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Philadelphia College Basketball: Big Five Goes 1-3 On Saturday

By George Kondoleon

Dec 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; La Salle Explorers guard Jordan Price (21) in action against Villanova Wildcats forward Kris Jenkins (2) at Palestra. The Villanova Wildcats won 89-79. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; La Salle Explorers guard Jordan Price (21) in action against Villanova Wildcats forward Kris Jenkins (2) at Palestra. The Villanova Wildcats won 89-79. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Philadelphia’s college basketball teams had a rough Saturday, seeing just one team from the city claim victory.

The Villanova Wildcats are quite clearly Philadelphia’s best team, and maybe even the best in Men’s college basketball. The rest of the Philadelphia schools are far from even being considered a great team this season. The drop-off in performances from Temple and Saint Joseph’s has been concerning, while La Salle has been decent, but inconsistent.

On Saturday night, five Philadelphia college basketball teams played (Temple didn’t, Drexel did), but only one school prevailed victorious in their game. #4 Villanova handled Saint John’s in the Wells Fargo Center fairly easily, you can read our recap here. They were the sole team to win, and on a night where #3 Kansas and #2 Baylor both lost.

Saint Joseph’s found themselves in another close game. The loss of Shavar Newkirk is evident, but the fight in this Hawks team mustn’t go unnoticed. They seem to be close in almost every game, and their effort fell short in two overtimes against Fordham. The offense wasn’t fluid, but the bulk of the scoring was once again on the shoulders of Lamarr Kimble.

La Salle, who will take on Fordham next, were a victim of a rout caused by George Mason. La Salle’s defense continues to be what holds them back from consistency. The 95-75 loss was a game that told the story of the Explorers’ struggles. This was the fifth game where they gave up at least 90, and the tenth in which teams scored at least 80 against them. La Salle seems to keep beating themselves more than teams beat them.

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To round out the the Big Five who played Saturday, Penn lost a heartbreaker against Dartmouth. Dartmouth came into the game with a six-game losing streak. The Big Green caught fire from the outside, hitting 44.4% from three-point range. Penn had no answer from the outside, and their star freshman AJ Brodeur struggled to impact on offense, despite having five blocks on the other end. Penn have a solid building block to move the program forward. But to regain Big Five prominence, the must start hitting tough outside shots.

Finally, Drexel had themselves a matchup with Hofstra. This was the final game of their three-game road trip. The Dragons were coming off a tough double overtime loss to Towson, and were looking to break a three game skid. Despite a 26-point outbreak from senior Rodney Williams, Drexel allowed a 12-0 run with a minute left. This handed Hofstra a two-point victory.

Philadelphia college basketball is far off from what it used to be. This season has been a bad one for anyone in the city not named Villanova. While the other teams will continue to scrape through the rest of the season, Nova will be on their way to trying to retain a national championship.

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