Yesterday’s Action
Needing to regroup after a bad loss to Temple earlier in the week, La Salle did just that in a 72-65 victory over Rhode Island. However, the Explorers did not make things easy on themselves falling behind by three at the break before storming back in the second half to take control of the game. Tyreek Duren led the team with 21 points, shooting an efficient 7-11 from the field and doing a good job of getting to the foul line (converting 6-8 from there). Big man Jerrell Wright also had an excellent outing with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. As the only starter over 6’5″, Wright’s contributions are essential for the Explorers to have success going forward. The Explorers, who find themselves 1.5 games back of 1st place in the Atlantic 10 with three games to play, will take on last place Duquesne Saturday.
Continuing its recent run of tremendous play, Temple built a 15-point halftime lead and coasted to a 71-51 victory over Charlotte, the team’s 5th in its last 6 games. Scootie Randall led the way for the Owls with a game-high 18 points, going 7-12 from the floor (including 3-5 from behind the arc). The Owls performed superbly on the defensive end, holding the 49ers to 27.4% shooting on the game (including a 1-12 mark from downtown). As usual, glue guy Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson was key to the team’s defensive success, finishing with 3 steals and 3 blocks. Charlotte was reduced to too much one-on-one action resulting in bad shots as they finished with an abysmally-low 4 assists. Temple will next face Detroit on Thursday in an non-conference affair as part of a make-up for a weather postponement back in December.
Today’s Action
9:00 PM: Villanova (18-10, 9-6 Big East) @ Seton Hall (13-15, 2-13 Big East) – ESPNU
Following a huge win over Marquette Saturday night, Villanova travels to New Jersey to take on the Pirates in the teams’ first and only meeting of the season. Seton Hall is riding a 9-game losing streak and currently in position to miss the Big East tournament entirely. The game is the Wildcats’ final contest of the regular season against a non-ranked opponent; however, they can’t get caught looking ahead. Seton Hall rates as one of the unluckiest teams in D-1 and a a single loss at this point would ruin Villanova’s hopes of earning a double-bye in next month’s conference tournament. Junior swingman Fuquan Edwin is the man to keep an eye on for Seton Hall, averaging a team-high 16.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, and clocking in at 11th in the nation at 2.5 steals per game. Still, if Villanova continues to play the strong defense from its recent stretch, they should have no problem sending the Pirates adrift.
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