Villanova-Penn live thread

Villanova 99
Penn 89
FINAL

Villanova opens its Big 5 season tonight versus Penn at the Palestra. Check this thread for live, in-game updates and commentary.

[update 9:28 p.m.] Villanova improves to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 5 play with a win over Penn tonight. Player grades will be up by Sunday morning.

A long list of detailed in-game updates in "Read More" land.

[update 9:25 p.m.]

Frank T at the line shooting two! He makes both! Nova wins 99-89!

[update 9:23 p.m.] The game is in hand but the free throw perfection is no more. Sheridan and Benn both missed a free throw. Nova up 97-87 with 14 seconds left.

[update 9:22 p.m.] Nardi hits two free throws, keeping the Wildcats perfect from the line. Nova up 95-84, 45 seconds left. Shane Clark fouls out at the other end on a Penn 3-pt attempt. Penn hits only 1 of 3 free throws. Nova ball, up 95-85, 27 ticks left.

[update 9:15 p.m.] Clark continues to be Mr. Clutch, hitting a shot in the lane to put Nova up 11. Clark commits a foul at the other end. Penn hits both free throws. Nova ball, 93-84. 1:08 left.

[update 9:12 p.m.] Penn makes 1 of 2 free throws. Clark comes up with the big rebound and is fouled. Clark hits both free throws, extending Nova's perfect streak. Nova leads 91-82 with 1:45 to play.

[update 9:09 p.m.] Curtis sinks another two free throws, putting Villanova up by 8, 89-81. Villanova is an astounding 19-19 from the stripe! Benn makes a terrible play on defense after a Penn player dribbled the ball off his foot. All Benn needs to do is not touch it and it would have been Nova ball. Instead Benn dives after the ball and commits a foul. Instead of being Nova ball, Penn now has 2 shots and the clock is stopped.

[update 9:06 p.m.] Sumpter hits two free throws to put Nova up by 8, 87-79, giving him 26 points on the night. Sumpter commits a stupid foul on the defensive end, however, stopping the clock and putting Zoller on the line. Zoller sinks both, giving him 31 points. Nova ball, up 6, 2:12.

[update 9:05 p.m.] Nardi drains a HUGE three. Penn misses at the other end but Sumpter threw it away. Penn scores. Nova ball, up 6, 2:30.

[update 9:04 p.m.] Penn made only 1 of 2 free throws. They are choking from the line here late. Reynolds made a nice drive but couldn't finish. Penn missed from the other end and now it's Nova ball with 3:15 left, up 82-77.

[update 9:01 p.m.] Penn scores 2. Sumpter misses a three. Penn rebounds and Shane Clark commits a foul on the defensive end. Penn trails 76-82 with 3:45 to play and will have 2 foul shots.

[update 9:00 p.m.] A beautiful Reynolds dime to Sheridan was nullified by a Penn foul on the floor. Sheridan makes both free throws to give Nova a 82-74 lead. 4:33 to play.

[update 8:58 p.m.] Cunningham fouls out. McMahon hits 1 of 2 free throws. Reynolds with a lightning-quick crossover drive to the basket, hits the layup and is fouled. Hits the free throw. Nova up 80-75 with 5:02 to play.

[update 8:55 p.m.] Shane Clark is taking over the game. He sticks a huge block on what would have probably been a Tommy McMahon three. Nardi's three-point attempt at the other end was in and out. Penn's ball and they call another timeout. Nova up 77-73 with 5:23 on the clock.

[update 8:52 p.m.] Huge offensive board by Shane Clark. He got fouled and sank both free throws. Sumpter then stole the ball at the other end. Nova up 75-73 with the ball, 6:20. Clark gets ANOTHER big O-board and calmly sinks the turnaround 12-footer, putting Nova up 77-73. Penn timeout with the ball, 5:56.

[update 8:50 p.m.] Tie game as McMahon hits 1 of 2. 73-73, Nova ball. 7:10.

[update 8:47 p.m.] Yet another backdoor cut left undefended by Nova will give Penn two more free throws. Nova is getting lazy on defense. Media timeout, Penn will shoot 2.

[update 8:45 p.m.] Jaaber missed both free throws and Scottie Reynolds responded with a cool three on the other end, giving Nova a 73-72 lead. 7:45 to play.

[update 8:43 p.m.] Jaaber got past Sheridan on a backdoor cut and was fouled. Penn leads 72-70 and Jaaber will have two free throws. Jay took a full timeout as Nova is on the ropes here.

[update 8:41 p.m.] A nice Nardi drive and lay-up gave Nova a 2-pt lead. But on the other end of the court, Nardi committed a reach-in foul, giving Penn 2 free throws, which it sank. Tied at 70, 9:36, Penn's at the line shooting two.

[update 8:39 p.m.] Tie game, 68-68. Dangerous against Penn in the Palestra. 10:00 even to play. Stay tuned.

[update 8:38 p.m.] Nova's man-defense is looking good. Penn is having trouble setting up any kind of offense. Unfortunately, Penn got 2 points on a broken-play with 2 seconds on the shot clock, and just picked up an old-fashioned 3-pt play in transition. Nova's lead is down to two, 68-66, Penn's ball. Cunningham picked up his fourth foul.

[update 8:35 p.m.] Media timeout with 11:39 to go. Nova leads 66-61 and has the ball. Dante just had a huge offensive rebound to save the possession after an ill-advised Sheridan shot. Anderson is back in the game so look to Dwayne to get going on offense again.

[update 8:29 p.m.] Clark just took a long three-pointer with a hand in his face that made me cringe. But it swished anyway, so what do I know? Penn answered with a 2, and Benn turned it over. Nova leads 66-59, Penn's ball, 12:22 on the clock.

[update 8:26 p.m.] Sumpter's stroke looks solid tonight. Curtis just hit a contested three, but Penn answered quickly with a three of its own. Nova leads 63-57.

[update 8:23 p.m.] CN8's broadcast just showed Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry in attendance at the Palestra, both wearing Yankees hats. Nardi hit a runner to put Nova up 60-53 with 15:28 left.

[update 8:18 p.m.] Penn is on fire from beyond the arc, with 3 threes already in this half. Tommy McMahon is heating up, shooting 2/2 from three-point land. Scottie Reynolds scored on a Foye-like drive/runner, and Will Sheridan hit two free throws. Nova leads 57-51 with 16:22 to play.

[update 8:17 p.m.] Two MORE Quaker turnovers and two Villanova fast breaks. 'Nova leads 53-45. Nardi just picked up his third foul but will remain on the floor with 16:35 left.

[update 8:15 p.m.] Second half underway. Sumpter hit a jumper and the Quakers hit a three. Villanova leads 49-43. If we do not pull away soon this one smells like it's going down to the wire, and we definitely do not want that in the Palestra.

[update 7:59 p.m.] Halftime. Villanova leads 47-40, thanks to its excellent shooting from beyond the arc. The Wildcats have sunk 8 of 19 threes, 16-28 from the field overall. The 'Cats are also perfect from the charity stripe, 6-6. Curtis leads 'Nova in scoring with 17 points, including 3 three-pointers.

Penn is led by Mark Zoller with 22 points and 5 threes. They are shooting extremely well, 6-7 from the three and 14-21 overall. The only reason Nova is leading is because Penn has turned it over 17 times.

[update 7:56 p.m.] Mark Zoller is killing the Wildcats' defense, scoring 22 points in the first half on 5 three pointers. Penn is on a 10-2 run, scoring off a Curtis Sumpter turnover and an airball. Nova leads 44-40.

[update 7:48 p.m.] Yet another long three for Dwayne, and two more Penn turnovers (15 total). Nova is up 42-30 at the last TV timeout of the half. Anderson and Sumpter each have 12 points. Nova is now 8-16 from the three, including 7 of the last 9, as the announcers just pointed out.

[update 7:43 p.m.] Sumpter just banked in a 3. Villanova was 6 for its last 6 three-point attempts. A Sheridan layup brings the Nova lead to 39-25 with 5:10 in the half.

[update 7:38 p.m.] Reynolds dribbled off a screen to hit a long, contested three, giving Nova a 34-25 lead and forcing a Penn timeout right before the under 8:00 media stoppage.

[update 7:36 p.m.] Anderson is providing such a spark offensively off the bench, hitting a long 3. Penn came right back down the court with a 3 of its own. Reynolds then turned it over leading to a Penn layup. Dwayne drained another three from NBA range, giving Nova the 31-25 lead with 7:00 to play.

[update 7:34 p.m.] Nardi takes a seat with two fouls. Benn and Reynolds in the backcourt now. Dwayne Anderson just threaded a gorgeous pass to Curt for a dunk. Nova up 25-19 with 8:54 to play. Lineup = Benn, Reynolds, Sumpter, Cunningham, Anderson. I love this lineup, great chemistry.

[update 7:29 p.m.] Sumpter just hit two threes off two Penn turnovers. Villanova leads 21-13 with 10:30 to play.

[update 7:21 p.m.] The game is tied 11-11 as the pace continues to be fast, furious, and sloppy with seven combined turnovers thus far. 13 minutes left in the half.

[update 7:14 p.m.] Nardi just scored his 1,000th and 1,003rd points as a Wildcat. Nova has tied the game 9-9 with 16 minutes left in the half on 5 quick points from Nardi, who has 7 of the Wildcats' 9 points. Nova's defense looks active but did get burned by a nice backdoor cut.

[update 7:11 p.m.] The game is underway. Penn jumped off to a 7-2 lead on a 7-0 run. Both teams look sloppy right now with 2 turnovers apiece. Jay Wright just called a timeout to try to Wright the ship early on here.