City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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After some consistency through the first month of the season, this week's rankings featured a bit of a shake-up.

As each team begins to wind down its non-conference schedule there is just one team in the city who looks like a sure bet for March so far. The rest of the city is a bit of a head scratcher as there are three teams hovering around .500 and two others with good wins, but bad losses.

Here’s how the rankings shape up now that the season is about a third of the way through:

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Previous rankings: Preseason (Nov. 6) | Nov. 20 | Dec. 4 |

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6. Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Previous Ranking: 3)
Record: 5-5
Last Two Weeks: @ Temple (L, 81-78), vs. Maine (W, 72-59)
Star Watch: James Demery (Sr./F)

Update: The Hawks have played .500 basketball pretty much all season, never winning or losing more than two games in a row. St. Joe’s looked like it might follow a beat down at the hands of Villanova by getting routed by Temple, but the Hawks made it a tight game late. The win against Maine on Sunday has them right at the .500 mark a third of the way through their season. With Charlie Brown still out with a fractured wrist, it’s hard to tell how good this team can be. Demery averaging 35.1 minutes per contest, the only Hawk averaging more than 30 minutes per game. When Brown returns, he can take some of the burden off Demery and Shavar Newkirk, who leads the team in scoring, but is shooting just 35 percent from the field.

Next Two Weeks: vs. St. John’s (Dec. 20, 4:30 PM, Uncasville, Conn.), @ George Washington (Dec. 30, 4 PM)

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5. La Salle Explorers (4)
Record: 6-6
Last Two Weeks: vs. Drexel (L, 72-70), @ Villanova (L, 77-68), vs. Mercer (W, 95-85)
Star Watch: Isiah Deas (So./G)

Update: Of La Salle’s six losses this season, five have come against teams rated in Ken Pomeroy’s Top 100, the only exception was the two-point loss to Drexel. After hanging close with Northwestern and Miami (Fl.) earlier this season, La Salle played Villanova tougher than anyone else, but couldn’t quite put away the Wildcats, due largely to an enormous free throw disparity. Senior forward B.J. Johnson went down with an left ankle injury in the Explorers win against Mercer. If Johnson, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, has to miss an extended period of time, the Explorers would be in trouble. Outside of Johnson and Pookie Powell, sophomore Isiah Deas has been a big boost for the Explorers. Deas has eight-or-more points in six straight games and has knocked down at least two threes in six of them.

Next Two Weeks: @ Bucknell (Dec. 22, 7 PM), vs. St. Louis (Dec. 30, 2 PM)

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4. Drexel Dragons (6)
Record: 5-6
Last Two Weeks: @ La Salle (W, 62-60), @ Robert Morris (L, 74-60), @ Temple (L, 63-60)
Star Watch: Austin Williams (Sr./C)

Update: Drexel almost went 2-0 in its only City 6 matchups of the season. The Dragons topped La Salle, but couldn’t quite pull off an upset against Temple. Aside from the loss to Robert Morris the Dragons have shown well as of late. They were on a three-game win streak before the 16-point loss to the Colonials and the three-point loss to the Owls. Zach Spiker’s squad has been ravaged by injuries, so at the moment Drexel is not very deep. Three players played all 40 minutes against Temple. However, the Dragons have an experienced and talented backcourt trio and two efficient forwards. Senior forward Austin Williams picked up his third double-double of the season against Temple. His .630 field goal percentage would rank 29th nationally, just ahead of Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, but he is just shy of qualifying.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Quinnipiac (Dec. 18, 7 PM), @ Loyola, Md. (Dec. 21, 7 PM), @ Elon (Dec. 30, 2 PM)

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3. Penn Quakers (5)
Record: 8-4
Last Two Weeks: @ Howard (W, 81-68), @ Lafayette (W, 73-68), @ Dayton (W, 78-70)
Star Watch: Sam Jones (Sr./F)

Update: After an 0-2 start, the Quakers have played some really good basketball as of late. The road win against Dayton was a particularly impressive victory, even if the Flyers appear to be a bit down this year. The key for the Quakers has been making 3-point shots. The Quakers made 10-or-more threes just twice in their first seven games, which both resulted in wins. They’ve accomplished the feat three times in their past four, again all three were wins. Penn is 6-0 when it makes at least 10 threes and 2-4 when it doesn’t. Senior forward Sam Jones, who is averaging just 4.1 points per game, gave the Quakers a boost from deep in their last two wins, going 8-of-11 from deep in 21 total minutes. Penn is in the middle of a three-week layoff and won’t get going again until late December.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Delaware State (Dec. 27, 7 PM), vs. Toledo (Dec. 29, 4 PM)

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2. Temple Owls (2)
Record: 7-3
Last Two Weeks: vs. Wisconsin (W, 59-55), vs. Saint Joseph’s (W, 81-78), vs. Villanova (L, 87-67), vs. Drexel (W, 63-60)
Star Watch: Shizz Alston Jr. (Jr./G)

Update: Outside a blowout loss to Villanova, the Owls showed a knack for winning in close games over the past two weeks. All three of their victories were decided by four or fewer points. Temple’s early wins against Clemson and Auburn continue to look more and more impressive as both Tigers teams haven’t lost any other games. This team is clearly talented, however, consistency has been an issue early on. Quinton Rose and Shizz Alston Jr. are each averaging more than 16 points per game, but junior forward Obi Enechionyia, the other double-digit scorer, is in a shooting slump at the moment. Temple’s game against a two-loss Georgia team will give the Owls a good chance to prove their legit before conference play.

Next Two Weeks: @ Georgia (Dec. 22, 1 PM), vs. Tulane (Dec. 28, 7 PM), @ Houston (Dec. 30, 6 PM)

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1. Villanova Wildcats (1)
Record: 11-0
Last Two Weeks: vs. Gonzaga (@ Madison Square Garden, W, 88-72), vs. La Salle (W, 77-68), @ Temple (W, 87-67)
Star Watch: Omari Spellman (Fr./F)

Update: The Wildcats, who have been a Top 5 team all season, moved up to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll last week. They’ve now achieved the honor in three straight seasons. The lopsided win against Gonzaga at the Garden proved to a national audience what the city already knows, Villanova is once again really, really good. La Salle gave Villanova its toughest test of the season, but the Wildcats prevailed behind a well-rounded effort. If there was any doubt about the Wildcats’ status as top dog in the city after the close win against the Explorers, they throttled Temple at the Liacouras Center to cement their spot at No. 1. Omari Spellman broke out for 27 points against Temple to go along with eight rebounds. It was his first truly dominant game of the season, which adds another weapon to Villanova’s offensive arsenal. The only weakness right now for the Wildcats is depth, especially at the lead guard position with the injury to freshman Collin Gillespie, who is out 3-4 weeks with a left wrist injury.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Hofstra (Dec. 22, 8:30 PM, Uniondale, N.Y.), @ DePaul (Dec. 27, 7:30 PM), @ Butler (Dec. 30, 4 PM)

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