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La Salle moves Big Five matchup vs. Villanova to Palestra

The game, to be played Dec. 1, will see first-year Explorers head coach Ashley Howard go up against a Wildcat team he helped lead to two national championships as an assistant coach.

La Salle's B.J. Johnson tries to put up a shot between Villanova's Omari Spellman (left) and Donte DiVincenzo during last year's La Salle-Villanova matchup. This year the game will be held (without these three players) at the Palestra in December.
La Salle's B.J. Johnson tries to put up a shot between Villanova's Omari Spellman (left) and Donte DiVincenzo during last year's La Salle-Villanova matchup. This year the game will be held (without these three players) at the Palestra in December.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT/ Staff Photographer

Ashley Howard, the new head basketball coach at La Salle, will go up against his former team when the Explorers take on defending national champion Villanova in their annual Big Five matchup on Dec. 1 at the Palestra.

Howard served as an assistant coach on Jay Wright's staff at Villanova for the last five seasons – two of which, in 2016 and 2018, ended in national championships – before being named head coach at La Salle last April.

The Explorers gave the Wildcats, then ranked No. 4, all they could handle last year at the Wells Fargo Center before Villanova pulled away at the end to a 77-68 victory.

The Wildcats hold a 40-27 lead in the series, which dates back to 1934. This will mark the second straight time in the series that La Salle has moved its scheduled home game from Tom Gola Arena to the Palestra.

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