Penn men’s basketball suffers largest defeat since 2009 in 93-49 loss to Villanova

Last season, Penn men’s basketball (2-3) defeated nationally ranked Villanova (3-3) at the Palestra 76-72, leading fans to storm the court and creating a moment that would be remembered forever. This year, the Quakers delivered a performance to forget.

In their final game of Big 5 pod play, the Red and Blue fell to rival Villanova 93-49, the team’s largest margin of defeat since 2009. In a matchup further dramatized by the presence of Wildcats guard Tyler Perkins, who transferred after breaking Penn’s freshman scoring record in the 2023-24 season, the Quakers were unable to replicate the magic of last season’s upset. A string of 15 straight misses over the first and second halves ultimately sealed Penn’s fate.

“The confidence isn’t there,” coach Steve Donahue said, specifically referencing the growing pains of Penn’s five new rotation players. “I’ve gotten my ass kicked by 40 a couple times, and we had great years those years … we know what we need to learn.”

Perkins, who had averaged 7.6 points per game in five appearances for the Wildcats, got his first start of the season against his former team, opening with a turnaround jumper over sophomore guard Sam Brown on the game’s first possession. That score was a sign of things to come, with Perkins’ seven points in the first five minutes bringing Villanova to an early 18-13 lead.

“This is a whole new world of college basketball — it never happened to me before,” Donahue said of Perkins’ situation. “I got to know his family. I’m a coach, I’m a relationship-based [coach], and he thought it was best to leave. That’s his decision … I thought he played really well … obviously I didn’t want him to do well tonight, but I hope he has a good career here at Villanova.”

There appeared to be no love lost between Perkins and his former teammates. Midway through the first half, Perkins passed through a Penn huddle and appeared to make contact with freshman guard A.J. Levine. Then, Perkins wound up on the floor after being guarded physically by junior forward Johnnie Walter on an inbound. Perkins and Walter exchanged words after the play. Later, after blocking Brown’s shot out of bounds, Perkins flexed and shouted in Brown’s face.

Penn’s offense was led by junior guard/forward Michael Zanoni, who led the team with nine points, as well as senior forward/center Nick Spinoso, who was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for the first time February 2023 against St. Joe’s. Spinoso made an impact as both a scorer and a facilitator, finding Walter for an open wing three to tie the game at 26.

But from there, the Quakers scoring screeched to a halt. Walter’s three, which came with roughly nine minutes left in the first half, proved to be Penn’s final points of the period, with the Wildcats opening a 17-0 run into the halftime break.

“I thought they were open,” Donahue said of Penn’s shot selection during the slump. “I think it’s this lack of confidence and this tension and this anxiety of what’s going on, and that’s leaking into both sides of the ball.”

The Quakers’ offensive woes continued into the second half. Though a free throw from Walter broke the scoring drought, Penn’s first made basket did not come until the 15-minute mark, ending a streak of 15 consecutive misses. By that point, Villanova’s 60% three-point shooting had allowed them to punish Penn’s late rotations, leading to a 25-point deficit the Quakers could not overcome.

Perkins slowed down after his hot start, finishing the night with 12 points and nine rebounds. After the game, Perkins downplayed the significance of the matchup with Penn, saying it was “like any other game.”

“Nothing,” Perkins said when asked what he had to say about playing his former team. “It’s just our next game, our next day. We just try and play Villanova basketball.”

With the loss, Penn will now play in the Big 5 fifth place game on December 7 against Drexel. More immediately, the Quakers have a lengthy break before taking on Navy on November 29 in the Cathedral Classic Invitational at the Palestra. During that break, Donahue says the team will hit the reset button.

“I like getting punched in the mouth,” Donahue said. “I know that sounds crazy, but for a team, we gotta know where we’re at …. Right now, I got nine days off, we’re going back to camp. And we’re going to work our tails off, and we're going to get better.”