For the sixth straight season, Penn took a quiet bus ride home from Jadwin Gymnasium.
On Friday, the Quakers (13-8, 3-5 Ivy League) took a familiar drive up I-95 to take on No. 23 Princeton (19-2, 7-1 Ivy League). Penn entered the game with confidence after beating Columbia, the only team in the Ivy League to take down Princeton, last weekend.
Despite impressive performances from Simone Sawyer (16 points ) and Mataya Gayle (16 points), the Penn women’s basketball team lost to Princeton for the 16th straight time. They fell, 69-50.
“The seniors haven’t won a game against Princeton,” head coach Mike McLaughlin said. “Instead of pretending that didn’t happen, we addressed it like, ‘You could be the group that gets a win here.’ I think they were just disappointed.”
Star Power
A familiar narrative unfolded for Penn in the first half as Gayle jump-started the offense.
Following a sluggish first frame, Gayle took over in the second quarter, dropping eight points to help Penn take a 30-28 halftime lead.
“She made plays off the dribble,” McLaughlin said. “They struggled to contain her. She made some attack, kicks, penetration. We just couldn’t convert.”
Katie Collins, Gayle’s most reliable second punch, didn’t have the same success — finishing with seven points and snapping her 13-game double-digit scoring streak against Princeton.
Can’t guard Hutcherson
Sawyer scored seven of Penn’s 11 points in the third quarter, but a flaming hot shooting performance from Princeton’s Olivia Hutcherson broke the game open for the Tigers.
The 6-foot guard scored nine of her total 19 points in the third quarter. Hutcherson’s efforts were capped off by an assist for a three-pointer and layup from center Fadima Tall, opening the fourth with a 14-point lead and a Penn timeout.
Penn couldn’t climb out of the hole, scoring only seven points in the final frame to finish with under 60 points for the third time in Ivy League Play.
“We were tough the first half,” McLaughlin said. “There were moments of really good play there into half time up to start of the third. End of the third quarter started, they start to pull away a little bit… we just struggled to get stops from them.”
Team Game
The Tigers played seven players for over 16 minutes in the matchup, with three players scoring over 15. On the flip side, Penn kept a tighter rotation — with only six players playing over 15 minutes despite playing in a physically demanding 3-2 zone defense.
“We’ve been working with them in practice trying to get that next kid or two,” McLaughlin said. “Honestly, they haven’t been overly productive in practice settings, to really get those minutes.”
Penn coach Mike McLaughlin says his needs “to find a little lightning here” with less than a month left in the regular season.
Four players scored in the double digits for the Quakers, but the end of the bench lacked punch as Saniah Caldwell and Brooke Suttle produced two points on six shots in a combined 47 total minutes.
McLaughlin is actively waiting for someone on the roster to step up and keep the program’s Ivy League Championship hopes alive — and will be expanding the team’s guard rotation next week versus Cornell and Columbia.
“We need to find a little lightning here,” McLaughlin said. “We need to find someone off the bench to get a basket for us. And I think this week’s a big week for that. We play back to back again. We’re not going to do it without someone stepping up. It’s not just two people. So see what this week looks like. But I’m with you. I think we need another person there, and that’s trying to connect.
Up Next
Penn looks to rebound on Friday against Cornell (8-12, 3-4 Ivy League) in Ithaca (6 p.m., ESPN+).
Penn State hockey star Gavin McKenna remains in hot water after allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old male last weekend in State College. But the temperature cooled a bit on Friday after prosecutors dropped the felony aggravated assault charge against McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft.
The decision comes two days after McKenna, 18, was charged with aggravated assault and three other related crimes for allegedly punching a man outside of a parking garage in the 100 block of South Pugh Street in State College. The altercation came hours after McKenna had played and tallied a goal and two assists in No. 6 Penn State’s 5-4 overtime loss to No. 2 Michigan State in the first-ever outdoor hockey game at Beaver Stadium.
“In order to establish probable cause for the crime of Aggravated Assault, the Commonwealth must establish that a person acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury or acted recklessly under circumstances showing an extreme indifference to the value of human life,“ read Friday’s statement from the Centre County District Attorney’s Office.
”Both the District Attorney’s Office and the State College Police Department have reviewed video evidence of this incident and do not believe that a charge of Aggravated Assault is supported by the evidence. Accordingly, the District Attorney’s Office will be withdrawing the felony count of Aggravated Assault and correcting the record regarding the injuries suffered by the victim. A review of the video does not support a conclusion that Gavin McKenna acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury or with reckless indifference to the value of human life.”
BREAKING UPDATE | Prosecutors in Centre County say they will be withdrawing the felony aggravated assault charge against Penn State's star hockey player Gavin McKenna.https://t.co/ana1PIzTcbpic.twitter.com/wZYORkx7Rp
According to State College Police, McKenna allegedly punched a man in the face twice Saturday night, resulting in a fractured jaw that required corrective surgery. The altercation came after an exchange of words between the victim and his friends and McKenna. Friday’s statement clarified that the man did not lose a tooth as previously reported and confirmed that the victim is recovering from surgery.
Penn State freshman Gavin McKenna in in the top 20 in the nation in scoring with 32 points.
While the aggravated assault charge was the most severe charge that McKenna faced, and carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, he is still facing a misdemeanor charge of simple assault, as well as charges of harassment and disorderly conduct for fighting. The simple assault charge carries a maximum of two years in prison, while fines are attached to the three remaining charges.
McKenna, who was released on $20,000 unsecure bail, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 11 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
Penn State sent the following statement to The Inquirer after the charges were filed on Wednesday: “We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment.”
The Inquirer also attempted to reach out to McKenna’s adviser, Pat Brisson of CAA, but has yet to receive a response.
McKenna, a native of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, is ranked No. 1 on the NHL’s 2026 Central Scouting list among North American skaters. The Penn State freshman, who was considered one of the biggest college hockey recruits ever, has 11 goals and 32 points in 24 games this season for the Nittany Lions. McKenna’s playing status is currently unknown, with Penn State’s next game scheduled for Feb. 13 at Michigan.
When Jordan Mason entered the transfer portal last spring, he wanted to be part of a winning program.
It wasn’t his first time in the portal. The senior spent two seasons at Texas State before transferring to University of Illinois Chicago in 2024. He got in contact with Temple coach Adam Fisher in the portal and immediately felt at home.
Mason thought his skill set would complement Temple’s screen-heavy offense. He has since been a catalyst for the Owls.
Temple (14-8, 6-3 American Conference) lacked a true point guard for the past two years. Mason has taken over that role. He’s averaging 11.7 points and a team-leading 4.3 assists in 22 starts.
“I saw the way that the coaches interacted with each other and the way they interacted with me and my family,” Mason said. “It felt like a family right away. It felt like home. It was like I could be comfortable here. I can be myself here.”
Mason developed into a key rotational player at Texas State. As a freshman, he averaged 6.3 points in 32 games (19 starts). His numbers more than doubled as a sophomore (12.9 points per game) and 23 starts in 29 games.
He transferred to UIC for the 2024-25 season and averaged 9.6 points. Mason also was an asset defensively and as a ballhandler. He had 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game with the Flames.
“He knows when to pick and when [to] shoot,” Fisher said. “Guys enjoy playing with somebody like that, when you know that there’s an opportunity that you’re going to get shots, and he gets you easy looks.”
Jordan Mason played two seasons at Texas State and one at University of Illinois Chicago before joining Temple this offseason.
Mason quickly established himself as Temple’s main ballhandler in the season opener and created scoring opportunities for his teammates, notching six assists in the 83-65 win over Delaware State.
“Every pass I make, it seems like the shot goes in,” Mason said. “So some of it is me getting a little bit better at passing, but a lot of it is just the talent around me. They’re just really good dudes that make a lot of shots. So it makes me look good.”
His play contributed to the Owls winning seven straight from Dec. 9 to Jan. 14 — a stretch in which he also surpassed 1,000 career points. When he struggled in the middle of January, though, the team’s production took a dip.
Temple lost two straight games, but a road trip to his native Texas helped turn things around.
“He’s the heart of our team,” said guard Aiden Tobiason. “Because he’s so important. He’s really the main guy in principle every single time.”
The Owls won both games at Rice and University of Texas at San Antonio, and Mason recorded back-to-back double-digit outings, 15 points against Rice in Houston and 18 at UTSA — with his family in attendance.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Mason, who’s from San Antonio. “I’ve actually played UTSA as a freshman, and I didn’t touch the floor. That was rough for me because it was my first time playing at home, and it was, to be honest, a little embarrassing not playing. So to be able to come back, full-circle moment my senior year and play in front of everybody and beat UTSA because we lost to [them] my freshman year.”
Entering Saturday’s noon matchup at East Carolina (7-15, 2-7), Temple sits in fourth place in the American and could snatch a top-four seed in the conference tournament in March.
Mason, in his final year of eligibility, looks to make that happen.
“I want to win the conference tournament and go to the NCAA Tournament,” Mason said. “That’s the big goal for our team.”
When Taylor Wray made the move from coaching St. Joseph’s men’s lacrosse team to Penn’s squad this past summer, he got to bring in a whole new staff.
Longtime Hawks assistant Scott Meehan had the option to follow, but he decided to throw his name in the candidate pool to be the next Hawks head coach.
“Jill Bodensteiner our [athletic director] basically called me up after she heard from Coach Wray that he was going to be taking the UPenn job,” Meehan said. “I was very fortunate because I was definitely preparing for an interview process. Other candidates are coming in, and [I] have to put my best foot forward in the interview process. But fortunately, [I] didn’t have to go through that.”
A few hours after Wray’s announced departure, Meehan was promoted to take over on Hawk Hill. He spent the next 30 minutes talking about the role with Charles Giunta, a former St. Joe’s player Meehan brought on as associate head coach.
Now, with the season opener set for Saturday at Syracuse (noon, ACC Network Extra), Meehan is feeling more “comfortable” in his role and hopes to cultivate a winning culture.
“Our goals are generally pretty simple,” Meehan said. “We want to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament every year — that gives us a shot to win an A-10 championship. With an A-10 championship, you get a berth to the NCAA Tournament. … One wants to be able to play late into May. You want to have a chance at it all.”
Meehan played attack, at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. As a senior in 2012, he led the team in points (53), assists (23), and was second on the team in goals (30).
When his playing career ended, Meehan says he wanted to combine his love for lacrosse with teaching.
“I think education has always kind of been in my blood,” said Meehan, whose parents are retired teachers. “It just kind of felt right to get into coaching. The game of lacrosse, and team sports in general, has done a lot for me over my lifespan, and I learned a lot in the classroom with sports, and [I] definitely wasn’t ready to be done with athletics.”
He landed at Franklin & Marshall College for three years and oversaw the Diplomats’ offense and picking the brain of head coach Todd Cavallaro, who became a mentor.
After three other coaching stops, Meehan arrived on Hawk Hill in 2019 as an offensive coordinator.
During his first year, Meehan met Giunta, who was the team’s graduate assistant. They lived together for a few months in Manayunk and became close friends.
Giunta left for Fairfield after the 2019 season. He spent six seasons there, until he got that call from Meehan.
“As soon as I got that phone call, it took me a couple of days to really think it over, but it was an easy decision to come back and to join him,” Giunta said. “He’s an awesome friend of mine. I think he’s a great coach.”
Meehan also added Jack Tortolani to his staff as an assistant. Tortolani played five years at Denver, where he made the Final Four in 2024. He initially was hired before Wray left, but Meehan made it one of his first orders of business to officially bring Tortolani aboard.
Jared McMahon, who played at Mount St. Mary’s and spent last year on Michigan’s staff, rounded out Meehan’s staff.
St. Joe’s is two years removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, after winning the A-10 tournament championship in 2024. Last season, the Hawks finished 9-6 and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament by High Point.
“He was here before; he’s not coming in and implementing entirely new systems,” said senior defenseman Liam Quinn, “and trying to reinvent the wheel and create a new team culture. I think Coach Meehan knows exactly what makes our program go and what separates us from other people.”
Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, we’re reaching all the way to last Friday night, when Unrivaled took over South Philly and brought a record crowd to Xfinity Mobile Arena. But that’s not all the basketball — we’ve also got the Sixers, some local college action, and a high school hoops showdown between two defending state champs, Father Judge (Class 6A) and Neumann Goretti (5A).
St. Joe’s forward Anthony Finkley (left) reacts after teammate Jaiden Glover-Toscano hits a three during the second half against George Washington. The Hawks’ 76-73 win was their fourth straight.Philly native Ronald Moore (center) was once an NCAA Tournament hero at Siena and now serves as an assistant coach for the Penn Quakers.Neumann Goretti’s Marquis Newson gets up a shot against Father Judge in the first quarter of the Saints’ 71-66 win over the Crusaders in South Philadelphia on Sunday.Neumann Goretti’s Kody Colson passes the ball past Father Judge’s Khory Copeland (4) and Rezon Harris. Unrivaled set a record for attendance at a regular season women’s basketball game during the three-on-three league’s stop in Philly on Friday night.Cameron Brink of the Breeze leaps past Broomall native Natasha Cloud of the Phantoms. Cloud celebrated her professional hoops homecoming on Friday.Friday’s Unrivaled doubleheader drew more than 21,000 fans and was sold out well in advance.Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey (right) said he was surprised to hear that teammate Jared McCain was traded this week. Before the deadline, center Joel Embiid (left) said he had hoped the team would stay intact. Sixers forward Dominick Barlow drives past New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi.Flyers forward Owen Tippett beats Capitals goalie Clay Stevenson to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period of Tuesday’s win over Washington.Flyers goalkeeper Samuel Ersson (left) talks with Samuel Hancock, who plays goalie for his youth league team, at the Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday.Shawn Paul, 3, receives a little help from his dad, Zach, as they try one of the games at the Flyers Charities Carnival.The Flyers Charities Carnival featured a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, and other carnival favorites. Fans could also interact with players, coaches, and alumni.The Phillie Phanatic helps load cases of supplies onto the team truck before it leaves for spring training in Clearwater, Fla. Yes, he packed his hot dog launcher.Sunday’s boys’ basketball game between Neumann Goretti and Father Judge was sold out.
After an offseason that saw Zach Spiker’s squad lose four of its five starters to the transfer portal, the Dragons went 6-7 in nonconference play, dropping all three of their Big 5 matchups in the process. The team started its Coastal Athletic Conference campaign looking for relief but was confronted with more of the same: It lost three in a row to tip off conference play. The season looked like a loss.
Then, on Jan. 8, a switch seemed to flip. The Dragons shut down Stony Brook, limiting the Seawolves to just 37 points in a win. From there, Drexel started rattling off victories powered by its defense, winning six of seven games to move into conference contention. The Dragons have held opponents to an average of 56.3 points over that stretch
Drexel (12-11, 6-4 CAA) is in a tie for third place ahead of Thursday’s matchup (7 p.m., FloSports) at Campbell (10-13, 4-6). The Dragons will receive a first-round bye in the CAA Tournament if they stay in the top four.
The potential for the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2021 has offered some guarded optimism for the Dragons.
“I don’t feel a recent surge in excitement and fun after winning,” junior guard Shane Blakeney said. “We’re all taking a deep breath like this is what it should have been like. We’re frustrated because we should have been playing like this, and we also still feel like we haven’t played our best yet.”
Added junior guard Kevon Vanderhorst: “We’re constantly learning through our losses … It’s not necessarily that we’ve just had a reawakening. It’s [that] we’ve been learning the whole time.”
In their last outing on Saturday, Drexel outlasted North Carolina A&T, 61-60, in a slugfest that came down to the final whistle.
With no timeouts and down by one point, the Dragons had to advance the length of the court in 3.2 seconds. After a bit of backcourt misdirection, the ball was inbounded to Vanderhorst. The guard beat his defender down the court, converting a contested scoop at the buzzer to win the game.
“We practice shots like that … three seconds on the clock, somebody has to go get a bucket,” Vanderhorst said. “In terms of just our process, nothing really has changed here.”
Although the team has practiced that situation countless times, hitting the buzzer-beater in a game garnered national attention. Vanderhorst’s sprint to the bucket landed third on SportsCenter’s daily top 10 plays feature.
“It’s definitely been a surreal moment,” Vanderhorst said. “I think that’s the perfect word for it. Growing up, SportsCenter top 10 is that show you turn on in the morning [when] you want to see all the highlights from the day before.”
Vanderhorst, who is averaging 9.6 points, is part of an offense that boasts five players scoring eight or more points per game. Blakeney averages a team-high 13.3 points. The balanced offensive approach has made it difficult for opposing defenses to focus on a single player.
“Our coaches recruited talent. It’s shown in a lot of plays especially through this stretch of the season,” Blakeney said. “Teams can’t really be surprised when we play together — we look good. … We play fast, play connected.”
Drexel has been dominant defensively. The program logged the best defensive effective field goal percentage in the NCAA during January. Since the start of conference play, Drexel is allowing an average of 6.8 fewer points than Hampton, the CAA’s second best statistical defense.
Despite the team’s prowess on defense, not one Drexel player can be found in the top 10 in total steals or blocks among CAA players since the beginning of conference play. Like the offense, Drexel’s suffocating defense has been a team effort.
The Dragons have had the luxury of not leaving campus in two weeks, playing their last three at home. Starting with Campbell on Thursday, though, five of their final eight games are away. Despite boasting a 10-3 record at home, the team is a combined 2-8 in away and neutral games.
“I think this home stretch was nice because it’s given us confidence a little bit,” Vanderhorst said. “In those past games that we had away in Monmouth and Towson, I think dudes were really just getting the hang of sticking together through adversity.
“[Doing that] on the road and [in] those environments is super important, so I don’t think it’s anything that needs to change. I think we’ve kind of gotten the hang of it now.”
When Ronald Moore became an NCAA Tournament hero in 2009, TikTok and Instagram had not yet been invented. The iPhone was in only its second iteration, the 3G, and the first one had been launched just two years before.
You could certainly become a national sensation, but it would have been with a highlight reel play instead of a viral one.
Yet for all that has changed in technology since then — to say nothing of all that has changed in college basketball — some things never go out of style. A mid-major toppling a Big Ten beast in March is certainly one of them.
It was news enough that Siena had taken Ohio State to overtime, and all the better since the game was in Dayton, just over an hour from Columbus. With 9.1 seconds left in the extra session, the Saints trailed the Buckeyes, 65-62.
Moore, a Plymouth Meeting native who was then a junior guard from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High, took the inbounds pass and raced up the floor. When he neared the three-point arc, he faked left on Ohio State’s P.J. Hill and dribbled right. Hill bit, Moore let fly, and the shot was inch-perfect.
As CBS announcers Verne Lundqist and Bill Raftery joined the crowd in delirium, Ohio State’s Jon Diebler shot a potential game-winner off the rim. A second overtime beckoned.
“The little guy that could!” Raftery exclaimed over replays of 6-foot-tall Moore’s three, including a wide-eyed Siena coach Fran McCaffery and an even more wide-eyed bench.
With 19 seconds left in the second OT, future 76er Evan Turner’s gutsy layup put Ohio State ahead, 72-71. Moore again took the inbounds pass, this time dribbling left, then toward the middle.
He passed to Edwin Ubiles, who gave a pump fake, a dribble, and a pass back out of a triple team to the man of the hour. The clock read 5.4 when Moore let fly.
“Three-pointer … Yes!” Lundquist roared, with Raftery landing an “Oh!” right on top of his partner.
Then came the moment that really sticks in many fans’ minds: Raftery’s “Onions! Double order!” exclamation. The sport’s king of rhetorical flourishes had never taken his most famous line to that level, and it’s still rare.
Bill Raftery (left) calling a game on CBS with former Villanova coach Jay Wright in 2022.
Had Turner made the running jumper he missed on Ohio State’s last possession, perhaps all of this would have been forgotten. But the ball rolled around the rim and out, and the nation had a new star.
‘A great moment in time’
Countless fans of Cinderella have memories of Moore’s heroics. So does Siena’s all-time assists leader, now 37 and settled back in his hometown as an assistant coach at Penn.
“They’re always vivid,” he said in an interview this week. “I’m blessed to have had that moment in my basketball career. And every March, it’s always a flashback, whether someone brings it to my attention or I catch a glimpse of it in some of the highlight reels they play of March Madness.”
And he still gets “the same feeling every time I see it — just because of what it meant to not only the university, but to myself, to my teammates. So it’s always a great moment in time when I flash back and look at those shots.”
McCaffery, now at the helm of Penn, hasn’t forgotten either, just as he hasn’t forgotten many of his great moments as a player and a coach. But he offered a reminder of something those fans might have forgotten: Siena was a ninth seed that year, and this was its second straight tournament with a win.
Ronald Moore (left) celebrates with teammates after his famous game-winning three-pointer.
“In the moment you’re just thinking about adjustments, personnel — what are we in defensively? What are they in? Are we in the bonus?” McCaffery recalled. “With that team, it was easy to trust your guys. It was a veteran group, they were really smart, and they were incredibly mentally tough. So you can play Ohio State in Ohio [and] nobody’s rattled at all.”
McCaffery also recalled what followed: “That was as good a locker room celebration as I can remember.”
After graduating in 2010, Moore went on to play professional basketball in Europe for 11 years, for teams in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Italy, and France. He retired from the court in 2021, then returned to his hometown to run a youth basketball outfit.
“I felt that it was something that was my calling, just to kind of help the next generation and give all the knowledge that I possibly can to help those kids try to help achieve their goals and their dreams in the game of basketball,” he said. “It’s brought me so much that I wanted to be able to help someone do the same.”
Then, last spring, his old college coach returned to his hometown, and his alma mater. When McCaffery hired Moore to the staff at Penn, some people of a certain age reacted: “That Ronald Moore?”
Ronald Moore watching Penn’s players practice at the Palestra this week.
Yes, that Ronald Moore. He and his old coach had stayed in close touch over the years. They traded text messages, and when time allowed, Moore would visit McCaffery at Iowa, where the coach moved in 2010. Their families got to know each other, too.
“It’s just the type of person Fran is, man,” Moore said. “I think a lot of people get a misconception of when he’s out here yelling and trying to motivate guys on the floor, but off the court, he’s always been an open book, and someone who would be approachable to talk about anything.”
Hiring him made ‘perfect sense’
McCaffery had long felt Moore would make a good coach someday, and had told him so.
“I always thought about having him on my staff no matter where I was, but it makes perfect sense in Philadelphia, where we’re both from,” McCaffery said.
Now Moore’s experiences make him even better-suited for the job.
“He’s played at an incredibly high level internationally,” McCaffery said. “He’s played for some really good coaches — played for some coaches who probably weren’t very good, and that’s part of the growth in this profession. … But his knowledge is just next-level of the game. So the coaching side of it is easy.”
Ronald Moore (second from right) and fellow Penn assistant coach Ben Luber talking with players during a preseason scrimmage last fall.
When the offer came to join Penn’s staff, Moore felt that “it just was a full-circle moment.” And he was ready.
“Many people have asked me, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about getting into college coaching?’” he said. “I had plenty of friends that coached at the college level, so I knew what it entails, but I didn’t really want to move around. So him coming back to Penn and getting that phone call, it kind of just seemed like a no-brainer.”
On top of that, he now has a key to the Palestra, his city’s basketball shrine. He appreciates that too with one of its annual rituals played on Saturday’s. The 61-60 win over rival Princeton, ended an 8-year, 14-game skid an offered a measure of Penn’s progress this season.
“You soak it all in when you’re in this place and it’s quiet and nobody’s around — you kind of can stand back and look at it from a different lens,” Moore said. “Having been able to play here as a college player, play here as a high school player, knowing what it means to the city of Philadelphia, and just its history in general, it’s a special place to be able to work at and come in every day.”
Fran McCaffery embraces Ronald Moore after Siena’s upset of Ohio State.
Kevin Willard was going on about his appreciation for the way his Villanova team works during practices when he referred to junior guard Tyler Perkins, seated to his right after Villanova’s 72-60 victory over Seton Hall, as a “pain in the ass.”
He meant it in the best way possible.
“He works too much,” Willard said. “His processor gets burned out sometimes.”
Villanova improved to 17-5 on the season and 8-3 in the Big East for a variety of reasons Wednesday night. The Wildcats, who never trailed, got a key effort from Malachi Palmer, who scored a career-high 15 points off the bench and helped ignite an 11-2 run to end the first half to send Villanova into the break with a 15-point lead. They forced Seton Hall point guard and Philadelphia native Adam “Budd” Clark to shoot jump shots and limited his ability to impact the game in transition. They outrebounded one of the better rebounding teams in the conference, 37-27.
But they won again because Perkins, the only returning regular player from last season, continues to excel. It has been a different guy on some nights for Villanova. Early in the season, it was Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay driving the backcourt with Duke Brennan manning the middle.
Devin Askew has chipped in strong efforts off the bench, especially lately. Wednesday night was Palmer’s turn. But Perkins, who transferred to Villanova from Penn after his freshman season, scored 18 points and added five rebounds. It was his 10th double-digit scoring effort in Villanova’s last 12 games.
Villanova forward Duke Brennan and guard Tyler Perkins compete for a rebound against Seton Hall.
“He’s just the glue of their team,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “He’s just solid.
“For him to be a junior, he’s a grown man. He plays bigger than his size.”
Being a “glue guy” can be a derogatory term to some players. And maybe it’s an unfair label for Perkins, a 6-foot-4 guard, who is averaging 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds over his last six games. Lewis and Lindsay have, at times, struggled with the physicality required to get through a Big East season. Perkins hasn’t.
You can call him whatever you want.
“A lot of people say it, but at the end of the day I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help my team,” Perkins said. “I can impact the game in many ways. I’m fine with that if we win.”
Tyler Perkins is averaging 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds over his last six games.
He made winning plays Wednesday, and some were more obvious than others. Seton Hall threatened to erase a Villanova lead that grew as large as 20. The Pirates dialed up the pressure and forced Villanova into 11 second-half turnovers. The lead was down to 11 when Perkins turned a missed Palmer three-pointer into a putback layup plus a free throw to push the lead back to 14 with 5 minutes, 50 seconds to go. He was just 1-for-6 from three-point range but made all five of his free throws and turned the ball over just once.
Willard was doing some reminiscing Wednesday with his former school in the building. He was asked if Perkins reminded him of Josh Hart with all of the little things he does.
“Josh kicked my ass for four years,” Willard said. “Three games a year, I got it from Josh. One of the things I loved about Josh is he affected the game at every level and never made a mistake. He was OK not touching the ball for eight or nine possessions. Once [Perkins] realizes it’s OK not to touch the ball a little bit, and he can still affect the game at an unbelievable level, that’s what made Josh a pro. Josh affected the game without having to score, but he found ways to score. He found ways to shut down the best offensive guy.
“[Perkins] is starting to figure that out. That’s about a big a compliment as I can give to somebody because Josh was not only a phenomenal person, which Tyler is, but just a winner. And Tyler is a winner.”
He may not have the kind of NBA future that Hart has created for himself, but Perkins is affecting winning right now on a Villanova team that is tracking toward snapping a three-year NCAA Tournament drought in Willard’s first season. The Wildcats play next at Georgetown on Saturday, a team they beat by 15 at home two weeks ago. There are more winnable games on the calendar ahead, and rematches with No. 3 UConn and No. 22 St. John’s remaining, too.
Villanova coach Kevin Willard said he isn’t satisfied with his team: “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
With all the success Willard has had so far through 22 games, the coach was asked Wednesday night what he’s most satisfied with so far.
“Nothing,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. February is not a time to be [satisfied]. You should be looking at your team right now in February and saying, ‘What do I need to improve? What do I need to fix?’ I have to fix our offense a little bit.”
St. Joseph coach Steve Donahue saw his team’s resilience tested in the Hawks’ 76-73 win over George Washington on Wednesday night.
“We talk about, ‘A to B,’ and that’s all good and all,” Donahue said. “But when you get punched in the face, you’re up 14 in the first half and down five in the second half, it really tests you.”
It’s true. St. Joe’s (15-8, 7-3 Atlantic 10) saw its double-digit first-half lead dwindle. However, the Hawks fought back to retake the lead — and extend their winning streak to four games — as George Washington (13-10, 4-6) went cold down the stretch.
Guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano led St. Joe’s with 23 points and guard Derek Simpson had 17 points and five assists. Guard Dasear Haskins added 14 points, shooting 49.1% from the field. They also got an assist from guard Austin Williford, who tacked on eight points, seven rebounds, and had a key steal at the end of the game.
More importantly, St. Joe’s limited George Washington’s offense, who averages 84.4 points per game, to shot 35.8% from the field.
What we saw
The opening minutes had the markings of a blowout written all over it.
The Hawks embarked on an 8-0 run that gave them a 19-10 lead, which they eventually turned into a 14-point advantage. Glover-Toscano made back-to-back three-pointers, while the the offense scored most of its points in the paint.
Then came a George Washington surge. Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Rafael Castro didn’t seem to matter to the Revolutionaries, as they cut their lead to 35-30 at halftime and eventually took a five-point edge in the second half.
St. Joe’s Dasear Haskins finished with 14 points against George Washington on Wednesday.
Then the old St. Joe’s returned.
Simpson found his rhythm and Glover-Toscano poured in points, which sparked a 15-3 run in the second. Momentum swung right back to St. Joe’s as Hagan Arena erupted, and the Hawks never let up.
“I feel like I had an A to B game today,” Glover-Toscano said. “First half, I was struggling. I was playing sloppy basketball early on, and then I kind of picked it up.”
Game-changing play
Despite pushing the lead to nine, George Washington still inched back in the waning moments. Suddenly, the Revolutionaries were in striking distance, trailing by one when Simpson missed a jumper and guard Jean Aranguren grabbed the rebound.
However, there was one problem — his foot was out of bounds.
St. Joe’s Khaafiq Myers passes the ball during the second half on Wednesday.
The Hawks got the ball back again. This time Simpson attempted a three-pointer and missed, but was fouled. He knocked down all three foul shots, pushing the lead to four with 20 seconds left, effectively ending the hope of a comeback.
Up next …
The Hawks visit George Mason (20-3, 8-2) at EagleBank Arena on Saturday(4 p.m., ESPN+).
Penn State winger Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, was charged with aggravated assault and related crimes Wednesday, after allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old man during an altercation in State College over the weekend, according to a statement released by the State College Police Department.
The arrest, first reported by Onward State, a Penn State student-run blog, stemmed from an incident hours after McKenna played in Penn State’s outdoor game against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. According to the local police department, at approximately 8:45 p.m. in the 100 block of South Pugh Street, he allegedly punched the male in the face twice, resulting in a fractured jaw and a lost tooth and requiring corrective surgery and his mouth being wired shut.
State College Police Department has released a statement regarding the arrest of Gavin McKenna. He was arraigned and released on bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/wAldz58Sb0
The felony, which is defined as “attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference,” carries a 20-year maximum sentence in Pennsylvania. The misdemeanor carries a maximum of two years, and fines are also attached to each of the four counts.
McKenna, a freshman at Penn State, was arraigned before District Judge Casey M. McClain and released on $20,000 unsecure bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing the morning of Feb. 11 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
Penn State officials acknowledged the arrest on Wednesday evening, telling The Inquirer, “We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment.”
McKenna’s adviser, Pat Brisson, was not immediately available for comment.
Penn State forward Gavin McKenna was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft.
Hours before the alleged assault on Saturday, McKenna scored a goal and added two assists in the No. 6 Nittany Lions’ 5-4 overtime loss to the No. 2 Spartans.
A native of Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna is ranked No. 1 on the NHL’s 2026 Central Scouting list among North American skaters.
After a new rule was passed granting Canadian Hockey League players NCAA eligibility this season, McKenna left the CHL this summer to play college hockey. The freshman, who is one of the biggest recruits to ever play college hockey and one of the faces of the changing landscape of the sport, has 11 goals and 32 points in 24 games this season.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
