VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova returns to Finneran Pavilion Tuesday for the second of its three matchups in the Philadelphia Big Five. Penn (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big Five) will be on the floor opposite the Wildcats (2-3 overall, 0-1 Big Five) in a contest set to tip off just after 7 p.m.
 
Peacock, one of the BIG EAST's new streaming partners, makes its Finneran Pavilion debut Tuesday. Justin Kutcher will be on site to handle play-by-play duties alongside former La Salle head coach John Giannini who serves as analyst.
 
Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will bring the radio broadcast to the Nova Nation on the Villanova Sports Radio Network on IHeart.
 
At stake is positioning for the Big Five Classic tripleheader on Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
Villanova is looking to rebound after a pair of losses away from home to Saint Joseph's (83-76) and Virginia (70-60) at the Hall of Fame Baltimore Series on Friday. The Cavaliers drained 14-of-25 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc, a rate of production from long distance the Wildcats weren't able to overcome.
 
"I think for us," stated senior guard Jordan Longino, "it's just getting back to our basic details. Just being on the same page defensively, communicating and talking. We have a new team with eight or nine new guys. Our goal is always to be the best team by the end of the season. We'll clean up any defensive mistakes we made (against Virginia) and be ready to go against Penn."
 
The Wildcats are led in scoring by forward Eric Dixon (24.8 points per game and a perfect 20-of-20 at the free throw line thus far in 2024-25). No Wildcats has averaged 20 or more points per game since Randy Foye in 2005-06 (20.5 ppg).
 
The Quakers and Wildcats have faced two common opponents – Saint Joseph's and NJIT. Each dropped the game to the Hawks and defeated the Highlanders (Penn by a 57-56 count in its season opener).
 
When these teams met last season, unheralded freshman guard Tyler Perkins provided 22 points and six rebounds to help the Quakers hand Nova its first defeat of 2023-24, 76-72. In April, the Virginia native transferred to Villanova, where he has made an impact as the sixth man, averaging 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest.
 
While Villanova has continued its accuracy from the free throw stripe, connecting on .805 of its attempts after leading the nation in Free Throw Percentage for the past three seasons, it's been less effective getting to the line. It averages 16.6 attempts through five games, which ranks 287^th in the country.
 
Penn has taken two of the last five meetings between the schools, both at the Palestra. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 51-19 and have won the last eight that they have hosted against the Quakers on home courts.