Villanova’s Men’s Basketball team ran Penn off the floor at the Finneran Pavilion (Villanova) Tuesday night (November 19). When the final buzzer mercifully sounded, the Wildcats had beaten what was left of Penn, 93-49.
The lopsided score of Tuesday’s game was reminiscent of when Villanova shocked Penn in the Eastern Regional Finals of the 1971 NCAA tournament. Penn showed up for that game in Raleigh, North Carolina, ranked second in the nation with a 28-0 record. Even number one-ranked UCLA had lost one game (to Notre Dame) that season.
Penn’s 28 wins included a pair of victories over Villanova (78-70 in January and 59-55 in December).
Howard Porter, MVP of the entire NCAA tournament (for a few months), led the Cats to a 90-47 drubbing of the Quakers.
In the tournament final against UCLA at the Astrodome, Villanova “hung around” for the duration, trailing by only three points with a minute remaining in a game they ultimately lost to the Bruins, 68-62.
Shortly after Villanova’s loss to UCLA, rumors began spreading that Porter had signed a professional contract in the middle of the season. However, it wasn’t until August of that year that the NCAA announced that Villanova had forfeited the runner-up position (and the prize money that would have gone to the school). The tournament MVP to which Porter had been previously named, was vacated.