By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Clemson 72, Temple 58
Looking to secure its first quality of the season, Temple got off to a great start against Clemson Thursday night. The main catalyst was sophomore Quenton DeCosey, who scored 12 points as the Owls jumped out to a 32-20 lead in the first half. Unfortunately for Owls fans, Coach Dunphy’s squad led Clemson right back into the game, as the Tigers ended the first half on an 11-2 run to go into the locker room down three.
Clemson continued that solid play in the second half, building a lead of their midway through the second half, and pulling away as the Owls went cold from the floor. K.J. McDaniels was a monster for the Tigers, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 blocks. 6’10” sophomore Landry Nnoko had easily the best game of his collegiate career, recording a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Will Cummings was the only man capable of finding the bucket in the second half, ending the night with 22 points.
Temple just doesn’t have enough weapons on the offensive end this season. When someone outside of Cummings or Lee contributes, as DeCosey did in the first half, the Owls can compete with teams. But when his shot went cold as the game went on, Temple had nowhere to turn outside of Cummings and found themselves going through long scoring droughts. That situation has been all too common for them this season. They’ll try to right the ship next against Georgia.
Today’s Action
7:00 PM: Temple (1-3, 0-0 AAC) vs. Georgia (1-2, 0-0 SEC)
The next opponent for the Owls will be the Georgia Bulldogs, who were defeated by Davidson 94-82 in the opening round of the Charleston Classic. Prior to that contest, the Bulldogs defeated Wofford and lost to rival Georgia Tech in two home games. Georgia is big at every position, with guard Kenny Gaines standing at 6’3″ and the other four starters between 6’5″ and 6’9″. Not surprisingly, the Bulldogs sit among the top 25 teams in the nation in rebounds per game. We just saw the Owls struggle against the Clemson frontline and they may have similar problems tonight. Charles Mann leads Georgia in scoring but has also struggled with turnovers, averaging 5.0 per game thus far.
Both of these teams have experienced difficulties getting going on the offensive end, both shooting below 30% from behind the arc. These teams are very similarly matched but if anything, Georgia should have an easier time getting some cheap points on the offensive glass. This game could go either way, as any single guy getting hot from outside could swing the outcome, but I’ll go with Georgia in a close one.
7:00 PM: Pennsylvania (1-2, 0-0 Ivy) @ Iowa (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) – Big Ten Network
After being manhandled by Penn State at home over the weekend, the Quakers will next face another Big Ten opponent, traveling to Iowa to take on an elite Hawkeyes squad. Iowa has beaten up on some lesser opponents this season, winning their first four games by an average of 40 points. For the second straight year, the Hawkeyes are led by the duo of Aaron White and Roy Devyn Marble. A 6’9″ junior forward, White is currently the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, capable of scoring on the interior while also possessing a solid jumper which he’ll occasionally extend behind the arc. Marble, a 6’6″ senior guard, is currently 2nd on the team in scoring after leading the team a year ago, and is the Hawkeyes’ best playmaker off the dribble. Possessing a large, deep frontline, Iowa is 6th in the nation in rebounds per game and will be a handful for Penn’s Darien Nelson-Henry and Fran Dougherty.
Penn State is not exactly the class of the Big Ten in college basketball, and now stepping up to face Iowa should be a rude awakening for the Quakers. Iowa is too big, strong, and disciplined for Penn to hang around. Expect the Quakers to fall to 1-3 in a rout.
7:00 PM: Villanova (3-0, 0-0 Big East) vs. Delaware (2-2, 0-0 CAA) – Fox Sports 1
For the fourth straight game, Villanova will find itself in the friendly confines of the Pavilion, facing the Delaware Blue Hens Friday night. In a victory over another Colonial Athletic opponent in Towson on Sunday, Villanova put forth its best effort of the season and will look to match that level of defensive intensity tonight. Delaware has started the season 2-2, with both of their losses by just 2 points, including one on the road to a decent Richmond team. The Blue Hens have won their last two games despite the absence of leading scorer Devon Saddler, who was suspended for a month for a violation of team rules. Without Saddler, much of the scoring load has fallen on the shoulders of 6’2″ junior Jarvis Threatt, who has responded with 27 and 21 points in the last two games for Delaware. Another player to watch is senior Davon Usher, who leads the team in rebounding from the wing position and also had 30 points in their loss to Charleston Southern earlier this season.
The Blue Hens run a guard-heavy rotation and like to get up and down there floor and make games into high-scoring affairs. The Wildcats have plenty of capable guards and even their bigger wings like JayVaughn Pinkston and James Bell are well-suited to play that style. Delaware would appear to be a great match-up for Villanova and playing in the Pavilion, where they almost never lose, expect the Wildcats to take this contest.
9:00 PM: La Salle (2-2, 0-0 A-10) vs. Morgan State (0-4, 0-0 MEAC) [neutral site]
The Explorers have hit the Virgin Islands to take part in the 2013 Paradise Jam tournament. The 8-team tournament features Maryland, Providence, and Vanderbilt, but La Salle will start things off with a fairly weak Morgan State Bears squad. The Bears are still winless on the season, having been blown out on the road at the hands of Ohio State and Towson, and losing close contests at home to San Diego and Ohio. Morgan State (which is located in Baltimore in case you were wondering) only has one main scoring threat in 6’2″ senior guard Justin Black. Black is averaging 20.0 ppg on the year, despite shooting an abysmal 41.4% from the foul line (12-29) through four games.
Although La Salle has certainly not played well to begin the season, you have to figure they will defeat one of the worst scoring teams in the NCAA, as Morgan State is just 37.4% from the field. If the Explorers were to lose this contest as well, it would really ignite the panic switch for this season, but they should win this game fairly easily.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
