Daily Cup of City 6 (1/14/14)

By Sean Kennedy

Today’s Action

7:00 PM: Drexel (9-6, 1-1 CAA) vs. Towson (10-6, 1-0 CAA)

While the Dragons showed great resolve in their double overtime win against Northeastern, they’ll be up against the odds once again Tuesday night. Tavon Allen, Kazembe Abif, and Dartaye Ruffin are all expected to be on the sidelines in their CAA battle against Towson. Philadelphia basketball fans saw the Tigers earlier this season when the Maryland squad defeated Temple before being easily dispatched by Villanova. Towson enters play riding a 3-game winning streak and the NCAA’s 18th-best rebounding club will look to take advantage of the shorthanded La Salle frontcourt.

6’8″ Jerrelle Benimon remains the dominant force for Towson, leading the team at 17.9 points on 52% shooting, 11.1 rebounds (good for 5th in the nation), 3.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks. Benimon can hit the long jumper as well as play from the post, and has the ball-handling skills to grab a rebound and start the break himself. The former Georgetown transfer is not currently projected as a surefire draft pick, but is certianly on teams’ radars and could find himself at the next level with a strong finish to his senior campaign. With multiple big men out for the Dragons, they’ll be hard-pressed to deal with Benimon. Drexel will need another big effort from both Chris Fouch and Frantz Massenat to come away with a victory tonight.

9:00 PM: Temple (5-9, 0-4 AAC) @ Cincinnati (15-2, 4-0 AAC) – CBS Sports Network

Still in search of their first conference win of the season, the Owls will fly to Cincinnati to face their second-straight ranked team in the Bearcats. Just a week and a half ago in Memphis, Cincinnati trounced the Tigers team that beat the Owls over the weekend, and unlike Temple, they have found the new American conference much to their liking. Cincinnati has excelled this season on the strength of the country’s 4th-ranked defense, which has allowed opponents to shoot only 38% while ranking top-25 in the nation with both 6.2 blocks and 8.7 steals per game.

The anchor of that defense is 6’8″ senior Justin Jackson, who sits top-15 in the NCAA at over 3 blocks per game. Offensively, the Bearcats are led by 6’4″ senior Sean Kilpatrick, who once again leads the team in scoring at 18.4 points per game and will be in the running for AAC conference player of the year. Both players are fringe prospects for the NBA but have become dominant players at the collegiate level. Temple will need another huge shooting performance from Dalton Pepper and Anthony Lee to both play even with Jackson while staying out of foul trouble given the lack of depth on the Owls bench. Playing at home against an Owls squad still looking to regain its footing, Cincinnati should stay undefeated while leaving Temple winless in conference play.