By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
Villanova 84, Delaware 80
Facing a resilient Blue Hens squad that would not go away, the Wildcats pulled the game out down the stretch behind some big buckets from JayVaughn Pinkston, who finished with a team-high 26 points. In the first half, Villanova tried to pull away with a 9-0 run, as they forced two straight steals out of their three-quarter court trap and fought for 5 offensive rebounds across two consecutive possessions.
However, Delaware battled right back to take the lead as they received solid performances from Davon Usher and Carl Baptiste. Usher hit his first six shots, three of those from behind the arc (including one where he got hit in the face), finishing the game with a team-high 27 points. Baptiste displayed great footwork in the post and the only thing that slowed him down was an inadvertent elbow from Daniel Ochefu that bloodied his nose.
To Villanova’s credit, they used their size advantage to overcome a poor shooting game from outside (5-25 from three). The 19 offensive rebounds, including 6 from Ochefu made all the difference, keeping the team in the game until Pinkston could put things away in the final minutes. The Main Line boys will next travel to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over the holiday.
Iowa 86, Pennsylvania 55
The Quakers traveled to Iowa Friday night to take on a talented Hawkeyes team and the result went basically as expected. Penn fell behind by 21 at halftime and Iows kept the pressure on to cruise to a blowout victory. Not only could Penn not buy a bucket, going 3-23 from behind the arc, but the Hawkeyes forced 14 steals as part of 25 Quaker turnovers. Tony Hicks and Henry Brooks particularly struggled with 6 turnovers a piece.
The lone bright spot for Penn on the court was Darien Nelson-Henry, who finished with a team-high 13 points and 6 rebounds, holding his own against a large, talented Iows frontline. The best story from a human interest perspective was Penn’s Dau Jok playing his brother Peter on Iowa, after the pair traveled over from war-torn Sudan. A freshman for Iowa, Peter received the lone available scholarship for the Hawkeyes and looks to be a player. Following the loss, the Quakers will next host Niagara on Tuesday.
Temple 83, Georgia 81
With another huge Temple lead about to be flushed down the toilet, the Owls found themselves down one in the closing seconds. The team’s leading scorer took that as an opportunity to step up and possibly turn this season around, as Will Cummings drained a three to give Temple its best victory of the season over Georgia. Cummings finished with 17 points and hopefully established himself as the go-to-guy in the clutch the Owls are going to need this season.
The Owls jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead behind a big performance from Dalton Pepper. The senior finished with a game-high 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, hitting all five of his threes in the first 20 minutes. If Pepper can bring more consistent scoring bunch to the table so supplement the efforts of Cummings and Anthony Lee, Temple might have something. They’ll face UAB tomorrow to conclude their run in the Charleston Classic.
La Salle 78, Morgan State 59
Up against a limited Morgan State squad, La Salle took care of business, ending the first half on a 15-2 run to build a lead that would not be in jeopardy the rest of the way. Tyrone Garland led the Explorers with game-high 25 points on 4-10 shooting from three, and Tyreek Duren finished with 15 points of his own, including 6 points during the pivotal 15-2 run.
La Salle will face Providence Sunday in the semifinal of the Paradise Jam tournament. The Friers will be the best opponent to date for the Explorers; hopefully, the early-season shooting woes for the talented La Salle backcourt are now behind them.
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