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City 6 Power Rankings: Jan. 29, 2018

01/29/2018, 1:00pm EST
By Josh Verlin & Owen McCue

Donte DiVincenzo (above) and Villanova didn't miss a beat following a key injury last week. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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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 | Jan. 15 |

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6. Drexel Dragons (Previous Ranking: 6)
Record:
9-14 (3-7 CAA)
Last Two Weeks: @ Towson (L, 90-68), @ James Madison (L, 75-73), vs. Elon (W, 83-79), vs. Northeastern (W, 68-67)
Star Watch: Tramaine Isabell (r-Jr./G)

Update: The Dragons halted a five-game skid with back-to-back wins last week. After dropping a two-point contest on the road to James Madison, Drexel returned home to pull out a tight victory against Elon on Thursday and then pull off an improbable comeback against Northeastern on Saturday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Interestingly, Drexel is just 1-9 on the road this season but 7-3 at home. Isabell was the hero in both of the Dragons’ victories. He  scored a career-high 40 points in the win against Elon. He grabbed an offensive rebound and made a fee throw with just seconds on the clock to beat Northeastern. In his first season since transferring from Missouri, Isabell continues to lead Drexel in scoring at 19.8 points per game and his 7.6 rebounds per game are second on the team. The Dragons have another tough part of their schedule upcoming. They already have losses to James Madison, William & Mary and Towson and College of Charleston has won four in a row.

Next Two Weeks: vs. James Madison (Feb. 1, 7 PM), @ William & Mary (Feb. 3, 4 PM), vs. Towson (Feb. 8, 7 PM), @ College of Charleston (Feb. 10, 4 PM),

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5. La Salle Explorers (5)
Record:
9-12 (3-5 A-10)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Fordham (W, 75-76), @ Richmond (L, 81-74), vs. UMass (W, 87-72)
Star Watch: Amar Stukes (r-Sr./G)

Update: After blowing a 20-point second have lead to UMass in the teams’ first meeting of the season, La Salle held onto a large halftime lead against the Minutemen last week. Coach John Giannini and company are hoping they can continue to close out games for the rest of the season as they’ve left plenty of opportunities slip by them this season. Stukes tied a career-high and set a season high with 22 points in the win against UMass as Pookie Powell was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Like Drexel, the Explorers have been very good at home this year, winning seven of their nine games at Tom Gola Arena. However, La Salle plays three of its next four on the road, where it has just one win so far this season. A good sign for the Explorers is B.J. Johnson, who missed time with an ankle injury, appears to be much closer to 100 percent. Johnson shot 35 percent from the floor and totaled 26 points in his first two games back from injury. In his last two, he combined for 53 points on 55 percent shooting.

Next Two Weeks: @ Davidson (Jan. 31, 7 PM), vs. St. Joe’s (Feb. 3, 4 PM), @ George Washington (Feb. 7, 7 PM), @ Saint Louis (Feb. 10, 8 PM)

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4. Saint Joseph’s Hawks (3)
Record:
9-11 (4-4 A-10)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Dayton (W, 81-65), vs. Fordham (W, 68-46), @ St. Bonaventure (L, 70-67), @ Penn (L, 67-56)
Star Watch: James Demery (Sr./SF)

Update: The Hawks had a real opportunity to rip off three straight A-10 wins and stay in a top-four spot in the league despite missing two starters due to injury, but couldn’t quite hold off the Bonnies in a close road defeat. They didn’t exactly play inspired basketball in a Big 5 game against Penn, either, shooting only 30.9 percent overall and getting crushed on the boards, 51-36. But if they can get back in the right mindset, the schedule ahead is still somewhat favorable; KenPom has the Hawks as favorites in five of their next seven games, the La Salle and Davidson games the two exceptions. In a down year in the league, it’s still possible for them to get an all-important bye (or two) in the A-10 tournament, but they’ve got to shake off the bad vibes first.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Saint Louis (Jan. 31, 7 PM), @ La Salle (Feb. 3, 4 PM), @ Davidson (Feb. 6, 7 PM), vs. UMass (Feb. 10, 4 PM)

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3. Temple Owls (4)
Record:
11-10 (3-6 AAC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Tulsa (W,59-58), @ Penn (W, 60-51), @ Cincinnati (L, 75-42), vs. Connecticut (W, 85-57)
Star Watch: Obi Enechionyia (Sr./F)

Update: Maybe, just maybe, there’s some reason for cautious optimism on Broad Street. Let’s throw out the loss at Cincinnati, as the No. 9/8 Bearcats absolutely shut down the Owls, who shot below 30 percent from the floor and turned it over 20 times against the No. 2 defense in the country according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. But Temple responded with its most complete outing of the season on Sunday evening, demolishing UConn by 28 points, and have now won four of their past six games following a five-game losing streak. The AAC’s improved depth comes into play now, when Temple has to turn right back around and host No. 17 Wichita State; if the Owls can get past that, a few more winnable games follow, as Tulane, ECU and USF are all in the bottom four of the league (along with Temple).

Next Two Weeks: vs. Wichita State (Feb. 1, 7 PM), @ Tulane (Feb. 4, 2 PM), vs. East Carolina (Feb. 7, 7 PM), @ South Florida (Feb. 10, Noon)

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2. Penn Quakers (2)
Record:
13-6 (3-0 Ivy League)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Temple (L, 60-51), vs. Saint Joseph’s (W, 67-56)
Star Watch: A.J. Brodeur (Soph./PF)

Update: Coming up is, without a doubt, the most important two weeks in the schedule for Penn. The Quakers, who haven’t played an Ivy League game since beating Columbia on Jan. 13, get five in a nine-day span, including one each against their top three competitors for the league title in Yale, Princeton and Harvard. They already have one win over their archrival Tigers, beating Princeton 76-70 to open league play on Jan. 6, and the return game should be equally as competitive. If they can go 3-2 over this stretch and end up at 16-8 (6-2), they’ll be in good shape for the stretch run; any worse and they’ll have some work to do, not so easy with a schedule that has them playing seven of their final nine games away from the friendly confines of the Palestra. The win over St. Joe’s was one of Penn’s finest outings of the season, placing four in double figures (led by Brodeur’s 13-point, 11-rebound double-double) and holding the Hawks to only 30.4 percent from the floor while winning the rebounding battle by 15.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Brown (Feb. 2, 7 PM), vs. Yale (Feb. 3, 7 PM), @ Princeton (Feb. 6, 6 PM), @ Dartmouth (Feb. 9, 7 PM), @ Harvard (Feb. 10, 4 PM)

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1. Villanova Wildcats (1)
Record:
20-1 (7-1 Big East)
Last Two Weeks: @ Georgetown (W, 88-56), @ Connecticut (W, 81-61), vs. Providence (W, 89-69), @ Marquette (W, 85-82)
Star Watch: Donte DiVincenzo (Soph./SG)

Update: Just when it looked like Villanova was getting healthy, with freshman guard Collin Gillespie making his return from a broken hand, the Wildcats suffered their biggest blow of the season, losing redshirt junior guard Phil Booth to the same injury late in the game against Providence. Booth joins freshman wing Jermaine Samuels, who also broke his hand back in December, on the bench; the Wildcats hope to have him back around playoff game, but it’ll all depend on how it heals. In the meanwhile, DiVincenzo slid into the starting lineup against Marquette and scored 23 points in his second start of the year, while junior guard Jalen Brunson continued his chase for national Player of the Year honors with a 32-point outing. Having already clinched the program’s sixth consecutive 20-win season, the Wildcats will next go for a regular-season title, which they can make a good deal of headway towards with victories over fellow contenders Creighton (17-5, 7-3) and Seton Hall (16-5), both sure to be rocking atmospheres at the Wells Fargo Center.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Creighton (Feb. 1, 6:30 PM), vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 4, Noon), vs. St. John’s (Feb. 7, 7 PM), vs. Butler (Feb. 10, Noon)

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