City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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At the beginning of the new year with conference play either already underway or about to begin for the Big 5 men’s teams, it felt like a good time to catch up on how each team’s season has gone so far: 

Saint Joseph’s
A team that entered the season with plenty of optimism has continued to stir quite a buzz on a Hawk Hill. The Hawks ended their nonconference slate with a 10-3 mark, which is their best record heading into Atlantic-10 play since going 10-2 in 2015-16 — the last time the program went to the NCAA Tournament. There’s been substance too with wins at Villanova and home against Princeton the early blocks of an NCAA Tournament resume for a Hawks squad that currently ranks No. 54 in NET and No. 72 in KenPom. A loss on the road to College of Charleston on Dec. 21 hurt but wasn’t a complete back breaker, though an early-season loss to Texas A&M Commerce won’t look great come selection time.

Junior guard Erik Reynolds (17.1 ppg, 3.1 apg) was a preseason first team all-conference selection and has looked the part. Sophomore forward Rasheer Fleming (11.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg), redshirt-senior guard Cameron Brown (11.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg), junior guard Lynn Greer III (11.6 ppg, 4.5 apg) and freshman guard Xzayvier Brown (11.0 ppg, 3.0 ppg) have all been good as well. Brown, a Roman Catholic product, took very little time to adjust to the college game. Redshirt-freshman forward Christ Essandoko has only played in five games, while dealing with injuries after missing all of last season, but he returned in a 97-56 win over Loyola (Md.) to end nonconference play and the Hawks’ ceiling ultimately lies with what the 7-footer can provide.

There aren’t any heavy hitters in the A-10 this season outside preseason league favorite Dayton (No. 25), but St. Bonaventure (No. 65), George Mason (No. 76), Duquesne (No. 80), VCU (No. 87) and UMass (No. 92), Richmond (No. 99) and Davidson (No. 103) are all currently positioned to provide opportunities to add a few more big wins to the schedule. 

Villanova
Even with a three-game skid in late November/early December, Villanova took a 9-4 record into the new year and have the look of an NCAA Tournament team after breaking a run of nine straight appearances last season. Despite an 0-3 showing and sixth place finish in the Big 5 tournament, the Wildcats are still knocking on the door of getting back into the Top 25 after a road win at Creighton and thrashing of DePaul to start Big East play. The Wildcats’ season to date is a perplexing one with a 4-0 mark in Quad 1 games, including wins over Creighton (No. 14), North Carolina (No. 20), Memphis (No. 40) and Texas Tech (No. 49) and a 2-2 mark in Quad 3 games that includes the losses to Drexel (No. 129) and Penn (No. 182) in Big 5 play.

KenPom rates the Wildcats at No. 22 with a Top 40 offense and Top 20 offense. They play slow (320th in tempo) and generate 48.6 percent of their points via the three-ball (8th). Redshirt-senior forward Eric Dixon (14.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has carried the Wildcats in their biggest wins, posting 34 points and 10 rebounds against UNC and going off for 32 against Creighton. They’ve won their last three games without graduate guard Justin Moore (13.3 ppg, 2.2 agp), who suffered a knee injury in a 72-71 road loss to Kansas State on Dec. 5. Transfers Tyler Burton (9.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg), TJ Bamba (8.5 ppg) and Hakim Hart (7.8 ppg) have had their moments and the same can be said for junior guard Jordan Longino (9.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Mark Armstrong (6.6 ppg), who have had a lot more on their plates with Moore out.

A stretch of home games against Xavier, St. John’s and DePaul are ones Villanova would like to have before the Wildcats travel to Marquette, last season’s Big East regular season and tournament champions, on Jan. 15.

Drexel 
After a pair of tight losses in their Big 5 debut, the Dragons picked up one of the biggest win of coach Zack Spiker’s tenure when they knocked off Villanova on Dec. 2. They currently sit at 8-6 after a 44-point win over Hampton on Monday to kick off CAA play. A win on the road at Winthrop is probably the second most impressive so far this season with a few other opportunities against the like of Princeton and West Virginia not going their way.

Sophomore guard Justin Moore (12.8 ppg, 2.7 apg) lead the team in scoring, assists and steals (1.5 spg), while senior forward Amari Williams, the conference’s preseason player of the year, has continued to be a two-way force, averaging 11.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.9 bpg. Spiker has eight others averaging more than 12 minutes per game, all having their moments behind that duo. Graduate wing Luke House (7.1 ppg) has started all 13 games alongside them, while graduate forwards Mate Okros (4.8 ppg) and Lucas Monroe (4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg) have joined them in the starting lineup for the last four games. Senior wing Lamar Oden (7.5 ppg), senior guard Yame Butler (6.3 ppg) are the others who’ve started games this year.

There doesn’t appear to be a clearcut favorite in the CAA this season like the College of Charleston and Hofstra squads that dominated the league with 16-2 marks a season ago and the Dragons. Hofstra (No. 110), UNC-Wilmington (No. 116), Drexel (No. 118) and Charleston (No. 122) are all rated pretty similarly by KenPom with Dragons’ defense rating by far the best of that group. 

The Dragons are shooting 29.1 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 313th in Division I but they’re also doing a good job of defending the 3-point game. They made 11 triples against Hampton, which was their most against a DI opponent this season. That’s a trend they hope can carry throughout conference play.  If the offense can improve, it wouldn’t be hard to foresee Drexel atop the conference at the end of the season. The Dragons will host UNC-Wilmington at the DAC on Thursday in a good measuring stick game.

La Salle
The Explorers were the last undefeated men’s DI team in the city after winning their first four games and currently sit at 9-4 with the start of A-10 play ready to begin Wednesday at home against George Mason. An overtime win over Penn on a Khalil Brantley was one of the highlights along with tight wins over Drexel, Northeastern and Southern Indiana. After hanging with a nationally ranked Miami (Fla.) squad before Christmas, a loss to Howard wasn't the way the Explorers wanted to conclude the year but they’ve been fun thus far.

To no surprise, junior guard Khalil Brantley (16.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, 5.0 rpg) and senior guard Jhamir Brickus (14.2 ppg, 5.2 apg) have led the way for La Salle once again this season. Senior guard Anwar Gil (11.5 ppg) has had some big games as well as he’s averaging double figures for the first time. Junior wing Daeshon Shepherd (10.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is in the midst of a breakout campaign with five double-digit scoring outings in his last six games — and putting together highlight reel play after highlight reel play. Redshirt-sophomore guard Andrés Marrero (8.2 ppg) and freshman forward Rokas Jocius (7.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) have also seen their roles expand with freshman Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi (5.4 ppg) a newcomer who’s had a few nice games in a very tight rotation.

The strength for La Salle thus far this season has been forcing opponents into turnovers, their 6.2 steal percentage ranks No. 2 in Division I, while also ranking No. 29 in turnover percentage. The Explorers went 7-11 in the A-10 last season. La Salle’s non-conference schedule currently ranks No. 345 by KenPom, so we’ll have to wait and see if coach Fran Dunphy and company can improve on that mark this season.

Temple
First-year coach Adam Fisher has an almost entirely new-look squad out to a 7-6 start heading into American Athletic Conference play. Big 5 wins over Drexel and La Salle (3OT) were early highlights, putting Temple in the inaugural Big 5 Classic championship. The Owls snapped a three-game losing streak with a one-point win over Portland on Dec. 24. They’re 3-6 against DI opponents after a 3-0 start. 

Junior guard Hysier Miller (17.4 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4.6 rpg) has had to shoulder a lot as expected as there are only 12 Division I players seeing a higher percentage of their team’s minutes. Redshirt-junior wing Jahlil White (12.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) has missed six games, recently reinjuring his finger that kept him out. Georgetown transfer Jordan Riley (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) started the season slow and had to miss a few games himself in December, but he’s started six of the last seven games he’s played in. Senior guard Matteo Picarelli (9.2 ppg), redshirt-junior forward Steve Settle III (8.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and senior forward Sam Hofman (7.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) have all come in and played big minutes as expected after transferring in. Freshman forward Zion Stanford looks like a nice piece moving forward, averaging 8.4 ppg and 3.3 rpg, while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor in 17.3 minutes per game.

There are quite a few new faces in The American this season, so it will be interesting to see how the league shakes out. Temple has squeaked by a few of the easier matchups on its schedule, so things could get a little tricker for Fisher in the next two months. The Owls have protected the ball (No. 10 in turnover rate), but have had lots of trouble making shots, currently ranking 332nd in effective field goal percentage.

Penn
Penn is 8-6 in nonconference play following a lopsided loss at the hands of No. 3 Houston on Saturday and pending a road trip to No. 25 Auburn on Tuesday night. The Quakers picked off their marquee win of the season early when they knocked off Big 5 rival Villanova at the Palestra. Three of their six losses are overtime defeats, including a defeat to Maryland Eastern Shore (No. 351 KenPom) the game after the big win over the Wildcats.

Senior guard Clark Slajchert (17.4 ppg) was out to a great start to the season before an ankle injury knocked him out of the Houston game and has him out for Tuesday night’s game at No. 25 Auburn, according to the Inquirer. Freshman guards Tyler Perkins (14.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Sam Brown (11.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg) are suddenly the top two scorers in the lineup with Slajchert out. Junior forward Nick Spinoso (10.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg) looks like a double-double threat every night after a slow start to his season. Junior guard George Smith (4.6 ppg) has the started the last even games. The guard-oriented group has shot it well with Browns’s 43.1 percentage from deep a big addition after he was hurt to start the season. 

Flip two or three of the overtime losses into wins and this Penn team would look a little better on paper with a tight loss to a strong St. Joe’s team and losses to nationally ranked Kentucky and Houston the other blemishes. The Quakers open Ivy League play on Saturday at home against Dartmouth. Coming off a league title and Sweet 16 run a season ago, Princeton is the Ivy League favorite. Penn is likely somewhere in the group behind the Tigers with Yale, Harvard and Cornell. A Jan. 15 road trip to Cornell could end up being a big one for two squads that look like they’ll be in that grouping among the top four or five in the league.