WHAT: Villanova (6-0) vs. Penn (1-4)
WHEN: Tonight, 8
WHERE: The Palestra
TV/RADIO: CN8/ESPN-AM 950; WXPN-FM 88.5
SERIES: Villanova leads, 38-17
LAST VILLANOVA WIN: 87-61; Dec. 1, 2007
LAST PENN WIN: 72-58; Dec. 10, 2002

At yesterday’s Big 5 breakfast, Villanova coach Jay Wright joked that the Wildcats shouldn’t have gone home this weekend. They played games at 235 South 33rd Street on Friday and Saturday, and they’re back at the P-spot tonight to face Penn in the season’s first official Big 5 matchup. (We know, we know … Penn played Drexel up the street at the DAC a couple of weeks back, but, that wasn’t really a Big 5 game, remember?)

The Wildcats are ranked 16th or 17th, depending on which poll you’re looking at. And they’re playing well, even if their schedule thus far hasn’t exactly had much bite. But then again, Wright said that’s what the Big 5 games provide for ‘Nova: RPI-boosting non-conference games to get them ready for the gauntlet that is the Big East.

This series hasn’t been competitive for some time. ‘Nova has won five in a row, 10 of 12, and 24 of 29 going back to 1974. And the Quakers, who are battling injuries, are struggling.

That said, Tyler Bernardini is Tyler Bernardini, and he’s averaging 17.8 points per game. And Wright, in keeping with the historical import of the Big 5, was reminded of a game the ‘Cats once played in the late 1980s against the Quakers, way back when Wright was Rollie Massimino’s assistant on the Main Line.

“We played here against Penn, and Walt Frazier’s son (Walt Jr.) scored 31 against us here and beat us,” Wright said, referring to a 71-70 Penn win on Dec. 6, 1988. “We were coming off a Final Eight season, and we just couldn’t stop him. He wound up getting everybody else on their team going.”

Wright said Jack Eggleston, Penn’s 6-8 sophomore forward, presents a tricky matchup because he can put it on the floor or post-up, depending on what kind of player is guarding him. And Wright also had a lot of nice things to say yesterday about Zack Rosen, the 6-1 freshman Penn point guard from St. Benedict’s (N.J.) who is averaging 6.6 assists per game.

“We recruited him,” Wright said. “We know Zack very well and we have great respect for him. He played against our guys in high school — (Corey) Fisher and (Corey) Stokes. So he’s not backing down to any of them. If anything, he’s gone after them before; he knows how to play them.

“To everyone on the outside, they might not understand how difficult of a matchup this is, but we do.”

Getcha rollouts ready boys and girls. Let’s do this.

(NOTE: BIG FIVE POST will provide a post-game update after the game, but not until after our newspaper deadline has come and gone.)

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