By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Connecticut 90, Temple 66
It had been nearly 50 years since Temple had faced Connecticut on the hardwood, and after Tuesday night, the Owls probably wish it would be another half-century before they have to again. The Owls were shredded defensively by the Huskies’ duo of Shabazz Napier and DeAndre Daniels. Daniels dropped a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds, going 4-6 from behind the arc, while Napier sank 5 threes to finish with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Whereas that pair was hitting everything in sight, the Owls couldn’t find the range from distance, going just 4-19 from three. The one encouraging sign for Temple in the wake of an otherwise disappointing performance was the play of Will Cummings, who scored a team-high 20 points after missing the last two games with concussion-like symptoms. The Owls will need continued strong play from him and a much better defensive effort from the team at large, if they’re to hang with a Cincinnati team this weekend that’s already defeated them this year.
Today’s Action
7:00 PM: Saint Joseph’s (12-5, 2-1 A-10) vs. Rhode Island (10-9, 1-3 A-10)
After easily dispatching Penn at the Palestra over the weekend, St. Joe’s returns to Atlantic 10 action to take one Rhode Island. City 6 fans saw the Rams lose to La Salle a week and a half ago but they rebounded nicely with an overtime victory over George Mason Saturday. Leading scorer Xavier Munford dropped 28 points in the win and has now scored 20+ in his last two contests. Still, Rhode Island has been extremely inefficient offensively, shooting just 43% from the field and 30% from three. With Langston Galloway on fire having hit 6 threes in two straight games, and Ronald Roberts, Jr. back from injury, the Hawks should have no trouble taking care of the Rams at home.
9:00 PM: La Salle (11-6, 3-0 A-10) @ St. Bonaventure (11-7, 1-3 A-10) – CBS Sports Network
Riding a season-high and campaign-altering 5-game winning streak, La Salle travels to St. Bonaventure to face a team heading in the other direction of late. The Bonnies are reeling in the midst of a three-game losing streak, but with those defeats coming at the hands of conference elite in UMass, St. Louis, and George Washington, they shouldn’t be a squad taken lightly by the Explorers.
Having lost their three leading scorers from a season ago, senior guard Matthew Wright now leads St. Bonaventure at 15 points per game. However, the strength of the Bonnies is their deep squad with 7 players averaging 20 minutes or more and 6 guys scoring at least 9 points. But La Salle guard Tyreek Duren has played very well recently, with 20 points or more in 2 of his last 3 games, and looks to be dealing better with his plantar fasciitis injury. He and the Explorers are fully capable of moving to 4-0 in conference play.
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