No. 4 Villanova vies for 19th straight Big 5 win, hosts Penn (Nov 29, 2017)

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Fourth-ranked Villanova looks to extend one of the most pronounced streaks in program history when it hosts Big 5 rival Pennsylvania on Wednesday night in a rare home game at the Jake Nevin Field House.

The Wildcats (6-0) will be searching for their 19th consecutive Big 5 victory when they host the Quakers (5-3) at the Field House, which opened in 1931. The Big 5 consists of Villanova, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple and La Salle.

Villanova's home arena on campus, The Pavilion, is undergoing a $60 million renovation this season. A win over Penn would be the Wildcats' 15th straight in the series.

Villanova is fresh off yet another tournament championship as it captured the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas with a 64-50 victory over Northern Iowa.

Junior Jalen Brunson, the Most Valuable Player of the Battle 4 Atlantis, was also named the Big East Player of the Week. In the title game, Brunson had 16 points, four assists and two steals.

Meanwhile, junior Mikal Bridges recorded 18 points and seven rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament team.

"The reason you are able to win five of these (tournaments) is by having good players who are intelligent," Villanova coach Jay Wright told reporters after the win over Northern Iowa.

"There's a challenge coming here. Everything is taken care of for you. You are treated like a king. But there a lot of temptations here in Paradise (Island). If you get caught up in that, and that's more important to you than being a good player and teammate, that can affect you.

"These guys, and the guys we have had over the years, are really good basketball players. They know this is an opportunity to play great competition and take it very seriously."

This will be the first time Villanova has hosted a regular-season home game in the Field House since Jan. 4, 1986, when Villanova defeated Marist, 87-71. The Pavilion opened slightly more than a month later on Feb. 1, 1986.

The Quakers last played on Saturday night, which resulted in a 101-96 victory in four overtimes at Monmouth. It was just the second four-overtime game in program history, with the last one coming on March 13, 1920 in a 26-23 win over Princeton.

Sophomore Ryan Betley, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, played 55 minutes in Saturday's win and finished with 26 points, two short of his career high. Betley hit two 3-pointers in the third overtime and had seven points in that five-minute session.

Junior Antonio Woods scored a career-best 23 points to go along with five rebounds. Freshman Eddie Scott played 36 minutes and registered his first double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds). The rebounding total is the most by a Penn player this season.

"I've never been in a four-overtime game," Penn coach Steve Donahue told the Philadelphia Daily News. "We kind of laughed at it after a while."

It was a crazy game in which Monmouth and Penn combined to miss 47 free throws.

"It came down to who was going to allow the other team to lose," Donahue told the Daily News.

Penn's last victory over Villanova came on Dec. 10, 2002.