City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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Every day during the season on which there are games featuring the 10 Division I teams that CoBL features, we’ll have a Tipping Off running bright and early, letting you know everything you need to know about the match-ups.

As always, we’ll start with a wrap of the previous day’s action, followed by a look at the complete slate; as always, thanks to KenPom’s awesome site for his predictions--though keep in mind this early in the season, his predictions aren’t as reliable:

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Yesterday’s results

Villanova 86, Saint Joseph's 72
--Quick Report
--Bridges makes splash in Big 5 debut
--Savvy 'Nova squad handles St. Joe's

Delaware 70, Bradley 47
--Quick Report
--Mosely, backcourt shine in Corbett's absence

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Today’s games

Temple Owls (2-3) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (2-5)
Where: Liacouras Center; Philadelphia, Pa.
When: 7:00 PM
Watch it: ESPN3
KenPom Prediction: Temple, 81-64 (94%)

The Skinny: The Owls are trying to make it two home wins in a row after dispatching Delaware 69-50 and make it back to .500 after a tough opening four-game stretch that included three losses to top-25 opponents. The Knights, meanwhile, are only 1-5 against Division I opponents, coming off a 30-point loss to Princeton on Monday that saw them shoot just 32.2 percent from the floor while allowing the Tigers to hit more than 50 percent of their shots. FDU is young and perimeter-oriented, led by sophomore guard Darian Anderson (14.0 ppg), sophomore wing Earl Potts Jr. (13.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg), so this could be a big day for Temple's interior of Jaylen Bond (9.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Obi Enechionyia (12.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg).

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La Salle Explorers (4-1) vs. Hofstra Pride (4-2)
Where: Tom Gola Arena; Philadelphia, Pa.
When: 7:00 PM
Watch it: Atlantic 10 Network (Free)
KenPom Prediction: Hofstra, 79-78 (55%)

The Skinny: The Explorers face their second Colonial Athletic Association opponent of the year in the preseason favorite Pride, led by two Philadelphia natives. Point guard Juan'ya Green (Archbishop Carroll) is having another fantastic year, averaging 19.8 ppg and 7.5 apg, while 6-6 wing Ameen Tanksley (Imhotep) is right behind him at 16.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg. The Pride aren't super-tall up front, but 6-9 sophomore Rokas Gustys (9.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and 6-8 Denton Koon (12.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg), a fifth-year transfer from Princeton, are both crafty and experienced. La Salle will need a solid game from 6-10 redshirt sophomore Tony Washington (9.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) to neutralize that interior threat and allow guards like Jordan Price (25.0 ppg) the ability to get out on the break and take advantage of a below-average Hofstra defense (1.028 ppp, 197th nationally).

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Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-6) @ St. Francis Pa. (2-3)
Where: DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pa.)
When: 7:00 PM
Watch it: NEC Front Row (Free)
KenPom Prediction: Lehigh, 70-69 (50%)

The Skinny: It was a rough November for Lehigh to be sure, though no one can fault Brett Reed's group for dropping games to currently ranked teams in Syracuse, Purdue and Virginia, not to mention tough losses to Ivy League favorites Columbia and Yale as well as at Canisius. Now the calendar has turned to December and a road trip to St. Francis (Pa.) presents a winnable game and a chance to get back on the right side of the ledger, and the best way to do that is to go back to their inside-out game. Tim Kempton (16.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Jesse Chuku (9.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), a 6-10 junior and 6-8 senior respectively, have a favorable matchup with St. Francis' 6-7 senior Ronnie Drinnon (9.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and 6-8 freshman Josh Nebo (5.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

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Lafayette Leopards (2-4) vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (2-4)
Where: Kirby Arena; Easton, Pa.
When: 7:00 PM
Watch it: Patriot League Network
KenPom Prediction: Lafayette, 76-71 (68%)

The Skinny: The Leopards are going for their first winning streak of the season after a 92-86 win over Penn on Wednesday, which saw both Nick Lindner and Bryce Scott drop 22 points while Monty Boykins and Matt Klinewski added 15 apiece. Lindner (16.3 ppg, 4.5 apg), the team's three-year starter at point guard, and Klinewski (15.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), a 6-8 forward  who's taken a big step up as a sophomore, have been consistently productive, but they need more out of Scott (10.8 ppg) and fellow senior Zach Rufer (4.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg); freshman wing forward Paulius Zalys has been getting stronger and is averaging 8.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg. The Terriers have five players averaging between 10.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg, with junior guard Yunus Hopkinson leading the way despite playing just 17.7 mpg.

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Penn Quakers (4-2) vs. Navy Midshipmen (6-2)
Where: The Palestra; Philadelphia, Pa.
When: 7:00 PM
Watch it: Ivy League Digital Network (Subscription)
KenPom Prediction: Penn, 67-65 (61%)

The Skinny: Quaker center Darien Nelson-Henry (17.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg) is coming off the best week of his four years at Penn, setting career highs with 31 points and 14 rebounds in a win over La Salle before dropping 20 and nine in the loss to Lafayette on Sunday. Considering Penn's taking 41.4 percent of its shots from 3-point range, the 58th-highest mark nationally, the Quakers need to start making more than 28.5 percent of their triples (291st). The only player who's been shooting to his potential is 6-7 sophomore Sam Jones, whose 38.9 percent mark from 3-point range is a big reason he's second on the team with 14.7 ppg. After losing their first two games of the year, Navy has won its last six and is coming off a 75-53 win over IPFW.

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Penn State Nittany Lions (3-2) @ Boston College Eagles (3-3)
Where: Conte Forum; Chestnut Hill, Mass.
When: 7:15 PM
Watch it: ESPN-U
KenPom Prediction: Boston College, 66-63 (64%)

The Skinny: The Big Ten/ACC Challenge continues in Boston as the Nittany Lions travel to meet an Eagles team that's lost its last three games by a combined 61 points. Jim Christian has one of the younger rotations around, with six freshmen regularly seeing minutes; 6-5 rookie Jerome Robinson is off to the best start of the bunch, averaging 11.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 2.8 apg. BC's leading scorer is 6-2 senior Eli Carter, the former Rutgers and Florida guard, who's now averaging a career-best 18.0 ppg on nearly as many shots per game. The Nittany Lions are enjoying a career year by Brandon Taylor (16.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg) but still need some help in general offensively; they're missing a true point guard, though sophomore Shep Garner (12.6 ppg, 2.8 apg) will get plenty of help in that department next year.

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