The top 10 games and moments in Big 5 men’s basketball history

The inaugural Big 5 Classic will wrap up Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. The Big 5 is forever changed, with Drexel now officially in the mix.

Temple and St. Joseph’s will meet for the Big 5 title and bragging rights.

The occasion got us thinking back on a long history of college hoops in Philadelphia. Here are some of the top games and moments in Big 5 men’s basketball history.

Someone is going to complain about this being too low on the list, certainly, but basketball before the shot clock was sort of a different sport. But a 32-30 Penn victory in 1969 over a top 10 Villanova team deserves to be on the list for a few reasons. For one, Steve Bilsky, who hit the game-winner, is sort of the reason this new Big 5 Classic format even happened. The Big 5 Hall of Famer and former Penn athletic director had an idea to change the Big 5 format a few years ago. The plans sat on ice. Speaking of sitting on ice, Penn did that expertly during this victory over Villanova, killing the clock for most of the game with Bilsky, an expert ballhandler, and Dave Wohl.

St. Joe’s forward Halil Kanacevic messed around and found out. In a 2012 game at Villanova’s Pavilion, looking for a second straight St. Joe’s win in a one-sided rivalry, Kanacevic drilled a go-ahead three-pointer midway through the second half to give the Hawks a lead. Let Big 5 Hall of Fame sportswriter Dick Jerardi describe, as he did in the Daily News, what happened next: “As he backed down the court facing the Villanova students, he raised three fingers in the air. Then, he lowered two of them. The ‘Nova student section had been fairly sedate. So had most of their fans. That changed instantly.”

Kanacevic later missed two free throws with 45.8 seconds left. Then, trailing by two, Kanacevic had a late turnover that sealed the deal. Villanova won, 65-61. Kanacevic was suspended two games for his gesture. The Wildcats won the next 11 contests in the St. Joe’s-Villanova rivalry, a streak that was snapped Wednesday night at Villanova.

» READ MORE: Hawk's gesture flips switch for Villanova

Forgive the myopia here, but this is hardly that. When you score 41 points and set a record for points scored in a Big 5 game, you make any Big 5 list there is. The myopia might be not putting this in the top five. Maybe if La Salle had pulled off the victory Wednesday night at Temple, Jhamir Brickus’ 41-point performance would have entered the upper echelon of Big 5 history. Alas, the three-overtime game, the fifth such game in Big 5 history, ended with Temple winning and advancing to Saturday’s final. The Owls almost won in regulation, but Brickus, a Coatesville native, calmly hit a tying triple with 6 seconds to go.

There also was the added drama of Brickus nearly winning it for his coach, Fran Dunphy, Mr. Big 5 himself, against one of Dunphy’s former teams. Dunphy is the only coach in city history to coach two, and now three, Big 5 teams.

» READ MORE: Fran Dunphy earns his 600th win as La Salle blasts Coppin State

Rarely do city teams meet on a stage quite like this. In 1971, a 28-0 Penn team got its doors blasted off by Howard Porter and Villanova. Porter tallied 35 points in a 90-47 Villanova win. The Wildcats later had to vacate the victory, their Final Four appearance, and runner-up finish after Porter was found to have accepted money to play in the American Basketball Association before his college career was finished. The game might be wiped from the record books, but ask anyone on those teams whether it happened.

» READ MORE: Fran O’Hanlon, longtime Daily News writers highlight latest Big 5 Hall of Fame class

What made this 73-48 Villanova victory in 2003 so memorable? It was everything that happened off the court. Villanova apparently tried to move the game to later in the season. The Wildcats had a few suspensions stemming from a phone access code scam and wanted to add a few more games to their schedule out west before hitting the Maui Invitational with a depleted roster. Temple coach John Chaney was fuming over Villanova wanting to move the game. He even threatened to never play Temple again. Cooler heads prevailed, thanks in part to a meeting with Dunphy. The agreement: Temple and Villanova would still play their season opener, but after midnight on the first day the season was to start, so Villanova could hop on a plane and fly overnight to California to get one of its cupcake games out of the way.

The game, which started when a Thursday turned into a Friday on Nov. 21, 2003, began with a bottle-throwing incident. Then the Wildcats rolled.

Chaney got his revenge a year later. The 50th anniversary celebration of the Big 5 featured two Big 5 games at the Palestra. In a game that featured nine ties and 12 lead changes, Temple’s Dustin Salisbery hit a three-pointer with just over a minute left in the game to give the Owls the 53-52 victory. A wild final minute featured multiple missed three-pointers by Villanova from the hands of Allan Ray, Mike Nardi, and Curtis Sumpter.

Of the low-scoring game, Chaney had this to say: “Don’t come here expecting to see high scoring games. Nobody dies a natural death in this place; it is always an unusual one.”

Villanova entered the Palestra having won 25 straight Big 5 games. Jay Wright had built a powerhouse, and the City Series was becoming a laugher. The long streak started with a 2012 win over Penn, and it came to an end Dec. 11, 2018, when AJ Brodeur and Antonio Woods each tallied 16 points and the Quakers, who led for 38 of the 40 minutes, pulled off a 78-75 victory. Villanova got off a late corner three-pointer to try to tie the game, but it fell short and Penn students stormed the Palestra floor.

» READ MORE: Penn basketball snaps Villanova’s Big 5 streak, wins, 78-75, in a Palestra classic

In 1969, a La Salle-Villanova meeting at the Palestra featured two top-10 teams, La Salle was No. 7 and Villanova No. 8. With a win, La Salle would clinch a share of the Big 5 title. Win they did. Behind 20 points from Ken Durrett, the Explorers topped Villanova, 74-67, in one of the most highly anticipated games in Big 5 and Palestra history. The win was part of 14 straight for La Salle, which was banned from the postseason and finished the season with one loss and ranked second in the nation.

Chaney’s Owls were ranked No. 1 and were 18-1 when they hosted Rollie Massimino and No. 20 Villanova at Temple’s sold-out McGonigle Hall on Feb. 10, 1988. Mayor Wilson Goode and then-76ers owner Harold Katz were among the 4,800 in attendance. Temple won, 98-86, but Massimino would call it “one of the best basketball games played in this city in a lotta, lotta, lotta years. That was a national championship kind of game.” Doug West had 27 points for Villanova, and point guard Kenny Wilson had 25. For Temple, Mark Macon tallied 31 points, and point guard Howie Evans dished out 20 assists and 17 points in the victory.

Temple, led by Lynn Greer’s 36 points, erased a 16-point halftime deficit took down St. Joe’s, 87-84, in a double-overtime thriller in a nationally televised game at the Palestra in March 2002. Greer hit an incredible desperation three-pointer to send the game to overtime. He then hit the game-winner in the second overtime. It is widely regarded as the best game in Palestra history. But, like anything else, it depends who you ask.