Daily Cup of City 6 (2/21/14)

By Sean Kennedy

Yesterday’s Action

Connecticut 68, Temple 55

After toppling Larry Brown’s SMU, Temple went searching for another victory against an AAC coach with Sixers ties facing Kevin Ollie’s SMU squad. Unfortunately, although Anthony Lee returned to the lineup for the Owls, their shooting strokes remained absent from the court in a double-digit defeat to the Huskies. Temple shot just 34% on the game, going over 9 minutes in the second half without making a field goal to ensure there were be no comeback effort or second-straight win over a ranked opponent.

Temple actually caught Connecticut star Shabazz Napier on an off night, as the point guard hit no field goals and had just 2 points in the first half. Still, as great players often do, he found a way to impact the game even on a sub-par shooting night, finishing with 17 points behind an 11-11 effort from the foul line, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists (all game-highs). Although he too struggled from the field, going just 5-15, Temple’s Quenton DeCosey was literally the only Owl who could score for a long period in the second half, as he scored 14 points after halftime to lead the Owls with 16. Temple will need to figure out things out offensively in a hurry because the schedule doesn’t get any easier as they travel to Memphis Saturday.

Box Score

Today’s Action

7:00 PM: Pennsylvania (6-15, 3-4 Ivy) vs. Harvard (20-4, 7-1 Ivy)

With two losses last weekend squashing any hopes of competing for an Ivy League title, Penn will go forward looking to play the role of spoiler beginning tonight against Harvard. The Crimson are tied with Yale atop the Ivy League standings, but don’t hold the tiebreaker with their lone conference loss coming at the hands of the Bulldogs. They won’t be looking past anyone with every game crucial to their NCAA tournament hopes.

Harvard dominated the Quakers three weeks ago, winning by 30 as Laurent Rivard hit 6 threes to record a game-high 22 points. He and Siyani Chambers are the main threats from the perimeter, both shooting 40% from three on the season. Wesley Saunders leads the team in scoring at 15 ppg, as the slashing wing does a little bit of everything for Harvard on both ends of the floor. In that first meeting, Penn was also dominated on the glass, as not a single Quaker grabbed more than 3 rebounds. They’ll need better efforts from the Nelson-Henry/Dougherty front court to remain competitive in tonight’s  contest. The Quakers have played better ball in the weeks since that initial loss to Harvard, but the Crimson have too much at stake and should win this game with ease.