Wildcat Wrap
 
Final Score: Penn 76, Villanova 72
 
Big Five Opener: This was the first of three games played among Villanova's local rivals in the Philadelphia Big Five. The Wildcats entered this contest having taken nine of their last 10 visits to the fabled home of Penn, the Palestra (against both the Quakers and La Salle, which has hosted games here in recent seasons.) On Nov. 29, Villanova hosts Saint Joseph's at Finneran Pavilion (6:30 p.m./FS1) and then will take part in the first Big Five Classic, featuring a tripleheader at the Wells Fargo Center, on Saturday, Dec. 2.
 
Breaking it Down: A 3-pointer from Eric Dixon opened the scoring but Penn reeled off the next eight points as Villanova misfired on seven consecutive attempts from the field. A Jordan Longino bucket ended the 'Cats drought. Five additional points from Longino got Nova back to within 15-14.
 
Tyler Perkins, though, was a force for the Quakers, scoring 11 points to help Penn grab a 24-19 advantage with a little more than five minutes left in the first half. A 7-0 run briefly gave Nova the lead at 30-28 but Penn scored the last four points of the period to claim a 32-30 advantage at halftime.
 
Penn's extended 2-3 matchup zone, its primary defense over the first 20 minutes, disrupted the Wildcats, offensive flow. At intermission VU was 9-of-27 from the field and 4-of-15 from long distance. Penn also held the edge on the glass, collecting 20 caroms to Nova's 15.
 
Longino paced VU with 10 first half points.
 
Penn sank four of its first five attempts from the field and added three free throws to craft a 43-38 lead with 14:29 to go in the second half. It extended its margin to 57-48 after Perkins drained a 3-pointer. A Moore triple shaved the deficit to 57-51 with 7:55 on the clock.
 
An 8-0 burst by the Quakers gave them their largest margin of the evening 68-57 with 3:55 to play. Villanova forced three turnovers and narrowed the deficit to 70-66 but could draw no closer. A Moore 3-pointer shaved the margin to 73-69 but only 11.7 seconds remained. He added another, but it wasn't enough as Penn sank three free throws to settle matters.
 
Significant Stats: The Quakers owned a 30-24 advantage over the Wildcats in points scored in the paint. Penn also converted 10-of-14 field goal attempts, including 3-of-4 from outside the arc, over the first 12:30 of the second half to gain control of the contest. That gave them the cushion it needed to hold off the Villanova charge over the final 3:55.
 
Notable: Longino's +8 was the best in that category from a Wildcat.
 
What They Said: "Hats off to Penn," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "I thought they did a great job, had a great game plan. They forced us into some tough shots. They got it going offensively. Credit to them for that. We couldn't get stops when we needed to."
 
"I don't think you can ever rely 100 percent on making or missing jump shots. If that's all you're relying on, you're not going to be a good team. What we shot wasn't great, but I think the big thing is that we've got to be better defensively."
 
Neptune on the 2-3 matchup zone employed by the Quakers for much of the contest: "We knew they played the matchup zone. They played it against Saint Joseph's. That's how it goes. If you don't do well against a zone, they keep playing it. That's logic. We were ready for it. We went over it. They just did a good job."
 
Neptune on the blending of four newcomers into the rotation: "We want to be the best team we can be by the end of the season. This is a Big Five game. You go on the road period – but especially in a Big Five game – you know anything can happen. We knew that. We've got to go back, dust ourselves off, go back to practice and get better."