City of Basketball Love

Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)
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A modest Palestra crowd erupted as Penn men’s basketball’s Andrew Laczkowski soared through the lane and rose up to dunk in traffic late in the second half.

Having played just 16 minutes all season entering the day, Laczkowski played a crucial role in bringing energy for the Quakers against a Temple team that had a chance to win its first outright Big 5 title since 2009-2010. Following a back-and-forth first half, Penn exploded in the second with the junior reserve’s jam serving as the exclamation point to captivate the fans — and his teammates.

“It was just pure excitement,” Quakers guard Jordan Dingle said. “... It was amazing to see. I almost forgot to get back on defense.”

Laczcowski capped a 15-1 scoring run for Penn, its second-half surge paving the way to a 77-57 blowout victory to play spoiler against the Owls on Saturday afternoon. He scored nine points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in just 14 minutes of play. 

With the game tied 53-53 with nine minutes left, Temple had a chance to make up for its disappointing start to the game against the Quakers, losers of three straight entering the day and playing without 17-ppg scorer Clark Slajchert for the third game in a row. However, the Owls collapsed in the game’s closing moments, throwing away opportunities on offense and allowing Penn to get whatever it wanted on the other end, with the seldom-used Laczkowski throwing down the hammer to put the title opportunity out of reach for Temple.

The Owls (6-5, 3-1 Big 5), who already clinched a share of the Big 5 title, squandered their ato claim sole ownership of the championship by their own control. They now need St. Joe’s (1-1 Big 5) to upset Villanova (2-1) next Saturday for the possibility to be the outright winners.

“I so desperately wanted to outright win it,” Temple coach Aaron McKie said of a title the Owls haven’t held outright since 2009-10, “because it makes a statement, but it didn’t happen. But my biggest concern is how we played. Nothing worked.”

The Owls got outworked by a shorthanded Penn team, which grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and consistently connected on backdoor cuts for easy points. Temple turned the ball over 15 times against Penn, the 360th-ranked team in the nation at forcing turnovers according to KenPom. Forward Jamille Reynolds had 13 points and nine rebounds for Temple while Khalif Battle scored 14, but the offense came up short when the Owls needed it.

“We had no real rhythm offensively,” McKie said, “because I thought we tried to beat those guys with one shot. … I thought this sort of game was going to be one in the paint with us attacking the rim, getting offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line. And that didn’t happen for us.”

Dingle, Penn’s standout scorer, continued his stretch of Big 5 excellence to lead Penn (6-7, 1-3 Big 5) to prevent the Quakers from getting shut out in the round-robin. He scored 30 points as he set a new record for points in a single city series with 120.

Max Martz had 14 for Penn, and Lucas Monroe added 10, each hitting two 3-pointers.

Penn celebrates during the second half of its win over Temple.
(Photo: Nicole Ambruch/CoBL)

“It’s pretty amazing,” Penn coach Steve Donahue said of Dingle. “I’ve been at it for Penn since 1990 (as an assistant from 1990-2000 and as head coach since 2015). His ability to score in so many different ways. Not just at Penn, but I don’t remember too many players in the Big 5 (like him).”

Behind six first-half points and rebounds from Reynolds, Temple took a 27-26 lead with 2:33 remaining in the half. Both sides had an ugly close to the first, with only one more point being scored on a Dunn free throw. The Quakers, highlighted by a questionable offensive foul call on Dingle for kicking out on a jump shot, could not seize opportunities to get back out in front.

Penn turned that around to start the second, scoring on 10 straight possessions to begin the half as the Owls had no answer. The Quakers built a 42-35 lead with 15 minutes to go during that stretch, but Temple began to chip away at the small deficit. 

After a tough finish from Reynolds brought Temple within three, Battle drove to the basket and converted an and-one to even the score with nine minutes to play. 

But Dingle, who went 9-for-10 on free throws, went right at Battle shortly thereafter, nailing a runner and drawing a foul to tie the game at the line. 

“One of the things that’s hurt us early this season,” Dingle said, “is not managing other teams’ run and momentum very well. … And then me being who I am, I always try to shift the momentum with a big play on offense if I can.”

The momentum was all Penn’s from there. Dingle scored nine points in the Quakers’ 15-1 run, showing off a crafty ability to finish inside. And with Penn pulling away, the team found Laczkowski running down the floor to slam it home and run ahead of Temple, 68-54. 

“We didn’t get stops,” Battle said. “They came out, punched first and we didn’t punch back.”

Penn just kept adding to in the game’s closing minutes, with Laczkowski hitting a 3 put the Quakers ahead by 20 and add to his career day.

“It was super exciting,” the bench guard said. “It was a pivotal part in that game, especially taking a punch right before. … For myself, personally, I was just thinking, ‘Next play, next play,’ because I don’t have a lot of key minutes played. … That just builds and gives us that run, and that puts us from tied to up 10,15, 20 by the end of the game.”

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End of an era?

With both Temple and Penn finishing their Big 5 schedule on Saturday, a big question looms around programs: Was that the last of the round-robin?

There’s been chatter about a change to the format for a while now, only growing louder following a Wednesday report in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the member schools have been discussing the idea of a tournament that could be played as early as next season. It makes sense; the Big 5 doesn’t hold the same prominence it once did, with the attendance on Saturday and in last month’s doubleheader as proof. The storied history doesn’t hold as much significance when the teams in recent years — outside of Villanova — haven’t met a high standard.

Perhaps a tournament could build some excitement and bring a fresh look to the Big 5, even if it means bringing a sixth team on board. Donahue certainly seems to think so.

“I think we just have to figure out the right model going forward,” he said. “I love the tournament idea. I love Drexel being in it. And my vision is: one home game, one away game and a tripleheader at the Wells Fargo (Center). That’s me, personally.”

McKie, a Philadelphia native and former star at Temple and for the 76ers, did not specify his preferred format for the Big 5 in the future, but did emphasize the importance of finding some solution to draw attention back to college basketball in Philadelphia.

“We have something that a lot of other cities and states don’t really have,” he said. “How we’re situated with the Division I schools in a 10-mile radius. We got to put the powers to be together and continue to try to figure it out. But I think it’s pretty cool, what we have in the city.”

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Up next

Temple does not play until next Saturday, when it travels south to take on Ole Miss. Penn has an even longer layoff, resting until Dec. 28 when it will take on D-III Wilkes University as a tune-up before Ivy League competition.