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NCAA March Madness Instagram Feed Below…
Tags: College Basketball, College Basketball News, NCAA Instagram Feed, NCAA March Madness, NCAA March Madness Instagram Feed, NCAA March Madness News, NCAA News, Philadelphia Sports Media, Philly Sports News, Philly Sports Radio, TSP Radio
The NCAA basketball season is fully underway.
Here’s a look at what’s been going on with the basketball teams from Temple, LaSalle, Saint Joe’s, Penn, and Villanova.
1. Villanova’s Dylan Ennis and JayVaughn Pinkston have already led the 12th-ranked Wildcats to six wins. On Sunday, they breezed past Delaware in a 78-47 win (five Wildcats – Kris Jenkins, Darrun Hilliard, Daniel Ochefu, Dylan Ennis, and Phil Booth – recorded double figures). Not all of Nova’s games have been so simple, though; it took a late comeback last Tuesday to edge past Michigan, 60-55. Coach Jay Wright, who is understandably very happy with his team’s start this season, says, “We have a lot of work to do offensively, and we can do that.” With a tougher schedule approaching, Wright knows that his squad can’t rely on its outstanding defense alone – they’ve allowed an average 56.3 points per game. Luckily, he has a solid frontcourt that will only get better with practice. Villanova leads the Big East with a 6-0 record, and their next game is on Wednesday at 8:30 at LaSalle.
2. LaSalle will go into Wednesday’s game against Villanova with a 4-2 record. Not even Jarrell Wright’s 19 points could move the Explorers past Vanderbilt on Saturday, as LaSalle lost 68-55. While 4-2 is a decent start, coach John Giannini has some issues on his hands. His team is missing easy scoring opportunities by committing turnovers and missing free throws; forget about 3-pointers. Giannini is apparently channeling Andy Reid, and says, “We need to get better.”
To be fair, LaSalle’s other loss this season is to reigning ACC champs and 9th-ranked Virginia. Luckily, the rest of the A-10 conference is off to a similar start this season.
3. Temple’s Mark Williams led the Owls to a 76-67 victory over Penn last Tuesday night. Three others (Will Cummings, Quentin DeCosey, and Josh Brown) also had double-digit games. Granted, Penn is a terrible team; however, Temple succeeded in shaking off their losses to Duke and UNLV. The Owls entered Sunday’s game against LIU Brooklyn with a win against Penn under their belt, and thanks in large part to Quentin DeCosey’s three 3-pointers, the Owls took the game 70-56 in overtime. Starters Josh Brown and Will Cummings, along with DeCosey, have been putting up consistent numbers so far this season. Cummings, a senior, and DeCosey, a junior, are showing the leadership that coach Fran Dunphy needs. Temple absolutely has the ability to hold its own in the American conference this season, and hopefully surpass last year’s 9-22 record. The Owls play at Saint Joe’s on Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
Tags: Amy McGinnis, AmyMac, College Basketball, LaSalle, NCAA, Penn, Saint Joe's, Temple, Villanova
Temple Owls begin their season November 14.
For the 2014-15 season, Fran Dunphy’s Temple University men’s basketball team will see three Philadelphia-bred transfer students. 6’7” forward Jaylen Bond of Plymouth Whitemarsh, a transfer from Texas, had a promising freshman year. Devin Coleman, a 6’2” guard from Clemson who played for Friends Central, will be eligible to play next month. 6’5” guard Jesse Morgan from Olney sat out last season after having transferred from UMass, and has spent a lot of time petitioning for eligibility this season. The fifth-year senior has only played a total of 63 games, and will be eligible to play only until the second semester begins. Freshman forward Obi Enechionyia also joins Dunphy’s squad; at 6’9” and 220 pounds, he’ll likely see some playing time if he outperforms Jimmy McDonnell.
Guards Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey, who averaged 16.8 and 15.4 points per game, respectively, in 2013-2014, will return to TU’s backcourt this season. Sophomores Josh Brown, a 6’3” guard, and Mark Williams, a 6’8” forward, show potential for breakout seasons. Look for Devontae Watson, Temple’s best shot blocker, and David Dingle, a returning 6’7” guard, to add some depth to defense. We probably shouldn’t expect to see a lot of 6’5” senior forward Nick Pendergast, but stranger things have happened.
This year, Coach Dunphy has lost Dalton Pepper and Anthony Lee (who has transferred to Ohio State). Pepper and Lee, both high scorers for the Owls, will be missed. Let’s just hope for a better record than the 9-22 from the 2013-2014 season.
The Owls’ season officially begins on Friday, November 14. They’ll be hosting American University at 7:30 pm at the Liacouras Center. The game will be aired on ESPN3, but you can purchase tickets from the Temple Athletics Ticket Office at owlstix.com.
Tags: Amy McGinnis, College Basketball, fran dunphy, NCAA, Owls, Philadelphia College Sports, Philly Sports, TalkSportsPhilly, TalkSportsPhilly.com, temple university
By Amy McGinnis
March Madness is well underway, and thanks to Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast, my bracket has already fallen apart. Upsets and Cinderella stories are what make the month of March fun. Fans everywhere completed their brackets last week (many while on the clock at work), and now we’re watching games and frantically checking scores (again, many while at work). At least my picks for the title game (Louisville and Kansas, with Kansas winning the championship) are still alive.
Harvard’s win over 3rd seed New Mexico busted a lot of brackets, including my own, and they will play 6th seed Arizona this evening. Oregon, who surprisingly beat Oklahoma State, will play St. Louis tonight. The biggest upset of all, I think, was Florida Gulf Coast’s win over 2nd seed Georgetown. I definitely didn’t see that coming, and I doubt any Georgetown fans did, either. This is why we call it “madness,” and we see in game after game that anything can happen.
Fortunately for fans in Philadelphia, La Salle and Temple live to play another day. 13th seed La Salle is set to take on 12th seed Ole Miss tomorrow night. Temple will play Indiana tomorrow afternoon, and as I predicted before the season began, 6’4″ guard Khalif Wyatt is showing great leadership. If you follow him on Twitter (@KhalifW05), you’ll see that he states “Temple Mens Basketball #1 … Tryna make it to the top, so I can let my dawgs know it exist.” As a Temple alum, I love this kid and the rest of Fran Dunphy’s squad. Go Owls!
Tags: Amy McGinnis, College Basketball, La Salle, NCAA tournament, Temple
Villanova's Arcidiacono
By Amy McGinnis
The Villanova Wildcats are currently 3-1, thanks in large part to the team’s leader in scoring and average minutes per game.
Ryan Arcidiacono is a 6’3″ guard from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, who is currently averaging 16.3 points and 33.8 minutes per game. We’re only four games into the season, but I’m impressed by his numbers, and here’s why: Arcidiacono is an eighteen-year-old freshman. During Villanova’s November 11th victory over Marshall, Arcidiacono scored 25 points. Last week, he was named Big East Rookie of the Year.
If this is how Arcidiacono delivers as a rookie, I expect big things from this kid over the next four years and beyond. Villanova hosts Columbia (2-1) at the Pavilion tonight at 7:05.
Tags: Amy McGinnis, College Basketball, Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova
Temple University Men's Basketball Team 2012 - 2013
By Amy McGinnis
With the NHL lockout, baseball in its offseason, and Andy Reid still at the helm with an offensive line that looks like garbage, it looks like it’s time for Philadelphia to throw ourselves into basketball. Sixers are currently 4-3, sitting in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings. We’re also lucky to live in a city with NCAA Division I men’s basketball at La Salle University, University of Pennsylvania, St. Joseph’s University, Temple University, and Villanova University. I’d like to take a look at all five; I’m a TU alum, so let’s start with the Temple Owls.
We all remember the excitement of TU embarrassing Duke last season, and Temple’s elimination from the tournament when they fell to South Florida. Dunphy’s squad looks a little different this season, as the team lost Ramone Moore, Juan Fernandez, Michael Eric, and Aaron Brown. The good news is that Khalif Wyatt, Rhalir Hollis-Jefferson, and Anthony Lee are still on the roster. I’ll be looking at Hollis-Jefferson, a 6’6″ senior forward from Chester, for leadership. He excels at defense and rebounding, and as a senior this year, I want to see him really guide this team. Khalif Wyatt, also a senior, is a 6’4″ guard from Norristown who was fourth in A10 scoring last season with 17.1 points per game. Wyatt cannot, and shouldn’t be expected to carry this team, though. Fortunately, the Owls have some young talent to try to complement the veterans on the team. In the 2011-12 season, then-freshman Anthony Lee earned 17 starts. He actually redshirted the 2010-11 season due to a back injury, and last season, the forward’s numbers weren’t impressive (5.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 1.1 bpg). Lee has three full seasons ahead of him, and has the potential to become a big scoring threat.
Coach Dunphy will need to get the backcourt to shoot the ball more – the Owls will have a tough season otherwise. Guards Will Cummings (a sophomore) and Dalton Pepper (a junior) could stand to dial it up a few notches. With the way things currently look on this team, I’d say there’s about zero room for error if they want to have any sort of chance at the tournament in March.
Tags: Amy McGinnis, College Basketball, fran dunphy, temple university, TSP
This year has been one of the best for the cities college basketball teams in my recent memory, outside of Villanova. It really is a shame that besides Temple and possibly Drexel, unless they win their conference tournament, they will not make the big dance. Obviously there are many division one schools throughout the country and only 68 get in now so there is a lot of heartbreak but nevertheless.
Drexel 25-5, Lasalle 18-11, St. Joes 19-11, Penn 17-11, Delaware 17-12, even Lehigh who is 23-7.
So these teams will likely be excluded from the tourney because they play in weaker conferences and they do not make money for the NCAA or for the TV stations. Uconn, West Virginia, N.C. State, Texas, etc will possibly get in and they all have 10, 11, or 12 losses each because of who they are. I’m not going to lie to you, I think the Philly teams would have a good chance to knock off the big guns.
St. Joes just beat nationally ranked Temple, Penn just beat nationally ranked Harvard, Drexel beat a mainstay in the tournament in VCU. My point is any team especially theses teams, can win at any time and they do have a decent enough record to warrant consideration but they won’t because they are not in the Big East, or the ACC, or the SEC.
In the flawed college football system, if you have a .500 record you are eligible for postseason play, and most likely you will get that bowl bid. I guess the NIT is a decent tournament, and now there are two other smaller postseason tournaments that these teams could reach, but in my opinion, when you deserve something, and it doesn’t matter what conference you play in, you deserve to get a chance.
Tags: College Basketball, Drexel, LaSalle, Penn, St. Joes, Temple, Villanova
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