Penn, a college basketball team with modest expectations this season, defeated crosstown rival Villanova on Monday. Photo Credit: Sean Sullivan on Twitter/X Fans at the Palestra celebrate Penn’s upset win over Villanova on MonDAY, nOV. 13. Photo Credit: Sean Sullivan on Twitter/X
By Michael Dixon on

Villanova’s No. 21 ranked men’s basketball team made the short trip on Monday to take on another one of Philadelphia’s Big Five, the Penn Quakers. The trip didn’t go particularly well for the Wildcats.

The rivalry has generally been dominated by Villanova over the years and particularly recently, with the Quakers’ most recent victory over the Wildcats coming in 2018. At least, that was Penn’s most recent victory in the series. That changed on Monday night.

Penn’s Clark Slajchert made a layup at the end of the first half, giving his team a 32-30 halftime lead. The Quakers maintained that lead through the second half, taking a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining. And while the Wildcats closed that gap over the final minutes, Penn maintained the lead and finished with a 76-72 victory.

As one might expect, the fans at Penn’s fabled home gym, the Palestra, stormed the court after the victory.

Villanova and Penn were both undefeated on the young season coming into the game, sitting at 2-0 and 3-0, respectively. Despite that, expectations for the Quakers this year were quite modest.

So, college basketball fans had a lot to say about Penn’s significant upset of its nationally ranked crosstown rival.

[Photo Credit: Sean Sullivan on Twitter/X]

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