City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Expectations are higher for the Saint Joseph’s men than they’ve been in quite some time. Hawks coach Billy Lange gave his team a few chances to prove it early in the season. 

St. Joe’s men released their non-conference schedule Monday morning, and Lange has a schedule designed to have his program feeling good rolling into Atlantic 10 play, with a few heavy hitters mixed in.

Going into his fifth year as the Hawks’ boss, Lange has got Hawk Hill in the best shape its been since the Phil Martelli era, led by the backcourt of Erik Reynolds II (19.6 ppg), Cameron Brown (13.3 ppg) and Lynn Greer III (12.5 ppg). Whether or not this group is good enough to replicate the Hawks’ last big year — a 28-8 season in 2015-16, the last time the program finished above .500 on the season — still very much remains to be seen.

After a preseason exhibition game against Philly’s John Gallagher and Manhattan at Hagan Arena on October 28, St. Joe’s gets things going for real on Nov. 6 with a home game against Lafayette, the first of four straight at Hagan to start off the season: the Big 5 opener against Penn (Nov. 10), second-year D-I program Stonehill (Nov. 14), and Texas A&M Commerce (Nov. 17). The expectation will certainly be that St. Joe’s will be 4-0 heading into its first major test of the season, a road game at Kentucky on Nov. 20.  

John Calipari’s Wildcats are coming off a 22-12 season and Round of 32 appearance in March Madness, but they have to replace some major pieces in Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, now both in the NBA. Rupp Arena’s sure to be buzzing as Philly native Justin Edwards and Camden’s D.J. Wagner will be two of UK’s best this season, eager to prove themselves against a St. Joe’s squad stocked with local talent, including Wagner’s former Camden teammates Rasheer Fleming and Dasear Haskins.

After returning from Kentucky, St. Joe’s will have nearly a week to recoup for a game against Sacred Heart (Nov. 26) before a trip to Villanova on Nov. 29 for its only other scheduled Big 5 contest. That’s due to the new Big 5 format which has SJU, Villanova and Penn in one pod while Temple, La Salle and Drexel are in the other; the Hawks will play either the Owls, Explorers or Dragons in the first-ever Big 5 Classic at Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 2.

St. Joe’s closes out its non-con with five more games spread out over December: home games against American (Dec. 6) and defending Ivy chaps Princeton (Dec. 10), a trip to Long Island to play Iona as part of the Holiday Hoopfest (Dec. 16) and one down to play their third NCAA team of the non-con, defending CAA champs College of Charleston (Dec. 21), before a visit from Loyola (Md.) closes things out on Dec. 29.

The 2023-24 Atlantic 10 men’s basketball slate has yet to be released. Saint Joseph’s will play Duquesne, La Salle, Loyola (Ill.) and Saint Louis both home and away; the Hawks will host Davidson, Dayton, Fordham, George Mason and George Washington while traveling to UMass, Rhode Island, Richmond, Saint Bonaventure and VCU.

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2023-24 Saint Joseph’s MBB Non-Conference Schedule
All game times TBD; bold games are home. Last year’s record in parenthesis
* = Big 5 Contest

Sat., October 28 vs. Manhattan (Exhibition)

Mon., November 6 vs. Lafayette (11-23, 7-11 Patriot)
*Fri., November 10 vs. Penn (17-13, 9-5 Ivy)
Tues., November 14 vs. Stonehill (14-17, 10-6 NEC)
Fri., November 17 vs. Texas A&M Commerce (13-20, 9-9 Southland)
Mon., November 20 @ Kentucky (22-12, 12-6 SEC)
Sun., November 26 vs. Sacred Heart (16-17, 8-8 NEC)
*Weds., November 29 @ Villanova (17-17, 10-10 Big East)

Sat., December 2 @ TBD/Big 5 Classic (Wells Fargo Center)
Weds., December 6 vs. American (17-15, 7-11 American)
Sun., December 10 vs. Princeton (23-9, 10-4 Ivy)
Sat., December 16 @ Iona (Elmont, N.Y.) (27-8, 17-3 MAAC)
Thurs., December 21 @ College of Charleston (31-4, 16-2 CAA)
Fri., December 29 vs. Loyola (Md.) (13-20, 7-11 Patriot)