Daily Cup of City 6 (2/14/14)

By Sean Kennedy

Yesterday’s Action

Charleston 47, Drexel 46

Drexel has experienced their share of last-second defeats this season, but I’m sure it doesn’t make things any easier when another such loss rears its ugly head. Up one point in the final minute, Frantz Massenat missed two free throws for the Dragons; on the ensuing Charleston possession, Willis Hall corralled a loose ball on the offensive end, sinking a jumper to win the game for the Cougars. With the defeat, Drexel moved to 0-3 all-time against Charleston, as the two teams hadn’t played since the 1990s.

Any fan of offensive basketball needed to avert their eyes from this game, as both teams shot under 33% on the night, with Drexel going 0-9 from three. Massenat led the Dragons in scoring with 16 points, but shot just 5-14 from the floor and 6-11 from the foul line, including the costly final two misses. Tavon Allen came off the bench for Drexel, and had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but also shot poorly going 5-17. With the loss, the Dragons fell back below .500 in CAA play, and they might have just reached a breaking point with all the injuries.

Box Score

Today’s Action

6:00 PM: Temple (6-16, 1-9 AAC) vs. Louisville (19-4, 8-2 AAC)

With their Thursday night matchup postponed by Winter Storm Pax, the Owls and Cardinals will have another go of things Friday night on Broad St. Louisville has won 6 of their past 7 games, with all four losses on the sesaon coming against what were, at the time, ranked opponents. Coming off their national championship run, Rick Pitino’s squad has leaned even more heavily on the play of guard Russ Smith this season. Smith is averaging 18 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals per game, shooting 45% from the field and 40% from three. With Smith running the show on the perimeter, Montrezl Harrell handles business on the inside, at 12.6 ppg and 8.2 rpg.

Aside from a potent, versatile offense, the Cardinals excel on the defensive end, with their pressure defense forcing the third-most steals in the country. The Owls are one of the best teams in the country at taking care of the ball, but we’ll see how they hold up against the swarming Cardinals. Still, even if Temple manages to succeed on the offensive end, their defense has been horrendous of late, and Louisville should have no problem lighting up the scoreboard. Mother nature might have delayed things, but another loss for Temple seems inevitable.

7:00 PM: Pennsylvania (6-13, 3-2 Ivy) @ Yale (11-9, 5-1 Ivy)

The Quakers are riding their first winning streak of the season, but will need to take their game to a whole other level to take down the first-place Bulldogs. Yale swept both meetings between the teams a year ago, and are playing even better this season behind the improved play of sophomore forward Justin Sears. The Sears Tower (I hope that’s his nickname) has been the focal point of the offense down low for the Bulldogs, averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. The big man is coming off a 21 point, 11 rebound effort last game in a win over Harvard, part of a 4-game winning streak for Yale.

As for Penn’s offensive attack, Fran Dougherty has excelled of late, with double-doubles in his last two games including a 23 point, 12 rebound performance against Columbia. The battle between Dougherty and Sears down low should be one to watch in this contest. Coming off their first Ivy Weekend sweep in quite some time, if the Quakers can pull the trick again starting tonight against Yale, they’ll find themselves in the thick of things at the top of the conference.