Ivy League Penn gets 22 points from Tyler Perkins in 76-72 win over No. 21 Villanova at the Palestra
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Tyler Perkins was oblivious to the Big 5 - “I thought it was a conference,” he said - or what a Penn win in a city series game against Villanova would mean to the program until streamers rained down on the Palestra court.
Once the Penn party simmered down, the freshman guard who orchestrated the upset could confess: He called Penn’s shot.
“When we started to scout,” he knew, Perkins said.
“Did you say, ‘start to scout?’” coach Steve Donahue questioned to laughter.
“He told me that,” Quakers guard Clark Slajchert confirmed.
Perkins scored 22 points and Penn trailed for only 53 seconds in a 76-72 victory over No. 21 Villanova on Monday night that ended with students from the Ivy League underdog mobbing the court for a wild celebration.
Slajchert hit two three free throws in the final three seconds to seal the win and ignite the Penn party.
“I felt like it's about damn time we were able to do this,” he said.
Penn students unleashed their own pent-up emotions and tossed the traditional Big 5 streamers. Many paused to snap photos of the scoreboard. The Quakers stuck around to help sing the fight song with cheerleaders and fans.
“The Palestra's the front porch of our university,” Donahue said.
It sure seemed like most of the 6,273 fans stormed through the door.
The Quakers (3-1), 12-point underdogs according to FanDuel Sportsbook, won for only the 19th time in 70 games against the Wildcats in a series that dates to 1922.
Perkins was clutch down the stretch. He hit a step-back 3-pointer for a nine-point lead and Cameron Thrower buried a 3 for a 60-51 advantage with 7:20 left.
Perkins scored the big buckets each time the Wildcats (2-1) edged closer. He nailed a second-chance 3 that stretched the lead to 68-57 and positioned the Quakers for their second win over Villanova in six years.
Justin Moore, who led Villanova with 25 points, sank a 3 that made it 73-69 with 10.9 seconds left and another 3 for a 74-72 game with 3.8 seconds to go that shushed the crowd.
Only momentarily. Under second-year coach Kyle Neptune, the Wildcats simply ran out of time. All that was left was avoiding the mad rush of students.
“We're always confident until the last possible second,” Neptune said.
There’s more than a perceived talent gap that separated the programs this season. There's a hefty financial one at play.
The Wildcats are building on a roughly $3 million name, image, and likeness collective while Penn - in a that already prohibits athletic scholarships - does not have any NIL funds.
But Donahue knows how to orchestrate an upset at the Palestra over the Big East bullies from the Main Line. Penn fans also stormed the court in 2018 after the Quakers beat Villanova. Donahue, who led Cornell to the Sweet 16 in 2010, hadn’t had much success in the series since then.
But there is something about playing at the Palestra, dubbed the Cathedral of College Basketball, that stirs those long-shot dreams.
Dreams are nice.
Long shots help more.
Penn opened with a 3-pointer, a four-point play and those 12-points dogs to the ’Cats were suddenly up six. Penn’s zone stymied the Wildcats, who never made a serious run. The Quakers led 32-30 at the break - Villanova led only 3-0 and 30-28 in the half - and a second stunner under Donahue seemed within reach.
“When you get that kind of feeling, there's really nothing like college basketball,” Donahue said. “I sold it to these guys, come here, this is what they dreamed of. Then to walk out and have campus basically running on the court, that's why you play.”
BIG 5 CHANGES
Penn, La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph’s and Villanova are joined this season by Philly’s sixth Division I program, Drexel. Gone is round-robin play. Schools instead were split into three-team pods with games played at on-campus arenas, with the teams then seeded for a Dec. 2 tripleheader at the Wells Fargo Center that will crown the Big 5 champion.
In a city series long dominated by Villanova, Penn is still alive for a Big 5 title.
UP NEXT
Penn plays Saturday at Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Villanova hosts Maryland on Friday.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Eric Dixon vs. Nick Spinoso (Quakers gains possession) | |||
19:29 | Tyler Perkins misses two point jump shot | |||
19:27 | Justin Moore defensive rebound | |||
19:08 | Eric Dixon misses two point hook shot | |||
19:06 | Nick Spinoso defensive rebound | |||
18:45 | TJ Bamba personal foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
18:41 | Cam Thrower turnover (bad pass) | |||
18:26 | Eric Dixon misses two point jump shot | |||
18:24 | Nick Spinoso defensive rebound | |||
18:13 | Cam Thrower misses three point jump shot | |||
18:11 | Justin Moore defensive rebound | |||
18:03 | Justin Moore misses three point jump shot | |||
18:01 | TJ Bamba offensive rebound | |||
17:56 | +3 | Eric Dixon makes three point jump shot (Justin Moore assists) | 3-0 | |
17:44 | Jump ball. Clark Slajchert vs. Mark Armstrong (Wildcats gains possession) | |||
17:44 | Clark Slajchert turnover (lost ball) (Mark Armstrong steals) | |||
17:28 | Nick Spinoso blocks Justin Moore's two point layup | |||
17:26 | Clark Slajchert defensive rebound | |||
17:17 | +3 | Eddie Holland III makes three point jump shot (Cam Thrower assists) | 3-3 | |
17:16 | Nick Spinoso personal foul (Eric Dixon draws the foul) | |||
16:57 | TJ Bamba misses three point jump shot | |||
16:55 | Tyler Burton offensive rebound | |||
16:49 | Jordan Longino misses three point jump shot | |||
16:47 | Clark Slajchert defensive rebound | |||
16:24 | Clark Slajchert turnover (bad pass) (Jordan Longino steals) | |||
16:14 | Tyler Burton misses three point jump shot | |||
16:12 | Johnnie Walter defensive rebound | |||
16:10 | +3 | Tyler Perkins makes three point jump shot (Johnnie Walter assists) | 3-6 | |
16:10 | Justin Moore shooting foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
16:10 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 3-7 | |
15:55 | Brendan Hausen misses three point jump shot | |||
15:53 | Tyler Perkins defensive rebound | |||
15:45 | Eddie Holland III turnover (bad pass) | |||
15:45 | TV timeout | |||
15:30 | Justin Moore misses three point jump shot | |||
15:28 | Tyler Perkins defensive rebound | |||
15:21 | Tyler Perkins misses three point jump shot | |||
15:19 | Lance Ware defensive rebound | |||
15:05 | Tyler Burton misses two point layup | |||
15:03 | Tyler Perkins defensive rebound | |||
14:37 | Clark Slajchert misses three point jump shot | |||
14:35 | Tyler Perkins offensive rebound | |||
14:33 | Brendan Hausen shooting foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
14:33 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 3-8 | |
14:33 | Tyler Perkins misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
14:33 | Tyler Burton defensive rebound | |||
14:19 | +2 | Jordan Longino makes two point turnaround jump shot | 5-8 | |
13:47 | Clark Slajchert misses three point jump shot | |||
13:45 | Andrew Laczkowski offensive rebound | |||
13:45 | Tyler Burton shooting foul (Andrew Laczkowski draws the foul) | |||
13:45 | Andrew Laczkowski misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
13:45 | +1 | Andrew Laczkowski makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 5-9 | |
13:20 | Jordan Longino misses two point jump shot | |||
13:18 | Andrew Laczkowski defensive rebound | |||
12:56 | +2 | Nick Spinoso makes two point hook shot | 5-11 | |
12:39 | +2 | TJ Bamba makes two point driving reverse layup | 7-11 | |
12:24 | Cam Thrower misses three point jump shot | |||
12:21 | Wildcats defensive rebound | |||
11:51 | Wildcats turnover (shot clock violation) | |||
11:51 | TV timeout | |||
11:33 | Tyler Perkins misses two point layup | |||
11:31 | TJ Bamba defensive rebound | |||
11:21 | Mark Armstrong misses three point jump shot | |||
11:19 | George Smith defensive rebound | |||
11:04 | +2 | Tyler Perkins makes two point pullup jump shot | 7-13 | |
10:47 | Tyler Perkins shooting foul (TJ Bamba draws the foul) | |||
10:47 | +1 | TJ Bamba makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 8-13 | |
10:47 | +1 | TJ Bamba makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 9-13 | |
10:24 | +2 | Cam Thrower makes two point driving layup | 9-15 | |
10:07 | Eric Dixon misses two point jump shot | |||
10:05 | George Smith defensive rebound | |||
9:53 | Clark Slajchert misses three point jump shot | |||
9:51 | George Smith offensive rebound | |||
9:50 | George Smith turnover (out of bounds) | |||
9:38 | TJ Bamba misses three point jump shot | |||
9:36 | Eric Dixon offensive rebound | |||
9:32 | Eric Dixon turnover (3-second violation) | |||
9:16 | Clark Slajchert turnover (bad pass) | |||
9:06 | +2 | Jordan Longino makes two point floating jump shot | 11-15 | |
8:37 | Nick Spinoso misses two point hook shot | |||
8:34 | Quakers offensive rebound | |||
8:30 | Tyler Perkins misses two point jump shot | |||
8:26 | Wildcats defensive rebound | |||
8:05 | +2 | Jordan Longino makes two point driving layup | 13-15 | |
8:05 | Nick Spinoso shooting foul (Jordan Longino draws the foul) | |||
8:05 | +1 | Jordan Longino makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 14-15 | |
7:55 | +3 | Eddie Holland III makes three point jump shot (Tyler Perkins assists) | 14-18 | |
7:34 | Mark Armstrong misses two point jump shot | |||
7:32 | Lance Ware offensive rebound | |||
7:32 | Eddie Holland III personal foul (Lance Ware draws the foul) | |||
7:32 | TV timeout | |||
7:23 | Eddie Holland III shooting foul (Tyler Burton draws the foul) | |||
7:23 | +1 | Tyler Burton makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 15-18 | |
7:23 | +1 | Tyler Burton makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 16-18 | |
6:53 | +2 | Tyler Perkins makes two point turnaround fadeaway jump shot | 16-20 | |
6:20 | +3 | Justin Moore makes three point pullup jump shot | 19-20 | |
5:46 | +2 | Johnnie Walter makes two point fadeaway jump shot (Clark Slajchert assists) | 19-22 | |
5:28 | Jordan Longino turnover (bad pass) | |||
5:11 | TJ Bamba personal foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
5:11 | Mark Armstrong personal foul (Clark Slajchert draws the foul) | |||
5:01 | Mark Armstrong personal foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
5:01 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 19-23 | |
5:01 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 19-24 | |
4:46 | +3 | Jordan Longino makes three point jump shot (Justin Moore assists) | 22-24 | |
4:26 | Justin Moore blocks Tyler Perkins's two point layup | |||
4:24 | Eric Dixon defensive rebound | |||
4:20 | George Smith shooting foul (Justin Moore draws the foul) | |||
4:20 | +1 | Justin Moore makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 23-24 | |
4:20 | +1 | Justin Moore makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 24-24 | |
4:02 | +2 | Nick Spinoso makes two point cutting layup (Clark Slajchert assists) | 24-26 | |
4:02 | Chris Arcidiacono shooting foul (Nick Spinoso draws the foul) | |||
4:02 | Nick Spinoso misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
4:02 | Tyler Burton defensive rebound | |||
3:51 | Jordan Longino misses three point jump shot | |||
3:49 | Andrew Laczkowski defensive rebound | |||
3:24 | Nick Spinoso misses two point hook shot | |||
3:22 | Andrew Laczkowski offensive rebound | |||
3:22 | +2 | Andrew Laczkowski makes two point tip layup | 24-28 | |
3:02 | +3 | Brendan Hausen makes three point pullup jump shot | 27-28 | |
2:27 | Nick Spinoso misses three point jump shot | |||
2:25 | Tyler Burton defensive rebound | |||
2:20 | Brendan Hausen misses three point jump shot | |||
2:18 | Cam Thrower defensive rebound | |||
2:11 | Quakers 30 second timeout | |||
2:11 | TV timeout | |||
1:48 | George Smith turnover (double dribble) | |||
1:38 | Justin Moore misses three point jump shot | |||
1:36 | Eddie Holland III defensive rebound | |||
1:11 | Eddie Holland III misses three point jump shot | |||
1:09 | Hakim Hart defensive rebound | |||
0:49 | +2 | Justin Moore makes two point driving layup | 29-28 | |
0:49 | Johnnie Walter shooting foul (Justin Moore draws the foul) | |||
0:49 | +1 | Justin Moore makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 30-28 | |
0:33 | Eric Dixon shooting foul (Tyler Perkins draws the foul) | |||
0:33 | Tyler Perkins misses regular free throw 1 of 3 | |||
0:33 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 2 of 3 | 30-29 | |
0:33 | +1 | Tyler Perkins makes regular free throw 3 of 3 | 30-30 | |
0:28 | Tyler Perkins personal foul (Justin Moore draws the foul) | |||
0:28 | Justin Moore misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
0:28 | Nick Spinoso defensive rebound | |||
0:01 | +2 | Clark Slajchert makes two point driving layup | 30-32 | |
0:00 | End of period |