By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Temple 87, UAB 66
Behind a career-high 24 points from Dalton Pepper, the Owls played their best game of the season in securing a victory over UAB and fifth-place in the Charleston Classic. It was the second-straight outstanding shooting performance for Pepper, and it’s no coincidence that those two games have both been Temple wins. In addition to Pepper’s big night, Anthony Lee recorded a double-double and Will Cummings added 17 points. The Owls have been looking for other players to step up aside from those two, and Pepper and Quenton DeCosey (18 points) both answered the call against the Blazers.
Hopefully for Temple fans, the past two contests have given the Owls confidence in their new roles and they’ll continue to have a well-balanced attack going forward. The next contest for the boys on Broad Street is a City 6 match-up against St. Joe’s Wednesday night. Time will tell if the Charleston Classic will serve as the turning point for a successful Temple season.
Providence 71, La Salle 63
Constantly finding themselves fighting an uphill battle, the Explorers could not get over the hump to complete the comeback against Providence Saturday night, falling in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam tournament. Tyreek Duren paced La Salle with 16 points, scoring 14 in the second half as he brought the team within 1 points with just over three minutes remaining. However, that was as close as La Salle would get, as the Friars went 8-8 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Big men Jerrell Wright (16 points, 6 rebounds) and Steve Zack (11 points, 11 rebounds) each played well for the Explorers, keeping the team even on the glass against a strong Providence front line. Overall, this was a solid effort for La Salle against a Providence team fans will see again come NCAA tournament time so don’t lump this loss in with those against Manhattan and Penn State. If the Explorers can keep up this level of play, there will be better days ahead.
Today’s Action
7:30 PM: La Salle (3-3, 0-0 A-10) vs. Northern Iowa (2-3, 0-0 MVC) [neutral site]
Before heading back to the mainland, La Salle will first take on the Northern Iowa Panthers in the third-place, consolation match. The Panthers lost convincingly to Maryland in the other tournament semifinal last night. Northern Iowa goes with a guard-heavy attack, with no one taller than 6’8″ receiving regular minutes. Not surprisingly then, they struggle rebounding the basketball, falling in the bottom half of the nation in that category.
Four Northern Iowa starters average double figures, led by 6’1″ junior Deon Mitchell at 14.4 ppg; he and fellow guard Matt Bohannon are the best perimeter threats the Explorers will have to contend with. Seth Tuttle is the most consistent rebounder for the Panthers, averaging 7.8 boards per game, to go with 13.4 points. He should find the sledding tough against the La Salle front line of Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright.
On paper, this looks like a good match-up for the Explorers. If they duplicate their efforts from the first two games of the tournament, I would expect a lively plane ride home for the boys in blue and gold.
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