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St. Joseph's-Penn preview: Both teams seeking their first Big Five win

St. Joseph's won last year's match-up 78-71 over the Quakers.

Ryan Betley of Penn dives for a loose ball against Princeton during the 2nd half at the Palestra on Jan 6, 2018.
Ryan Betley of Penn dives for a loose ball against Princeton during the 2nd half at the Palestra on Jan 6, 2018.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
    by Marc Narducci | Columnist
    Published 

St. Joseph’s (9-10, 0-2 Big Five) at Penn (12-6, 0-3)

Saturday, 7 p.m. The Palestra.

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Radio: WNTP 990-AM

Livestream: http://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/

Audio: http://www.sjuhawks.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPSID=750587&SPID=127360&DB_LANG=C&db_oem_id=31200

Coaches: St. Joseph's, Phil Martelli (23rd season, 423-303); Penn, Steve Donnahue (3rd season, 36-38; overall, 236-252.

Series: St. Joseph's leads, 50-35.

Last meeting: With Lamarr Kimble scoring 23 points, St. Joseph's won at Penn, 78-71 on Jan. 21, 2017.

The latest: Every game in this series dating back to the 1996-97 season has been played at the Palestra. … Nick Robinson, a 6-foot-6 sophomore and 6-6 senior James Demery each scored 13 points in St. Joseph's 70-67 loss on Wednesday at St. Bonaventure, snapping a two-game win streak. … Demery leads the Hawks in scoring (17.8 ppg.) while senior point guard Shavar Newkirk is averaging 16.7 points. … Penn has been idle since last Saturday's 60-51 home loss to Temple in which the Owls scored the game's final 12 points. … Penn's leading scorer is 6-5 sophomore Ryan Betley (15.2 ppg.), who has averaged 17.2 points in his last five games. … Quakers 6-8 sophomore A.J. Brodeur averages 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. … Penn is 3-0 in the Ivy League and the only other undefeated team entering the weekend is Harvard (2-0).