Penn holds on late to upset Villanova

AJ Brodeur scored 16 points as Penn beat No. 17 Villanova 78-75 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, the Quakers’ first win over the Wildcats since 2002.

Penn fans stormed the court after Villanova’s Phil Booth missed the tying 3point attempt and set off a regular-season celebration not seen in Philly in years. And with good reason — the national champion Wildcats had won a city-record 25 straight games against Big 5 rivals Temple, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle and Penn.

Penn’s student section started rocking the bleachers with minutes left, and the Quakers avoided a late scare and delivered the latest memorable moment at the Palestra.

Penn coach Steve Donahue, who led Cornell to the Sweet 16 in 2010, may have another blooming Ivy League power. Penn last beat Villanova at the Palestra on Dec. 5, 2001 and hadn’t beat them at all since Dec. 10, 2002.

The Wildcats hadn’t lost a city series game since Temple beat Nova 76-61 on Dec. 5, 2012. Furman stays perfect: Noah Gurley scored 17 points, Alex Hunter and Andrew Brown had 16 points apiece and No. 23 Furman pulled away late to beat Charleston Southern 77-69 on Tuesday night in its first-ever home game as a Top 25 team.

The Paladins (11-0) have been one of college basketball’s biggest surprises with their school-record run to start the season — a stretch that included defeating defending national champs Villanova and a second Final Four team from last year in Loyola.

But Furman struggled to break away from the Buccaneers (4-5) until the final nine minutes.

Record night: Mike Daum scored 37 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, recording a double-double in the first half, and South Dakota State set multiple school records in a 139-72 win over Savannah State in Brookings, S.D.

SDSU (9-3) set a school record with 90 points in the first half and posted another record for total points. The Jackrabbits hit 23 3s for another school record.