By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Saint Joseph’s 88, Loyola (MD) 77
After outscoring Drexel by 24 points in the second half their previous game, the Hawks were somehow even better in the first half against Loyola. St. Joe’s scored an unbelievable 60 points in the first 20 minutes, to lead the Greyhounds by 36 points going into the break. The Hawks were able to accomplish such a feat thanks to an endless parade to the foul line, finishing the game 32-40 from the charity stripe. The Hawks took their foot off the pedal in the second half, letting the lead drop to as few as 9 points in the final minute, but we’ll let it slide this time given the circumstances.
Ronald Roberts, Jr. led the Hawks with 20 points, while Chris Wilson and Isaiah Miles each contributed 17 points, combining to go 14-14 from the foul line. Halil Kanacevic followed up the best game of his career with a more typical scoring output (7 points), but was once again heavily involved in the action with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. One of the nation’s leading scorers, Dylon Cormier got his for the Greyhounds, dropping a game-high 27 points. Unfortunately for St. Joe’s, the holiday break comes at a bad time as they’ve been playing their best ball of the season the last two games. They have a week layoff before playing Boston next Sunday.
Villanova 88, Rider 67
After three-straight wins against city rivals, Villanova fans hoped their wouldn’t be any sort of let-down Saturday afternoon against Rider. But these Wildcats have shown thus far this season that they’re immune to any lapse of focus, once again taking care of business against the Broncs in a game that they led for the final 39 minutes. Freshman Josh Hart came off the bench to drop a team and career-high 19 points, including 3-4 shooting from behind the arc. Hart has now scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season, and represents yet another weapon in a loaded arsenal for coach Jay Wright. JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard also finished in double figures in what was a very balanced Villanova attack.
Anthony Myles had a nice game offensively for the Broncs, scoring a game-high 22 points by making 8 of 10 attempts at the charity stripe. However, we knew going in that Rider was not a strong defensive team, and the Wildcats were able to score seemingly at will. A swarming Villanova defense forced 16 Rider turnovers, allowing them to get building upon their lead, which reached as high as 27 in the second half. The Wildcats will take their perfect 11-0 record into a huge meeting with Syracuse next Saturday.
Temple 101, LIU Brooklyn 65
St. Joe’s wasn’t the only Philly team to drop 60 points in a half Saturday, as Temple completely broke open what was already a big lead in the second half, hitting the century mark for the first time this season. Dalton Pepper was unconscious from the field, shooting 10-12 (including 6-8 from three) to finish with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Pepper continues to emerge as the main scoring threat for the Owls, as his outside game is a tough cover for bigger forwards, and guards struggle against his size. Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey each had career-highs as well, with 23 and 19 points, respectively, contributing to the Temple onslaught.
After two straight one-point losses, this game was just what the doctor ordered for Temple to get back on track. With no more games on tap for the Owls until January 1, it’s good that they’ll go into the break with something good to look back on after a bit of a tough stretch.
Today’s Action
2:00 PM: Drexel (7-3, 0-0 CAA) vs. St Francis (PA) (2-8, 0-0 NEC)
With their four-game winning streak snapped by the Hawks, Drexel will look to shake off the loss against one of the weaker teams in Division 1 in the St Francis Red Flash. The Flash are led by junior forward Earl Brown, who is averaging a double-double on the season with 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. However, aside from Brown, the rest of the Red Flash squad is shooting just 33% from the field this season as they’ve struggled greatly on that side of the ball.
St Francis is an extremely small team, with Brown the tallest guy on the roster who receives playing time. If ever there was an opportunity for guys like Dartaye Ruffin and Kazembe Abif on the underutilized Drexel front line to thrive, this would be the game. Regardless, the Dragons should run away with this game.
2:00 PM: Pennsylvania (2-6, 0-0 Ivy) @ Marist (2-9, 0-2 MAAC)
The Quakers will look to collect their first victory in four games when they take on a Marist Red Foxes team that finally appears to be hitting their stride. Following an 0-9 start to the season, Marist has won their past 2 games behind the play of junior swingman Chavaughn Lewis. Lewis leads the team in scoring at 17.0 points per game, but has stepped up his efficiency of late, shooting 46.4% in the two wins.
Penn needs leading scorer Tony Hicks to get back on track, after the sophomore guard went just 3-16 in their overtime loss to Wagner, and scored just 1 point against Villanova the game prior. As with a lot of the small-school opponents they face, the Quakers should have the advantage in the front court with Fran Dougherty and Darien Nelson-Henry. If Hicks regains his early season form complement their work down low, Penn may be able to pull out a much-needed win in this contest.
3:00 PM: La Salle (6-5, 0-0 A-10) @ Miami (FL) (6-5, 0-1 ACC) – ESPN3
The Explorers have pretty much stuck to form this season: beat the lower-tiered mid-majors, struggle against larger-conference foes. They’ll try to reverse that trend Sunday against the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes. With Shane Larkin now plying his trade for the Dallas Mavericks, Miami has looked to a pair of 6’6″ wings to carry the offense in Rion Brown (13.3 ppg) and Garrius Adams (11.1 ppg). Although the Hurricanes have found scoring the ball a chore at times, shooting just 41.0% on the season, they remain one of the better defensive teams in college basketball. 6’9″ senior Donnavan Kirk anchors the interior of the defense, averaging 2.2 blocks per game.
Although Miami has the same record as the Explorers, it could look a lot better as they’ve gone just 1-3 in overtime games this season. The Hurricanes are largely an experienced group that sticks to the sound defensive principles that coach Jim Larranaga has installed the past few seasons, which have each produced 20-win campaigns. The Explorers have struggled shooting the ball just as much and Miami and are still seeking their identity after last year’s tournament run. Unfortunately, I think La Salle will likely get rocked like a hurricane against Miami this afternoon.
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