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City 6 Power Rankings: Jan. 15, 2018

01/15/2018, 10:00am EST
By Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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As the City 6 teams start making their way through their conference schedules, two teams appear to be competing for league titles, but the other four are trying to stay out of the bottom of their conference standings.

Since our last rankings Villanova and Penn are a combined 6-0, while Drexel, Temple, La Salle and St. Joe’s combined to go 4-14. Here’s how we have the teams ranked:

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Previous rankings: Preseason (Nov. 6) | Nov. 20 | Dec. 4 | Dec. 18 | Jan. 2

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6. Drexel Dragons (Previous Ranking: 6)
Record:
7-12 (1-5 CAA)
Last Two Weeks:
@ UNC-Wilmington (L, 107-87), vs. College of Charleston (W, 87-82), vs. William & Mary (L, 85-63), @ Delaware (L, 72-66), vs. Hofstra (L, 91-86)
Star Watch: Sammy Mojica (Sr./SG)

Update: After Tramaine Isabell returned from a groin injury, the Dragons had the top seven players in their rotation all available at the same for the first time this season against the College of Charleston on Jan. 5. Nearly at full strength, the Dragons took down Charleston, the CAA’s preseason favorites. Ten minutes into Drexel’s next game against William & Mary, currently atop the conference standings, the Dragons had a 10-point advantage. However, the wheels fell off quickly in that one, and Drexel lost its next two contests as well. It looks like the 50-minute stretch was more an anomaly than a glimpse of things to come as the Dragons are currently ninth in the 10-team league. Mojica is one of just four Drexel players to start in all 19 games this season. He is averaging career highs in points (11.8 ppg) and steals (1.6 spg) in his final season. After four games scoring in single figures, Mojica scored 13 against Drexel and tied a season and career high in points with 22 against Hofstra.

Next Two Weeks: @ Towson (Jan. 18, 7 PM), @ James Madison (Jan. 20, 4 PM), vs. Elon (Jan. 25, 7 PM), vs. Northeastern (Jan. 27, 2 PM)

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5. La Salle Explorers (3)
Record:
7-11 (1-4 A-10)
Last Two Weeks: @ Rhode Island (L, 74-62), vs. VCU (L, 80-74), @ UMass (L, 86-79 OT), @ Duquesne (L, 101-94 3 OT)
Star Watch: Isiah Deas (So./G)

Update: The Explorers have lost four in row since opening A-10 play with a blowout win against St. Louis. While Rhode Island, the league favorite, handled the Explorers during a road trip to Kingston, R.I., the other three games were very winnable. After trailing VCU by double digits in the second half, La Salle missed a shot in the final minute to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Explorers led UMass by 21 points in the second half before the Minutemen won in overtime. Those two set the stage for a triple overtime loss to Duquesne, currently tied for second in the A-10. The four losses have La Salle tied for last in the conference five games into conference play. The team has a chance to climb out of the basement with a game against Fordham (6-11, 1-4 A-10) before traveling to Richmond and getting another shot at the Minutemen. Keep an eye on Deas, a sophomore who didn’t play much last season. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 8.1 points per game through La Salle’s first 12 games. In his last six he is averaging 15.7 points per contest. Deas has to do a better job taking care of the ball though. He turned the ball over seven times against Duquesne.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Fordham (Jan. 17, 7 PM), @ Richmond (Jan. 20, 2:30 PM), vs. UMass (Jan. 24, 7 PM)

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4. Temple Owls (4)
Record:
8-9 (1-5 American)
Last Two Weeks:
vs. Cincinnati (L, 55-53), @ Central Florida (L, 60-39), @ Southern Methodist (W, 66-64), vs. Memphis (L, 75-72 OT)
Star Watch: Nate Pierre-Louis (Fr./G)

Update: Temple moves up a spot simply because of the struggles the two teams below the Owls are having. Like La Salle and St. Joe’s, the Owls are finding it tough to win. They had a Top 25 within their grasp, but a buzzer beater allowed Cincinnati to escape the Liacouras Center within a win. Memphis did the same thing in overtime on Saturday. In between the two heartbreaking losses, Temple played one of the program's worst games in recent history on the road against Central Florida and picked up a road win against Southern Methodist, something no team had done in 33 games. This team has shown enough talent to compete with the top teams in The American, but it is also pretty apparent consistency will continue to be an issue for the Owls. A bright spot as of late for the Owls has been the emergence of Pierre-Louis. The freshman guard scored a career-high 23 points in 36 minutes against SMU. After barely seeing any action he is averaging more than 21 minutes per game in the Owls’ past six contests. He got his first career start on Saturday when sophomore guard Quinton Rose started the game on the bench after showing up late to shootaround.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Tulsa (Jan. 17, 6 PM), @ Penn (Jan. 20, 2 PM), @ Cincinnati (Jan. 24, 9 PM), vs. Connecticut (Jan. 28, 8 PM)

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3. Saint Joseph’s Hawks (5)
Record:
7-9 (2-3 A-10)
Last Two Weeks: vs. VCU (W, 87-81 OT), vs. St. Bonaventure (W, 85-78), @ George Mason ( L, 81-79), @ UMass (L, 72-69)
Star Watch: James Demery (Sr./G) and Shavar Newkirk (Sr./G)

Update: The Hawks are 2-2 in their past four games, but they could have been 4-0 just as easily. They picked up two huge home wins against VCU and St. Bonaventure, which were both picked, along with St. Joe’s, to finish among the top four teams in the Atlantic 10 in the preseason poll. However, the Hawks followed by losing to George Mason on a buzzer beater 3-point shot and blowing a 16-point second half lead against UMass. Coach Phil Martelli said the Hawks would need urgency from Demery and Newkirk as their college careers wind down if they hope to start stringing some wins together. In the team’s last three games, Newkirk is averaging 23 points per game, while Demery is averaging 20.6 points per game. The two seniors combined for 47 points against St. Bonaventure, 40 against George Mason and 44 against UMass. St. Joe’s returns to Hagan Arena for two conference games this week. The Hawks are 5-1 at home so far this season, including both of their A-10 victories.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Dayton (Jan. 17, 6:30 PM), vs. Fordham (Jan. 20, 1 PM), @ St. Bonaventure (Jan. 24, 7 PM), @ Penn (Jan. 27, 7 PM)

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2. Penn Quakers (2)
Record:
12-5 (3-0 Ivy)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Princeton (W, 76-70), vs. Cornell (W, 69-61), vs. Columbia (W, 77-71)
Star Watch: Ryan Betley (So./G)

Update: The Quakers are off to their first 3-0 start in conference play since the 2011-12 season, when they finished 11-3 for second place in the league. The victory in the conference opener against Princeton, the league’s reigning champ, was a big one to prove Penn is a legitimate contender for the conference title. At the moment, the Quakers have the league’s top scoring offense and second best scoring defense. Betley has been great for Penn all season, but the sophomore has been terrific as of late. The 6-foot-5 guard has scored 20-or-more points in three of his last four games, including 21 in the win against Princeton. He leads the Quakers in scoring this season at 15.4 points per game. Things get kind of funky schedule-wise for Penn coming up. Following Saturday’s win against Columbia, the Quakers will have 20 days until their next Ivy League game, a home matchup with Brown on Feb. 2. In the meantime, they’ll finish up Big 5 play as Temple and St. Joe’s visit the Palestra.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Temple (Jan. 20, 2 PM), vs. Saint Joseph’s (Jan. 27, 7 PM)

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1. Villanova Wildcats (1)
Record:
16-1 (4-1 Big East)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Marquette (W, 100-90), vs. Xavier (W, 89-65), @ St. John’s (W, 78-71)
Star Watch: Eric Paschall (r-Jr./F)

Update: After losing their first game of the season on the road against Butler, the Wildcats have started the new year with three straight wins. Villanova showed how dominant it can be by dismantling a Xavier squad, which was ranked in the Top 10 at the time. The Wildcats also showed they still have some problems to fix, clinging on to wins against Marquette and St. John’s. Their usually reliable defense has been suspect at times as of late. Still, Villanova has done enough to get itself back to No. 1 in the country for the past two weeks after dropping down two spots following the loss to Butler. Villanova has recently got a boost on the offensive end from Paschall, who had gone into a bit of a scoring funk. He is averaging 14 points per game in his last four contests. Paschall started the season by making just one of his first 23 attempts from 3-point range. In the Wildcats’ last four games, Paschall has gone 8-of-14 from deep.

Next Two Weeks: @ Georgetown (Jan. 17, 6:30 PM), @ Connecticut (Jan. 20, noon), vs. Providence (Jan. 23, 6:30 PM), @ Marquette (Jan. 28, 1 PM)

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