Big 5 Classic preview: Penn men’s basketball

Wake up, Philadelphia! It’s Big 5 Classic weekend.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., Penn men’s basketball (3-5) will face off against Drexel (5-4) at the Wells Fargo Center to battle for the fifth-place spot in the Big 5 Classic. The event will be played for the second straight year at the Wells Fargo Center, which is the home of the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The matchup comes after both teams finished 0-2 in pod play, with Penn dropping games to Saint Joseph’s and Villanova — the latter of which was the Red and Blue’s biggest loss since 2009 — and the Dragons falling to La Salle and Temple. 

After struggling in the Cathedral Classic over Thanksgiving break, finishing the tournament with a 1-2 record, the Quakers have had a week to regroup before they play in their biggest game yet this season. 

“Right now, our focus is just getting better every single game we play,” senior forward/center and team captain Nick Spinoso said. “We feel like we’re making strides, especially over this past weekend: We played three pretty good teams and obviously did not have the outcomes we wanted, but we definitely got better as a group.”

Spinoso added that the group is excited to be back at Wells Fargo and commented on the bittersweet nature of his second time playing in the NBA arena being most likely his last. When asked about his personal goals going forward, Spinoso only has one thing on his mind: winning.

“My goal is just to win every time we step on the court and to end up with an Ivy League championship,” Spinoso said. “We fell short of getting the Big 5 championship, which stinks, but we still get another game to play in the Big 5, which is great. The end goal is still what everything’s about: [getting] to March Madness with an Ivy League championship."

Drexel was added to the Big 5 in 2023, making it the conference’s newest addition. This year’s Big 5 Classic is also the second edition of the event after the historic Philadelphia basketball association restructured Big 5 play for the 2023-24 season. Previously, the tournament took the form of a round-robin, but the system was replaced with two three-team pods that play two games against each other in pod play. Based off those records, the third place teams in each pod battle it out for fifth place while the second place teams duke it out for third place and the first place teams compete for the Big 5 championship title in a triple-header at Wells Fargo.

The Dragons are 5-4 right now, most recently suffering a tight loss to Bryant. The Quakers have gotten the better of Drexel in recent history, boasting a 7-4 record when playing at home and a 1-2 when playing away. In the last matchup between the two teams in 2022, Penn walked away with a 64-59 win record against the Dragons. Since then, the teams have changed quite a bit.

Most notably for the Quakers is the loss of former guard Jordan Dingle who entered the transfer portal after that season and led the team in that game with 21 points. However, the changes aren’t just one-sided as the Dragons will also be introducing a new selection of players in its own starting lineup. 

“They got a few new guys,” junior guard/forward Ethan Roberts — who transferred to Penn over the summer — said. “They’re definitely a respected team and a good one, and it’s gonna be a great matchup for us, so we’re all really excited for it.”

Despite the early season struggles, certain Quakers have recently found their stride. Even with the two losses this weekend, Roberts put up 76 points across the three games to pace the group, including a 33-point career high in a loss to Navy and a double-double in the team’s win over Maine. 

For these performances, Roberts became the first Quaker this season to bring home an Ivy League weekly honor, winning Player of the Week. The award comes a year after an injury left him unable to walk during his time at Drake. But for Roberts, the focus is not on himself and his recognition, but on the team and how it can progress moving forward into the rest of the season. 

“The mentality is we’re just continuing to improve and trying not to worry about too many outside things, like a record or anything like that,” Roberts said. “It really doesn’t tell how good you are. All that matters is when you go to a conference, you’ve got the best team.”