Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - The Palestra, one of college basketball's most historic venues, will be the site of tonight's non-conference clash between local rivals Penn and Villanova.

Villanova has opened this season with six consecutive victories, and the team recently captured the title at the Philly Hoops Group Classic with a 78-65 win over Rhode Island on Saturday. Clearly, however, the Wildcats have yet to face elite competition, but that will change on December 9th when they take on Texas in New York City as part of the Jimmy V. Classic.

Penn has only won one of its five games thus far, a disappointing start for head coach Glen Miller in his third season as leader of the program. On Saturday, the Quakers lost to Albany by a 73-63 final, the second straight loss for the team since its only victory -- 21-point romp over Monmouth.

Villanova owns a commanding 37-18 series lead over Penn, and the Wildcats have won the last five meetings.

Villanova is averaging 79.2 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 58.3 ppg on 37.5 percent shooting from the floor. Rebounding has been an obvious strength for the Wildcats, who are pulling down nine more boards per contest than the opposition. Dante Cunningham leads the team with 17.5 ppg on 56.5 percent shooting, and he is pulling down 7.7 rpg as well. Scottie Reynolds checks in with 13.2 ppg, and he is dishing out 4.7 apg as well. Corey Fisher is netting 11.8 ppg, and Corey Stokes rounds out a foursome of double-digit scorers with 11.2 ppg. Cunningham led his team with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the victory over Rhode Island last time out. Reggie Redding also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in a reserve role, and Fisher scored 14 points. The Wildcats only turned the ball over nine times and shot 26-of-31 from the foul line.

Tyler Bernardini leads Penn in scoring with 17.8 ppg. Kevin Egee is second on the squad with 12.0 ppg, and Brennan Votel adds 10.2 ppg. The Quakers are scoring 70.8 ppg on 41.3 percent shooting from the field, and they are yielding 74.4 ppg. In the recent loss to Albany, Bernardini scored 19 points in 35 minutes of action. Jack Eggleston pitched in 13 points, and Zack Rosen added 12 points and eight assists. Rosen also pulled down six rebounds and recorded three steals, proof of his versatility. Penn only turned the ball over 11 times, but the team shot just 36.7 percent from the field and allowed the opposition to connect on 50 percent of its field goal attempts.