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City 6 Holiday Tournament Previews

11/15/2017, 2:00pm EST
By Owen McCue and Josh Verlin

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It’s early-season tournament time.

Each of the six city schools will be playing in some kind of tournament over the next week or so, at locations everywhere from Connecticut to California to the Bahamas. Most are eight-team events that will provide three games apiece; only La Salle is in a four-team tourney. These so-called “exempt” tournaments allow D-I teams to surpass the 30-game regular-season limit, while often getting major resume-building and momentum-building opportunities early in the year.

Here’s a look at each of the fields, in chronological order:

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Shizz Alston Jr. (above) and Temple open their season against Old Dominion on Thursday afternoon. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Charleston Classic
Location: TD Arena; Charleston, S.C.
Dates: Nov. 16-19
Participants: Temple, Dayton, Auburn, Indiana State, Clemson, Old Dominion, Ohio, Hofstra

Overview: This is Temple’s third appearance in the Charleston Classic. The Owls finished second at the event in 2008 and fifth the last time they made trip to South Carolina in 2013. It’s the second year in a row Philadelphia has a team in the tournament as Villanova won the event last season. Temple will be the last Division I to play a game when the Owls take the court on Thursday against Old Dominion. The Monarchs are 2-0 after wins against Towson and James Madison. The Owls will play either Auburn or Indiana State in their second contest. Auburn features local product Horace Spencer, who spent two seasons at William Tennent before finishing his high school career at Findlay Prep. He averaged 4.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as a sophomore last season. Indiana State presents an interesting challenge as well. The Sycamores upset Indiana last weekend and generally are one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference.  If the Owls eventually meet up with Dayton in the tournament, it will be a matchup of former Atlantic 10 rivals.

Nov. 16
Auburn vs. Indiana State (11:30 AM)
Old Dominion vs. Temple (1:30 PM)
Clemson vs. Ohio (5:00 PM)

Dayton vs. Hofstra (7:30 PM)

Nov. 17
Winner of Gms. 1 + 2 (11AM)
Loser of Gms. 1 + 2 (1:30 PM)
Loser of Gms. 3 + 4 (7:00 PM)
inner of Gms 3 + 4 (9:30 PM)

Nov. 19
7th/8th place: 1 PM
5th/6th place: 3 PM
3rd/4th place: 7 PM
Championship: 9:30 PM

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Paradise Jam
Location: Vines Center; Lynchburg, Virginia
Dates: Nov. 17-19
Participants: Drexel, Houston, Colorado, Mercer, Wake Forest, Drake, Quinnipiac, Liberty

Overview: This tournament was originally supposed to take place in the U.S. Virgin islands, but the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria forced the event to move to Virginia. While no longer featuring the benefits of a tropical location, the tournament should still provide plenty of good basketball. Maryland, Seton Hall, South Carolina and Creighton are the tournament’s past four winners. This is Drexel’s second time playing in the event, the last came in 2011. The Dragons will have their hands full with Houston’s Rob Gray in their tournament opener. The 6-foot-1 guard led the American Athletic Conference in scoring last season. Drexel will play either Mercer or Liberty in Game Two. Mercer hung with Central Florida, a sleeper NCAA tournament team, in its season opener before an eventual loss. Senior guard Ria’n Holland scored 31 points in the game. Liberty, the host team, is coming off a 21-win season in 2016-17. The Flames are 2-0 after beating Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

Nov. 17
Mercer vs. Liberty (noon)
Drexel vs. Houston (2:30 PM)
Quinnipiac vs. Colorado (6 PM)
Drake vs. Wake Forest (8:30 PM)

Nov. 18
Losers of Gms. 1 + 2 (noon)
Losers of Gms. 3 + 4 (2:30 PM)
Winners of Gms. 1 + 2 (6 PM)
Winners of Gms. 3 + 4 (8:30 PM)

Nov. 19
7th/8th place: noon
5th/6th place: 2:30 PM
3rd/4th place: 6 PM
Championship: 8:30 PM

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B.J. Johnson (above) and La Salle have played terrific defense in their first two games this year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena; Uncasville, Conn.
Dates: Nov. 18-19
Participants: La Salle, Boston College, Texas Tech, Northwestern

Overview: In its six years of existence, the Hall of Fame Tip-off has been on the premier holiday tournaments. Past champions include blue bloods like Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke. Last year’s bracket had three Top 25 teams, with the Blue Devils taking home the title. The Explorers will get an early test in their tournament opener against Northwestern. The Wildcats advanced to their first ever NCAA Tournament last season and are a Top 25 team early into this season. Boston College and Texas Tech face each other in the other contest. The Red Raiders won 18 games last season but were on the wrong side of too many close game to earn a trip to the tournament. They return their top two scorers. The Eagles won just nine games last season, but return a very talented backcourt in junior Jerome Robinson and sophomore Ky Bowman. Regardless of who they face, La Salle will enter Connecticut with a chance for two wins against power conference teams.

Nov. 18
Texas Tech vs. Boston College (noon)
La Salle vs. Northwestern (2:30 PM)

Nov. 19
Consolation: 3 PM
Championship: 5:30 PM

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Gulf Coast Showcase
Location:
Germain Arena; Estero, Fla.
Dates: Nov. 20-22
Participants: Penn, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Manhattan, Georgia Southern, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, Towson, Florida Atlantic

Overview: It’s a mid-major special in Estero, which is just south of Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast, as eight-teams from various mid-level leagues come down south for a pre-Thanksgiving tournament. This is Penn’s first time in the showcase, which began in 2013; past winners are La. Tech, Green Bay, Weber State and Houston, in that order. The Quakers, currently 0-2, play Navy (Nov. 15) and Penn State-Brandywine (Nov. 18) before they get a game against the Huskies, a Mid-American Conference squad which opened its season with an 85-65 win against Green Bay on Nov. 14 and won’t play again until they meet Penn. There isn’t a senior in the rotation, with three juniors and two sophomores in the lineup; the Quakers only start one senior (Darnell Foreman) and two sophomores alongside two juniors. Keep an eye out for Missouri State, led by former St. John Neumann (Pa.) star Alize Johnson; a 6-5 wing in high school, Johnson is now a hyper-skilled 6-8 senior forward who’s on NBA Draft boards after averaging 14.8 ppg and 10.6 rpg while making 38.8 percent of his triples as a junior. The Bears (98) and Georgia Southern (83) are the two highest-ranked KenPom teams in the field.

Nov. 20
UMKC vs. Manhattan (11 AM)
Georgia Southern vs. Missouri State (1:30 PM)
Penn vs. Northern Illinois (5 PM)
Towson vs. Florida Atlantic (7:30 PM)

Nov. 21
Losers of Gms. 1 + 2 (11 AM)
Losers of Gms. 3 + 4 (1:30 PM)
Winners of Gms. 1 + 2 (5 PM)
Winners of Gms. 3 + 4 (7:30 PM)

Nov. 22
7th/8th place:11 AM
5th/6th place: 1:30 PM
3rd/4th place: 5 PM
Championship: 7:30 PM

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Battle 4 Atlantis
Location: Atlantis; Paradise Island, Bahamas
Dates: Nov. 22-24
Participants: Villanova, Arizona, Purdue, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Southern Methodist, Western Kentucky, Northern Iowa

Overview: Villanova, the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis champions, returns to defend its title at the earliest possible opportunity (teams can only play in a specific exempt event once every four years). The Wildcats open this year’s event against Western Kentucky, a program surrounded in offseason buzz due to the arrival, then departure, then re-arrival, and final departure of potential lottery pick Mitchell Robinson, a five-star recruit who had shocked many by committing to WKU. The Hilltoppers lost their season opener to Missouri State, 85-80, and play a non-NCAA team (Kentucky Weslyn) and Nicholls State before coming to the Bahamas. Villanova will follow against a high-major program in the second round, as Purdue or Tennessee await no matter what happens. Last November, then-No. 3 Villanova beat then-No. 15 Purdue by three, and both teams are yet again in the top 25. A potential matchup of Top 5 teams looms if No. 5 Villanova and No. 3 Arizona can both advance to the championship game.

Nov. 22
Purdue vs. Tennessee (noon)
Villanova vs. Western Kentucky (2:30 PM)
NC State vs. Arizona (7 PM)
SMU vs. Northern Iowa (9:30 PM)

Nov. 23
Winners of Gms. 1 + 2 (12:30 PM)
Winners of Gms. 3 + 4 (3 PM)
Losers of Gms. 1 + 2 (7 PM.)
Losers of Gms. 3 + 4 (9:30 PM)

Nov. 24
Championship: noon
3rd/4th place: 12:30 PM
5th/6th place: 7 PM
7th/8th place: 9:30 PM

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Wooden Legacy
Location: Titan Gym; Fullerton, Cali.
Dates: Nov. 23-24, 26
Participants: Saint Joseph’s, Saint Mary’s, Harvard, Washington State, Georgia, Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State, Sacramento State

Overview: This is the first-ever appearance for the Hawks in the Wooden Legacy Classic, which has been played out in California for the last 11 seasons, and at Cal-State Fullerton since 2013. In the first round, the Hawks get a Washington State squad that won its season opener over Texas Southern by two in overtime, and will play games against Seattle (Nov. 15) and Idaho State (Nov. 18) before this tournament gets underway. St. Joe’s, which went 1-1 on its two-game road trip to start the year, has a game against Princeton on Saturday; the Hawks will hopefully have sophomore wing Charlie Brown back from a left wrist injury that’ll cost him the first three games of the year. No matter who St. Joe’s plays in its second game, it’ll be a tough draw; Saint Mary’s has made five NCAA tournaments in its last 10 seasons, which it’s won 20 games each year; Harvard, the preseason Ivy League favorites, has already taken out one A-10 team (UMass) this season and is led by a terrific sophomore class including Bryce Aiken (21 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Chris Lewis (14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg).

Nov. 23
Saint Mary’s vs. Harvard (4 PM)
Saint Joseph's vs. Washington State (6 PM)
Georgia vs. Cal State Fullerton (10:30 PM)
*San Diego State vs. Sacramento State (1 AM)

Nov. 24
Winners of Gms. 1 + 2 (1:30 PM)
Losers of Gms. 1 + 2 (3:30 PM.)
Winners of Gms. 3 + 4 (7 PM)
Losers of Gms. 3 + 4 (9 PM)

Nov. 26
7th/8th place: 2:30 PM
3rd/4th place: 5 PM
5th/6th place: 9:30 PM
*Championship: midnight


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