City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Each Sunday this season, we’ll be putting out a preview of the week to come, with a spotlight on key local matchups. Here’s a look at the upcoming week — Monday, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Nov. 26.

A whole bunch of local college games of note this week; starting next week, we'll be seeing a lot more high school contests in the mix:

• MBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Kentucky (Mon., 7 PM)
  The Hawks (3-1), coming off a disappointing home loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, now head down to Rupp Arena to take on John Calipari and the Wildcats (3-1). Kentucky’s got four players in double figures, led by Antonio Reeves (17.8 ppg) and Rob Dillingham (16.8 ppg); Imhotep’s Justin Edwards (9.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Camden’s D.J. Wagner (9.3 ppg, 2.8 apg) have both been significant parts of the rotation. St. Joe’s will have to get a UK team turning it over on about 10% of possessions into a few more mistakes than usual to get some easy buckets going the other way. (Fun note: CoBL’s Mark Jordan will be here for coverage).

• MBB: La Salle @ Duke (Tues., 7 PM)
  Speaking of challenging road contests, the Explorers take their 4-0 record down to Durham to visit the Blue Devils (3-1) and national Player of the Year candidate Kyle Filipowski (18.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg). If Duke has a weakness, it’s on the glass, where they’re 237th nationally in offensive rebound percentage (27.2% per KenPom) — but La Salle is slightly worse (26.1%, 256th). La Salle needs to win the turnover and rebound battles and hit shots to have a chance here. (Another fun note: Mark’s heading to this one, too).

• MBB: Villanova vs. Texas Tech (Weds., 2:30 PM)
  Villanova will spend the Thanksgiving break in the Bahamas, taking on Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis. The Red Raiders come in 3-0, though they haven’t played anybody higher than No. 136 on KenPom; the Wildcats (3-1) represent by far their most significant test yet. TTU has been atrocious from 3-point range so far (20.6%), and they also turn it over at a high clip and get nearly 20% of their shots blocked. Villanova could feast defensively here. (Oh yeah…Mark’s going to the Bahamas as well).

• MBB: Temple vs. Ole Miss (Weds., 3:30 PM)
  Adam Fisher’s Owls are coming off their first loss of the season, a five-point home defeat to Columbia on Saturday in which the Lions hit a dozen 3’s. The Runnin’ Rebels (4-0), who only hit 28.6% from deep through their first four games, are less of a threat to do so, but they’re a strong defensive team. Temple (3-1) has gotten 20 ppg from Hysier Miller so far, but the health of Jahlil White — who missed the second half of the Columbia game with a hand/finger injury — will be a big question coming into this one.

• WBB: Temple vs. Saint Joseph’s (Weds., 6 PM)
  The only Big 5 game of the week has the Owls (2-2) hosting the Hawks (3-0 entering Sunday) on Wednesday, a doubleheader with the men’s game against Ole Miss. St. Joe’s has looked as good as expected early on — Davidson transfer Chloe Welch (15.0 ppg) and sophomore forward Laura Ziegler (15.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg) are off to terrific starts, and freshman Gabby Casey (6.7 ppg) went off for 16 points in 19 minutes against Penn. Temple’s “equal opportunity” offense is showing with only Tiarra East (12.0 ppg) in double figures, but the top nine of Diane Richardson’s rotation are all averaging 5.0 ppg or more. The battle of the boards will be a major factor in this one.

• WBB: Jefferson vs. West Chester (Sun., 1 PM)
  A fantastic D-II clash on Sunday at Jefferson between two groups of Rams. Visiting WCU, ranked No. 13 in the country in the preseason poll, is 3-0 entering the week, having just held Wilmington to 21 points in a win; Jefferson, no stranger to the polls, is 4-0 after beating Shippensburg and Kutztown on the road this week. Jefferson has four players in double figures, led by senior forward Haley Meinel (18.3 ppg), with junior wing Sam Yencha (14.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and junior forward Cassie Murphy (14.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) behind her. WCU is led by La Salle transfer Michelle Kozicki (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and senior guard Leah Johnson (14.0 ppg, 6.7 apg), an All-American honorable mention a year ago.

Mon., November 20
WBB: West Chester vs. Chestnut Hill (5:30 PM)
MBB: Chestnut Hill vs. Shippensburg (7 PM)
MBB: Saint Joseph’s @ Kentucky (7 PM)

Tues., November 21
MBB: Holy Family vs. Molloy (6 PM)
WBB: Jefferson vs. East Stroudsburg (6 PM)
WBB: Villanova vs. Holy Cross (7 PM)
MBB: La Salle @ Duke (7 PM)
WBB: La Salle @ Rider (7 PM)
WBB/MBB: Swarthmore vs. Muhlenberg (6 PM/8 PM)

Boys: Friends’ Central vs. Life Center (5:30 PM)

Weds., November 22
MBB: Villanova vs. Texas Tech (2:30 PM, Battle 4 Atlantis)
MBB: Temple vs. Ole Miss (3:30 PM)
WBB: Penn @ Chapman (4 PM)
MBB: Chestnut Hill vs. West Chester (5:30 PM)
WBB: Temple vs. Saint Joseph’s (6 PM) 

Thurs., November 23
MBB: Villanova vs. UNC/UNI (Battle 4 Atlantis)

Fri., November 24
MBB: Penn vs. Lafayette (4:30 PM)
MBB: Villanova vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis) 

Sat., November 25
MBB: Penn vs. Belmont (4:30 PM)
WBB: Penn @ San Diego State (5 PM)

Boys: Germantown Friends vs. SCH Academy (1:30 PM) 

Sun., November 26
WBB: Villanova @ Wake Forest (12 PM)
WBB: Jefferson vs. West Chester (1 PM)
MBB: Saint Joseph’s vs. Sacred Heart (1 PM)
MBB: La Salle vs. Coppin State (1 PM)
MBB: Drexel @ Old Dominion (2 PM)
MBB: Penn vs. Monmouth (2:30 PM)
MBB: Jefferson vs. Adelphi (3 PM)
WBB: Penn @ UC-San Diego (5 PM)