City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The first 10 days of the college basketball season have taught us a decent amount about the City 6 programs. But there’s still plenty of season to go -- and a lot of learning to do.

Here’s the way we see the local D-I programs through the first week and change of the 2017-18 season; we’ll be updating these rankings bi-weekly through December and then go weekly in January through March.

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Previous rankings: Preseason (Nov. 6)

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6. Drexel Dragons (Previous Ranking: 6)
Record: 2-3
Last Two Weeks: vs. Bowling Green (L, 78-69), vs. Arcadia (W, 95-81), Paradise Jam (Lynchburg, Va.): vs. Houston (W, 84-80), vs. Mercer (L, 78-59), vs. Drake (L, 90-88 2OT)
Star Watch: Tramaine Isabell (Jr./G)

Update: Drexel certainly had the most eye-opening win of the opening 10 days of the season, as the Dragons began their Paradise Jam trip by beating a Houston team ranked in the top 70 on KenPom. But they couldn’t sustain that momentum, losing their next two to drop to 1-3 in games against Division I teams and maintain their spot at the bottom of our rankings; that being said, they do look closer to the pack than they were back on Nov. 10. Isabell, a Missouri transfer who missed the first game for a team infraction, is averaging 22.3 ppg and 9.3 rpg through his first four games, hitting 44 percent overall and 39 percent from 3-point range. Freshman forward Jarvis Doles has been a pleasant surprise, averaging 8.2 ppg/4.4 rpg and hitting 9-of-16 3-pointers (56 percent), and he’s moved into a starting role formerly occupied by sophomore wing Sam Green (5.6 ppg). Three games against fellow mid-majors in the next two weeks present a trio of winnable opportunities, but none are a sure thing.

Next Two Weeks: @ NJIT (Nov. 25, 4 PM), vs. Lafayette (Nov. 29, 7 PM), vs. Rider (Dec. 2, 4 PM)

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5. Penn Quakers (4)
Record: 2-2
Last Two Weeks: @ Fairfield (L, 80-72), vs. La Salle (L, 75-71 2OT), vs. Navy (W, 66-45), vs. Penn State-Brandywine (W, 99-40)
Star Watch: Ryan Betley (Soph./SG)

Update: The Quakers would certainly feel much differently about their opening stretch if their Big 5 game against the Explorers had ended differently; Penn had its chances in that one, an Antonio Woods layup at the end of regulation most notably, and yet another uneven day from the foul line (16-of-25, 64 percent) certainly cost the Quakers. They bounced back by holding Navy to 16 first-half points in that easy win before steamrolling a non-NCAA opponent in PSU-Brandywine, but that’s not exactly the level of competition they’ll need to prove themselves against if they want to compete for an Ivy League title. It’s been a rough few games for Penn’s stars: Betley, a sophomore wing, is leading the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) but only hitting 29 percent of his 3s (7-of-24), while classmate A.J. Brodeur, last year’s leading scorer and rebounder, is averaging only 8.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg and has missed all six of his triples. Woods, a junior guard who missed the last three semesters due to academic issues, is averaging 5.5 ppg in his first games back.

Next Two Weeks: Gulf Coast Showdown (Estero, Fl.): vs. Northern Illinois (Nov. 20, 5 PM), vs. FAU/Towson (Nov. 21, TBD), vs. TBD (Nov. 22); @ Monmouth (Nov. 25, 7 PM), @ Villanova (Nov. 29, 7 PM)

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4. La Salle Explorers (5)
Record: 3-2
Last Two Weeks: vs. Saint Peter’s (W, 61-40), @ Penn (75-71 2OT), vs. South Alabama (W, 81-73), Naismith HoF Tip-Off (Uncasville, Conn.): vs. No. 23 Northwestern (L, 82-74), vs. Boston College (L, 82-61)
Star Watch: B.J. Johnson (R-Sr./La Salle)

Update: It looked like the Explorers were going to make a nice rise up these rankings after playing terrific defense during their three-game stretch to open the season, but they got a nice dose of reality in the Hall of Fame tip-off at Mohegan Sun Casino. To be sure, losing to Northwestern and Boston College isn’t nearly as bad as that would have been several years ago, now that the Wildcats are an established NCAA team and the Eagles are playing the best ball they have since Steve Donahue was head coach. Their next pair of games won’t get any easier -- first comes a “road” game to Reading to play Miami (Fl.) and hometown hero Lonnie Walker, a Hurricanes freshman wing who led Reading to the state championship this spring. Ja’Quan Newton, a senior out of Neumann-Goretti and Miami’s leading scorer (14.0 ppg), will be making a return to the area as well. After that, just a four-day turnaround until an impressive-looking Temple bunch visits Tom Gola in what’s sure to be a great atmosphere and hopefully just as good of a game.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Miami (Fl.) (Reading, Nov. 22, 6 PM), vs. Temple (Nov. 26, 5 PM), HoF Belfast Classic, Belfast, Ireland: vs. Towson (Dec. 1, 2 PM), vs. Manhattan/Holy Cross (Dec. 2, TBD)

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3. Saint Joseph’s Hawks (3)
Record: 2-1
Last Two Weeks: @ Toledo (L, 98-87), @ Illinois-Chicago (W, 86-82 OT), vs. Princeton (71-58)
Star Watch: Taylor Funk (Fr./F)

Update: The Hawks bounced back from nearly giving up triple digits in their opener to win their next two, including a nice win over the defending Ivy League champ Tigers in their home opener on Saturday night. But the first week-plus of the season was clouded by more bad injury news -- junior guard Lamarr Kimble, who missed the last seven games of last season with a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot, had re-injured the same bone in the season opener and required season-ending surgery. There have been plenty of positive on-court developments, though, led by the play of Funk. The 6-8 stretch-forward out of Manheim (Pa.) is averaging a team-high 20.3 ppg to go along with 5.3 rpg, hitting 13-of-22 (.591) from 3-point range and shooting 61 percent overall. They’re also only turning it over on 11.5 percent of possessions, the seventh-best mark in the country, per KenPom.

Next Two Weeks: Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Cali.): vs. Washington State (Nov. 23, 6 PM), vs. Harvard/Saint Mary’s (Nov. 24, TBD), vs. TBD (Nov. 26, TBD), vs. Bucknell (Nov. 29, 7 PM), vs. Villanova (Dec. 2, 5:30 PM)

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2. Temple Owls (2)
Record: 3-0
Last Two Weeks: vs. Jefferson (Exhib., W, 70-60), Charleston Classic (Charleston, S.C.): vs. Old Dominion (W, 76-65), vs. Auburn (W, 88-74), vs. Clemson (W, 67-60)
Star Watch: Shizz Alston Jr. (Jr./G)

Update: The Owls solidified their mark as the clear number two team in the city with a Charleston Classic championship, picking up a trio of wins that could look quite good on the RPI slate come March. In their first two games, it was the triumvirate of Alston, senior forward Obi Enechionyia and sophomore guard Quinton Rose doing much of the heavy lifting, as the trio scored 58 points against ODU and then 56 points against Auburn; nobody else on the team scored more than 13 points total in those two games. But five Owls hit double figures in the win over Clemson, with nobody scoring more than Alston’s 14. As a team, Temple is shooting better than 41 percent from deep, led by Alston, who’s averaging 18.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg while hitting 9-of-16 (.563) of his triples so far. Rose (16.3 ppg/7.3 rpg/4.0 apg) and Enechionyia (15.3 ppg/7.3 rpg/1.3 bpg) are also off to very strong starts. The big games keep on coming, as Temple’s non-con doesn’t let up with a Big 5 matchup, an SEC game at the World’s Most Famous Arena and then a road trip to a former A-10 foe.

Next Two Weeks: @ La Salle (Nov. 26, 5 PM), vs. South Carolina (@ Madison Square Garden, Nov. 30, 9 PM), @ George Washington (Dec. 3, 2:30 PM)

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1. Villanova Wildcats (1)
Record: 3-0
Last Two Weeks: vs. Columbia (W, 75-60), vs. Nicholls State (W, 113-77), vs. Lafayette (W, 104-57)
Star Watch: Mikal Bridges (Jr./SF)

Update: The Wildcats haven’t exactly been challenged yet, winning their first three games by an average of 32.7 ppg, and they’re currently the No. 1 overall team according to the KenPom formulas as well as No. 5 in the Associated Press poll. Six different players are averaging in double figures, and their top three scorers -- Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Eric Paschall, all juniors -- are each shooting above 60 percent from the floor; as a team, they’ve made 53.2 percent overall and 39.1 percent from 3-point range. The schedule certainly gets tougher quickly, with a Battle 4 Atlantis field consisting of three teams currently in the top-25, followed by Big 5 games against the Quakers and Hawks. We’ll find out quite a bit about these Hawks over the next 14 days.

Next Two Weeks: Battle 4 Atlantis (Bahamas): vs. Western Kentucky (Nov. 22, 2:30 PM), vs. Tennessee/Purdue (Nov. 23, TBD), vs. TBD (Nov. 24, TBD), vs. Penn (Nov. 29, 7 PM), @ Saint Joseph’s (Dec. 2, 5:30 PM)

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