City of Basketball Love

Graham Foley (@graham_foley3)
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A raucous, sold-out crowd electrified the University of Pennsylvania’s storied Palestra on Tuesday night to see the Quakers take on the No. 2 ranked Villanova WIldcats in a classic Big 5 contest. It was an atmosphere that Penn’s basketball program had not seen in awhile. The energy and motivation was evident but not enough as Villanova dominated Penn by a score of 82-57.

Penn head coach Steve Donahue was amazed by the crowd that he hoped would see a better game.

“It was great, I’m telling you,” Donahue said. “It’s such a unique building, to have it packed and see our students fill in these two sections and all the way to the ceiling; more impressive, I thought it was great that they stayed the whole game, they stayed on their feet, it’s great motivation for us to continue to try to make them proud of the program…”

Games like that with so much energy and excitement are few and far between for most teams. However, during non-conference season in Philadelphia’s Big 5, there’s often another big one right around the corner.

For the Penn Quakers, they will play two such games in less than a week.

Penn (2-3, 0-0) will travel to North Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the surging Temple Owls (5-2, 0-0) at 4 p.m. in what should be a gritty and intense Big 5 matchup on N. Broad.

After a tough loss, it is not easy for a team to get back on the horse and play another important game in the same week. However, according to Donahue, the enormity of another Big 5 game simplifies the task.

“Well I think it’s very easy, it’s a great motivation,” Donahue said. “We didn’t play as well as we hoped against Villanova, we only get four of these city games, now we’ve got a great chance to play Temple at their place.

“I think we’re a group that’s really fired up, we’re really excited about where we’re doing, we weren’t happy with the result of the Villanova game but I was pleased with a lot of the ways that we played and I think the players understand what we need to do to keep improving, and what a great to start it, right after you play Villanova we play Temple at their place.”

The Quakers started their season with four straight road games in which they finished 2-2. Their highly-anticipated game against Villanova was the team’s first home game of the season.

Penn was able to play close with the Wildcats in the second half and forced 17 turnovers in the game. Their undoing, however, was their inability to stop Villanova’s shooters. The ‘Cats shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc and Kris Jenkins, who made six 3-pointers, finished with 21 points. With players like junior forward Obi Enechionyia and freshman guard Quinton Rose shooting well for Temple this season, it is something the Penn will have to fix in order to be successful.

For Temple, the team came in with low expectations due to injuries and a young starting lineup. The team suffered back-to-back losses to the University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts as part of a 2-2 start.

The Owls then went into Brooklyn for the NIT Tip-Off Tournament where they knocked off No. 25 Florida State and No. 19 West Virginia in back to back days. They are fresh off a close road victory over Big 5 rival St. Joseph’s on Wednesday night in which senior guard Josh Brown unexpectedly made his first appearance since injuring his left achilles last season. What looked to be a disappointing year for Temple might end up being a competitive one after all.

Donahue has a lot of respect for this year’s Temple team. He believes the Owls have plenty of talent that will not be easy for his defense to stop.

“They’ve got seven good offensive basketball players, there’s no bad players,” Donahue said. “[Daniel] Dingle, fifth-year senior, terrific passer, good stand-still shooter. [Levan] Alston has been scoring, he hasn’t shot threes but he’s done everything else. [Alani] Moore’s made standstill shots and drove it. [Ernest Aflakpui] has done his job with the dirty work and on the boards and those things. It’s not like you can come up with a defense and say you’re going to do this and do that because they all can pass, and they all can score. I felt that way about last year and there’s no real weak spot this year either.”

Penn’s sophomore guard Jackson Donahue -- no relation to the coach -- played against Temple last year when the Owls won a close one at the Palestra by a score of 77-73. He too knows how tough Temple can be. Specifically, he pointed out the threat that Enechionyia, Temple’s top scorer, presents and how the Quakers plan to stop him.

“They have so many weapons, but obviously Enechionyia is a serious threat for them, with his height and his ability to shoot,” Donahue said. “Similar to Jenkins, we’re really going to have to respect him outside the arc and then really wall up and not give him any easy baskets inside.”

Enechionyia, especially with Brown on the bench, has been the all-around leader for Temple this season. He leads the team in scoring averaging 21 ppg and has been a major presence on the boards leading the Owls with an average of 8.4 rpg. Enechionyia’s height and ability to shoot has made it tough for teams to keep him off the scoreboard and Steve Donahue knows his team will have their hands full with him on Saturday.

“It’s been amazing start, just look at his numbers,” Donahue said. “Incredible stand-still shooter with great length, and then blocking 19 shots on the season. I think Enechionyia’s always been someone that when he came to Temple, you saw the potential, and now things that have happened with the injuries, it looks like he figured out that he can be the guy. Been pretty remarkable.

“I think you have to really recognize that he’s such a good shooter that you got to chase him off the line as much as possible, he just can’t get those looks. He’s got to go inside the arc, somehow and someway and make him shot challenged twos. It’s easier said than done because his teammates look for him and I think that’s a strength of Temple, I think all of them one, can shoot it, and two, they all can pass, so they have a sense of where he’s out as well.”

Another storyline about Saturday’s game is the return of Josh Brown. Brown, who made his first appearance of the 2016-17 season in Wednesday’s game against St. Joe's, will play his first home game of his senior season against Penn.

Brown, who has been on the court for the Owls since his freshman year, finished last season averaging 8.3 ppg. This year he is expected to provide vital leadership for the young Temple team and be a dynamic offensive threat. For Steve Donahue, his presence is another challenge his team will have to overcome in order to get the win.

“I don’t know if it changes our game plan, it just makes it harder,” Donahue said. “He’s a really good basketball player, he’s a leader, makes really good decisions, can make shots, can finish, competes, you’re taking out a freshman probably and putting in an experienced veteran who’s won a lot of games. Just makes our job harder.”

Both teams have their own formula for success. Temple has great young players who can spread the ball around and get on the scoreboard. Penn has veterans like senior guard Matt Howard and junior guard Caleb Wood leading the way for younger guys like freshman forward A.J. Brodeur, the team’s leader in scoring and rebounding.

But when it comes down to it, this Saturday’s matchup should be a dog fight. When rivals that know each other so well fight for bragging rights and city supremacy, a tremendous game is often produced no matter the two records.

Steve Donahue is hoping that the energy of the Big 5 clash will help his guys play a close game and maybe earn a substantial early season victory.

“It’s still Temple/Penn, it’s a familiarity of each other, we play up there a lot, pick-up, with our guys in the spring and the summer, these guys really know each other,” Donahue said. “So it’s a great motivation, and the city cares about the Big 5, bragging rights and all that, but Temple’s a terrific program, for us as we’re trying to build this up, it’s a great test and obviously it’d be a great win for us.”