By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Penn State 83, Pennsylvania 71
In the battle of Pennsylvania, it was the publicly-funded school who proved they know a thing or two about playing ball. Penn State came out on fire out of the gate, starting the game 13-19 from the floor to cruise to a 23-point halftime advantage. The Quakers got their act together in the second half and made a game of it, but had simply dug too big a hole for themselves to complete any sort of memorable comeback. As expected, the starting backcourt for the Nittany Lions did all of the damage on the day, with TIm Frazier dropping 29 points and 7 assists and D.J. Newbill chipping in 19 points of his own.
Penn did not assert its size advantage until its run in the second half, and had no luck on the perimeter, going just 4-19 from behind the arc. Center Darien Nelson-Henry led the way with 21 points (including going 11-11 from the line as Penn State’s only recourse was often to foul him when he got the ball down low). However, he was limited to just 25 minutes as he was limited by foul trouble of his own. Overall, it was a poor defensive effort for the Quakers who were carved up by Frazier and Newbill, and a step back for a team that appeared to be heading in the right direction.
La Salle 78, Siena 74
A late run by La Salle prevented what would have been a disastrous upset against an inexperienced and struggling Siena squad. Trailing by as many as 9 points midway through the second half, the Explorers finally got their act together to pull away from the Saints. The run was sparked by Tyreek Duren, who scored 16 points in the last 10 minutes of the game, finishing with 20 points. Jerrell Wright also had a solid performance, recording a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Explorers did a nice job of attacking the basket, finishing the game with a huge free throw disparity over Siena, attempting 32 foul shots against just 8 for the Saints. Still, this was a game La Salle should have rolled and the fact that they led Siena maintain a lead for such a large portion of the game is discouraging. Although they’ve moved to 2-1, La Salle has barely gotten past Quinnipiac and Siena; Atlantic 10 opponents are going to eat up the Explorers if they don’t improve things going forward.
Creighton 83, Saint Joseph’s 79
Leading by one in the closing seconds of the game, it looked like the Hawks were going to notch a marquee win against a strong non-conference opponent Saturday night against the Bluejays. However, All-American Doug McDermott had other ideas, nailing a 20-footer with 5 seconds left (despite being fouled), to notch his first ever game-winning bucket and give Creighton the victory.
The Hawks actually did a great job with McDermott, constantly throwing double teams at him, as he didn’t score his first point until 11 minutes into the game. It speaks to how talented the man is that he still finished with 20 points on the evening. However, in the process of doubling McDermott, St. Joe’s was burned by senior Ethan Wragge off the bench, who nailed 7-11 three-pointers to finish with a game-high 21 points.
There were a ton of great performances from the Hawks in this contest. Freshman DeAndre Bembry dropped a career-high 20 points, including 4-8 from three. Chris Wilson was also hot from behind the arc, making 6-11 triples for 18 points. Despite struggling to score, Halil Kanacevic contributed in a big way in other areas, with 10 rebounds and 10 assists before fouling out on McDermott’s game-winning shot. It was a bit of an off night for St. Joe’s two leaders, Ronald Roberts, Jr. and Langston Galloway, but it’s very encouraging that a number of other players stepped up in what was a great game. The Hawks have looked terrific thus far this season, and will have some time off before playing LSU in the Old Spice Classic November 28th.
Today’s Action
Villanova (2-0, 0-0 Big East) vs. Towson (3-0, 0-0 CAA)
The Wildcats will face their first real test of the season thus far, as they go up against an up-and-coming Towson Tigers team that received a vote to be in the top 25 for the first time in school history. We just saw Towson defeat Temple earlier this week so we know what they’re all about. Jerrelle Benimon is the man for the Tigers, a 6’8″ NBA prospect who can bang down low in addition to handle the ball in the open court. He’s coming off a career-high 32 points against the Owls so Villanova will have to be ready to deal with a man at the peak of his game. If the Wildcats stay in their zone defense, it will be important for their guards up top to limit Benimon’s penetration into the lane without fouling, and for Daniel Ochefu and JayVaughn Pinkston to keep him off the offensive glass.
Villanova will need another great outing from Pinkson, who leads the team with 21.5 points per game, and is the best bet on the Wildcats roster to match the size and athleticism of Benimon. It would also help if point guard Ryan Arcidiacono could get back on track. After a breakout freshman campaign, Arcidiacono, has really struggled out of the gates, averaging just 6.0 points and 3.0 assists, and hitting just 1-9 threes on the year. The sophomore guard was the main reason for the team’s solid run toward the end of last season and they’ll need him to take another step forward if the Wildcats are going to make some noise this season. Today against Towson, I’d look for Villanova to prevail, but it should be a closer contest than most would expect, as the Tigers are really playing some good ball right now.
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