Game preview: Penn

“Another tough road Big Five game for us,” Jay Wright said. “Penn is always a difficult game for us. Their style of play is always tough for us. I think they’ve got a really good, experienced team. I think they’ll be very prepared for our style of play like they always are. It’s gonna be another Big Five battle at the Palestra.”

Penn comes in with a record of 3-6, having played some tough competition early this season including Florida State, Utah State and Arkansas. All three of Penn’s wins have come over teams ranked 193 or lower by KenPom.

Speaking of KenPom, that metric ranks the Quakers No. 204, 152nd offensively and 284th defensively.

KenPom paints a picture of a team that has struggled mightily on defense. The Quakers rank 215 or lower in every defensive metric the site tracks. They haven’t forced a ton of turnovers, they have allowed second-chance opportunities for opponents and they’ve had trouble defending all three levels.

Offensively, Penn has been solid from beyond the arc, connecting on 36.3%. Penn has also been decent from the free throw line but doesn’t get to the line very often.

Haslametrics paints a similar story, ranking Penn 230 overall, 168th offensively, 310th defensively.

The metric doesn’t highlight many bright spots defensively, showing a team that gives up points off turnovers and also on the offensive glass. The lack of turnovers forced by the defense has allowed opponents to get up a ton of shots, with Penn ranking 11th-worst in the country in opponent’s field goal attempt rate. The Quakers have struggled defending the mid-range and the 3-point line. One bright spot is that Penn has defended without fouling, ranking 53rd in opponent’s free throw attempt rate.

Offensively, we see confirmation on Penn’s decent 3-point shooting and of the fact that the Quakers have struggled to get to the line. We also see that Penn has shot well from the mid-range, but also that a very low percentage of their overall attempts have come from that area.

Despite the struggles for the Quakers, they can be a difficult team to prepare for. They have 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game and have a number of guys that are capable of carrying the offense on any given night.

Penn is led by sophomore guard Jordan Dingle, the reigning Ivy League Freshman of the Year. Dingle is averaging 19.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists this season and can score at the rim and from the perimeter.

Jonah Charles is the only other current double-figure scorer for Penn, averaging 10.7 points per game. He adds 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists and has connected on 38.6% of his 3-point attempts.

Clark Slajchert adds 9.7 points per game and is coming off a 25-point performance against Arkansas last Sunday.

Guard Jelani Williams chips in 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists and has connected on 9-18 3-point attempts this season.

Forward Max Martz averages 6.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. He has hit just 29.6% of his 3s so far this season, but in 2019-20 (the previous Ivy League season) he finished second in the conference with a 3-point percentage of 43.2%.

Lucas Monroe (5.6 pts, 3.2 reb), Nick Spinoso (5.3 pts, 4.3 reb), Max Lorca-Lloyd (4.3 pts, four reb), Michael Wang (four points) and Michael Moshkovitz (1.8 pts, 2.6 reb, 2.1 ast) round out the players averaging at least 10 minutes per night.

Again, that depth and the ability of several different players to have a big night offensively can present some challenges. “They’re a tough team to prepare for,” Wright said. “Dingle is such an explosive scorer, you know he’s capable of having a huge night. And then Slajchert, he had a monster game against Arkansas, so you know he’s capable of doing that. All their other guys are really smart basketball players, that’s why they always give us trouble because any one of the guys can get it going and they’re smart enough as a team when somebody gets it going, they find him. One of the things we always have to prepare for is you’ve got guys like Dingle, some experienced guys, a guy like Slajchert is coming off a big game, but you know those other guys, Charles, Williams, those guys are experienced and they’re capable of going off too. You gotta go into the game ready to adjust.”

Much like the La Salle game, Villanova will enter with virtually all the advantages on paper, but of course it is another Big Five game. In addition to the intensity of the Big Five, the fact that Penn has multiple players who can go off offensively and that Penn is a team who can shoot well from deep are indicators of caution for Villanova. A hot-shooting night from 3 or an otherworldly individual offensive performance are things that can make the on-paper matchup moot and are things the Wildcats will have to guard against.

Villanova should be able to gain an advantage in the turnover department Wednesday night. The 3-ponit line will be an area to keep an eye on as it’s an area the Quakers will likely need if they are to keep things interesting. Villanova should be able to get what it wants offensively. Defensively, a lot of attention will be paid to Dingle while eyes will have to be kept on players like Charles and Slajchert as well. If one of those players gets it going, how Villanova adjusts will be key as well.

Keep an eye on Eric Dixon as well. Dixon has shown strong progress so far this season, even as opponent’s have attempted to isolate him defensively. Dixon has responded reasonably well, and Wednesday will be another game where he will likely be forced to navigate screens on the perimeter and deal with switches and defending in space.

From Villanova’s perspective, we’ll of course be again keeping an eye on the rotation. 11 players played Sunday against La Salle and no player played more than 30 minutes. That was a great sign for the Wildcats. Jordan Longino will miss the game as he continues to battle a non-COVID illness and Wright indicated that Penn isn’t a particularly good matchup for Nnanna Njoku, so much of the focus on building depth will be on Trey Patterson and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, who is expected to be available again after making his first appearance since March 2020 against La Salle.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip and will air on ESPN+.