VILLANOVA, Pa. – A Big Five championship is on the line Saturday night when Villanova (6-1 overall, 2-0 Big Five) meets Penn (5-3 overall, 2-0 Big Five) in the third annual Big Five Classic title game at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Tipoff for this third game of a tripleheader is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Tickets remain available for this contest and can be purchased by clicking the link at the top of this story. La Salle faces Drexel at 2 p.m. with Saint Joseph's and Temple set to meet at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Philadelphia basketball celebration.
 
Villanova secured its spot in the title game with its 74-56 victory on Monday night over Temple at Finneran Pavilion. The Wildcats held a 46-42 midway through the second half before closing on a 28-14 surge to put that game into the win column. It was their sixth consecutive triumph following a 71-66 loss to BYU in the season opener on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas.
 
Wildcats' guard Tyler Perkins has been a standout of late. After scoring eight points in each of Nova's first four games he has averaged 17.7 points per game over the last three outings. His 19 points to go with five rebounds led the 'Cats in the win over the Owls.
 
Perkins – who began his college career at Penn in 2023-24 before transferring to Villanova – is 20-of-33 from the field in that span (.606), including 9-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc (.563). He has raised his season scoring average to 12.1 ppg, one of five Wildcats averaging in double figures – Bryce Lindsay (18.1 ppg), Acaden Lewis (13.3 ppg), Matt Hodge (11.1 ppg) and Duke Brennan (10.8 ppg) are the others.
 
Villanova is 12-1 over the past two seasons when Perkins scores in double figures (.923).
 
"Tyler just gives us great energy," said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard recently. "I think he's still trying to figure out a little bit of what he is doing and what we need him to do. But he just gives us great energy."
 
Another Wildcat guard who has offered important contributions in the past two games is sophomore Malachi Palmer. After playing 1:13 in the first half on Monday, he was on the floor for 15:17 of the second half as the Wildcats took hold of the lead and pulled away. The Maryland transfer finished at +18, adding four rebounds and three points to go along with stout defense.
 
Although both Willard and Penn's head coach Fran McCaffery are in their first seasons at their respective schools, the pair are in familiar territory, having seen their teams meet 11 times since 2007. The first six of those encounters came in Willard's first three seasons as a head coach at Iona (2007-10) when McCaffery led Siena. In the past three seasons, the two led Big Ten programs, Maryland and Iowa. McCaffery is 7-4 lifetime against Willard's teams but four of the last five have gone to Willard's teams.
 
This is the third time Penn and Villanova have met at the facility now known as Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Wildcats posted an 80-51 in the 2000-01 season on their home court at the then Wachovia Center. The Quakers grabbed a 72-58 win two years later during the 2002-03 campaign.
 
The Wildcats have won or shared 29 Philadelphia Big Five crowns since the group was formed in the mid-1950s.
 
The game will be televised in the Delaware Valley via NBC Sports Philadelphia (Matt Martucci, John Giannini, and Amy Fadool). The audio call will be handled by Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby on the Villanova Sports Radio Network on IHeart.
 
On Monday, Villanova will travel to Michigan ahead of a Tuesday night clash at the home of the Michigan Wolverines, currently the No. 3 team in the Associated Press poll.