City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Dan Wilson (@dan_wilson4)
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It’s a busy day in the City of Brotherly Love on Wednesday night, with three big-time matchups all featuring teams from the southeastern quadrant of Pennsylvania.

Here’s a look at each of the three city games tonight:

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Villanova vs. Penn
When: 7 PM
Where: Jake Nevin Field House
Watch: FS2

Breakdown: Returning to the hardwood for the first time since its victory in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, No. 4 Villanova (6-0) is set to play its Big 5 opener against Penn on Wednesday night in the first-ever city series game at Nevin, which last hosted a regular-season contest back in 1986. The Wildcats have been lead this season by their junior guard combo of Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, both of whom are averaging just over 18 points per game. But once again, Jay Wright has a group that’s getting production from all over the rotation, including super sub Donte DiVincenzo (11.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and combo forward Eric Paschall (10.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg). And they’re still waiting on the first monster performance from freshman big man Omari Spellman (7.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), who put up 11 points and 11 boards in his debut but averaged just 2.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg in three games in Atlantis.

Fresh off their thrilling, four overtime 101-96 win at Monmouth on Saturday night, the Quakers (5-3) will be looking for their first win against the Wildcats since December 2002. Sophomore guard and Downingtown West graduate Ryan Betley is the Quakers’ leading scorer, averaging just shy of 17 points per game on 43.8 percent (37.3 percent) shooting. Junior forward Max Rothschild has averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 boards in 26 minutes thus far, a large increase from the 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12 minutes he averaged a year ago. Sophomore A.J. Brodeur is second on the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg), two categories he led the team in a year ago; he’s only scored more than 13 points once and doesn’t yet have a double-figure rebounding game.

Key Matchup: Scoring Efficiency

While the Quakers are averaging 77 points per game as a team this season, they are doing so on just 43.3 percent (31.6 percent from 3) shooting from the field and just above 60 percent from the foul line. The Wildcats however, are shooting 49.5 percent (36.5 percent on 3s) on field goals and 76.9 percent on free throws in their six wins. More importantly, Villanova’s defense has been the fourth-most efficient in the country: they’re holding opponents to shooting just 32 percent shooting from deep and under 50 percent from inside the arc, while keeping opponents off the line and off the boards as well. If Penn can’t get open shots, they’re going to find it increasingly tough to pick up their misses or get to the foul stripe.

Prediction: Despite the Quakers’ winning record through the first eight games of the season after starting off 0-2, they haven’t yet played a team near the quality of what they’ll be seeing on Wednesday night. That being said, Penn has made this game close in years past with less talented groups, and they’ve got more athletes on the roster than they have in some time. However, the Wildcats are just too good, and especially locally -- they have won their last 18 Big 5 contests, and we see that streak hitting 19 tonight. Villanova, 85-65

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Saint Joseph’s vs. Bucknell
When: 7 PM
Where: Hagan Arena
Watch: A-10 Network

Breakdown: The story of Bucknell’s season has undoubtedly been the play of their 6-7 senior forward Zach Thomas, who leads the team in both points and rebounds with an average of 25.4 and 8.7 per game, while also ranking second in assists behind only the Bison’s senior point guard Stephen Brown (12.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg). The Bison (3-4) ride a three game win streak entering the contest, winning games against Siena, Ball State and Stony Brook after starting out the season 0-4 against the likes of Maryland, North Carolina and Arkansas. They’ve got everybody back from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, including senior big man Nana Foulland (15.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg).

As for St. Joe’s (3-3), the Hawks are lead by seniors Shavar Newkirk and James Demery averaging 17.2 and 16.7 points per game respectively. Freshman forward Taylor Funk has been a big addition, averaging 15.8 points and 6.0 boards per contest while making 51 percent of his 3s just six games into his rookie season with the Hawks. SJU has been missing the services of sophomore wing Charlie Brown, who fractured his left wrist in the offseason; he’s not expected to return on Wednesday night but could be back soon after. That’ll be a big boost for a team that’s already without junior Lamarr Kimble for the season after the starting guard fractured a bone in his foot in the season opener.

Key Matchup: Zach Thomas vs. Taylor Funk

This senior-freshman matchup features the game’s two best rebounders and some not-too-shabby scorers either. At 6-7, Thomas is a super-versatile athlete and a top-level defender, and he could very well find himself matched up with the Hawks’ 6-9 sharpshooter, who’s quickly rising up opposing teams’ scouting reports. On the other end, St. Joe’s is going to have to find a way to slow down Thomas and prevent him from really getting rolling; if he goes for 38 points and 11 boards like he did against Stony Brook, that could spell another loss for the Hawks.

Prediction: St. Joe’s is playing just its second home game of the season, but it’ll be far from a relaxing environment against a battle-tested Bucknell squad that’s now playing with some momentum. Without Brown and Kimble, St. Joe’s has had a tough time finding someone beyond Funk to step up and make shots down the stretch, and they’ve had an even tougher time getting a stop. Against a Bison squad that won’t be shaken by Hagan Arena, that could be a problem. Bucknell, 85-82.

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Drexel vs. Lafayette
When: 7 PM
Where: Daskalakis Athletic Center
Watch: DrexelDragons.com

Breakdown: Lafayette (0-5) is still searching for its first win of the season following an 86-82 loss against St. Peter’s on Sunday. The Leopards are carried on the shoulders of senior forward Matt Klinewski’s 18.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, as well as freshman guard Alex Petrie’s 13.6 points per contest. Freshman guard Justin Jaworski, a Perkiomen Valley grad, is averaging 9.0 ppg and 2.7 rpg after missing the first two games of the season due to a sprained ankle. As is common for a Fran O’Hanlon squad, the Leopards aren’t having too much trouble putting the ball in the hoop when they can get shots off, but they’re having some turnover woes on both ends and have struggled keeping opposing guards in front of them.

Drexel (2-4) comes into the game with a three-game losing streak of its own, dropping a 78-59 game to Mercer, a 65-53 game against NJIT and a 90-88 double overtime heartbreaker to Drake. The Dragons’ leading scorer has been junior guard Tramaine Isabell, who has scored an even 20 points per night in five games played this season. Sophomore Kurk Lee Jr. (12.8 ppg, 4.0 apg) has taken a step back from his terrific freshman season, turning it over 3.8 times per game while hitting just 24.2 percent of his triples; senior guard Sammy Mojica (10.7 ppg) is just 31 percent beyond the arc. But what’s really a problem for Zach Spiker’s Dragons are the guard injuries: last game, they were without Troy Harper (shoulder) and Miles Overton (calf), and then saw Sam Green (knee) go down midway through the first half.

Key Matchup: Rebounding

The Dragons enter the game with three players -- Isabell, senior forward Austin Williams, sophomore forward Alihan Demir -- who are all averaging at least 8 rebounds per game. The Leopards, on the other hand, have just two players above the four boards per contest mark in Klinewski’s 4.6 and sophomore forward Myles Cherry’s 5.4 rebounds per night. If Lafayette can’t keep Drexel off the glass, that’ll lead to a number of second-chance points and easy buckets for the Dragons, which should be the difference-maker at home. Prediction: Drexel, 77-67.

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