underway at 9 p.m. eastern time and airs on CBS Sports Network and 610 ESPN Radio.
 
The 2019-20 season – Villanova's 100^th college basketball campaign – is presented by Hartford Funds and Coca-Cola.