Earlier this week St. Joseph’s announced its men’s basketball opponents, although no times or dates were released. Two things are worth noting for Quaker fans. First off, as you might remember from this DP article, all of the Hawks 2008-09 home games will be played at the Palestra. So there’s a good chance college basketball’s cathedral will be home to multiple games a day come winter.

But more importantly, a familiar foe of Penn will be visiting the Palesta twice this year. Cornell, yes the very same defending-Ivy League champions, will face St. Joe’s at the Palestra. I’d personally be surprised if Penn coach Glen Miller isn’t in attendance scouting the Big Red, assuming of course Penn doesn’t have a game of its own that day.

So as for you Penn fans, are you going to try to watch the Big Red in the Palestra before they take on the Quakers? I wonder when was the last time a non-Big 5 team visited the Palestra during the regular season to play two different teams. I’m sure it’s happened before.

NB: I found this news from former DP writer Jonnathan Tannenwald’s college sports blog, Soft Pretzel Logic. I strongly suggest you check it out since it’s clearly the best professional blog about college sports in the Philly region.

For a team with seven sophomores and freshmen and no seniors in the 10-man rotation, Villanova will look a bit different in the next couple of years.

The Wildcats had been as busy as any other college team last week. On Wednesday, Villanova lost one of the biggest recruits of the year to Memphis in Tyreke Evans.

This came days after Villanova landed a big transfer in Duke freshman Taylor King, and then two days later lost freshman guard Malcolm Grant to Miami.

In 9.7 minutes per game, the 6-foot-6 forward averaged 5.5 points and 2.0 rebounds for the Blue Devils. For the Wildcats, Grant averaged a similar 12.7 minutes per game and 5.6 points, but started four times and shot 47 percent from beyond the arc.

Grant played a significant role in the beginning of the season for Villanova, but gradually he fell out of favor with Jay Wright. After dropping 22 points in a 64-63 win over Pitt, Grant played zero minutes in the NCAA Tournament (against Clemson, Siena and Kansas), and one in the two games in the Big East Tournament.

After a season that lasts five months, players are, needless to say, exhausted. Still, college basketball teams have already started up workouts and semi-practices to get ready for the 2008-09 season.

Saint Joseph’s men’s coach Phil Martelli has a lighter, more unconventional approach.

“What we’ve been doing for the last two-and-a-half to three weeks is just shooting,” Martelli said. “We do some heavy lifting to try to get some bulk, but we try to stay off of their legs. We don’t let them play any pickup, and we very rarely will play one-on-one.”

Pumping iron is a huge part of any college basketball team’s offseason regiment, and the Hawks are no different. Players are often known to drop a lot of weight during the season.

“That’s something that we pay a lot of attention to, [but] we weren’t as bad this year,” Martelli said.

There has been vast debate among fans as well as experts about whether Villanova shooting guard Scottie Reynolds will make a good NBA player. Some people view him as a first-round pick, and others believe he’ll be playing the majority of his career overseas.

But that time might not come yet.

According to a spokesman from Villanova athletic communications, they “have no announcements planned for Scottie relative to the NBA and fully expect him to be a part of the men’s basketball team in 2008-09.”

Villanova would not make Reynolds available for comment.

After a spectacular freshman season, Reynolds was good in 2007-08, but he wasn’t Superman. The First-Team All-Big 5 selection averaged 15.9 points per game and hit 38.3 percent from three, but perhaps as a result of having to take the team on his back in the early parts of the season, he shot only 41.2 percent from the field and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.06.

Coming off of the NCAA Tournament run, should Reynolds go to the league? Leave your comments below.

While running on the treadmill at Pottruck today, I caught a few minutes of the college basketball skills competition on ESPN. La Salle’s Darnell Harris took home the three-point contest title, knocking off Chris Lofton of Tennessee. Harris’ strategy was to shoot set shots, barely lifting his feet off the ground, to prevent himself from tiring out. Highlights of the contest and an interview with Harris can be found here. And would you guess which team held him to his lowest, single-game three-point total in non-conference play this season…

For the Villanova-Kansas and Wisconsin-Davidson games Friday night in the Midwest regional in Detroit, Ford Field is going for a novel approach.

As done at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, many football arenas which host basketball games have always put the court in one end of the stadium and placed seats on one side of the court. But this season, in Detroit and Houston, the courts are going smack dab in the middle of the stadium. With seats all around (see below link for a picture) the court, it will be able to fit 70,000 people, and will be a new feeling for the players - especially for jump shooters with nothing behind the baskets.

As the New York Times reports (no, it’s not Stephen Danley), the court is also 27 inches above the ground, much like it is at Vanderbilt or Minnesota.

I can’t say if this will help one team or the other, but anything that could screw up a guy like Mario Chalmers or Brandon Rush is a good thing for ‘Nova.

To start off, I believe that as a Penn fan you have to root for Cornell.

Not only are the Big Red repping the Ivy League, former Penn assistant Steve Donahue is as likable a guy as it gets. Cornell is clearly better than anyone else in the Ivies and deserves to be there. The Big Red also don’t dive like Brown, cheat like Harvard, or pop their collars like Princeton. Okay, never mind, we like to do that too.

Anyway, No. 14 Cornell, No. 11 Saint Joseph’s, No. 12 Temple and No. 12 Villanova are all underdogs, but some aren’t by much.

In Vegas, No. 6 Oklahoma is a mere 1.5-point favorite over the Hawks - the only line that’s more even is No. 7 Miami vs. No. 10 St. Mary’s. Temple is +6.5 against No.5 Michigan State and Villanova is +6 against No. 5 Clemson. Finally, Cornell is getting 14.5 points against the No. 3 Cardinal.

First, I truly believe St. Joe’s is going to win. Not only are the Sooners slightly overseeded in many people’s minds, the Hawks are a very good team. Ahmad Nivins and Rob Ferguson are forces down low, Darrin Govens and Tasheed Carr are good ball-handlers and scorers, the lanky Garrett Williamson is a solid defender and 6-foot-10 guard Pat Calathes is a matchup problem for anyone. If you’re a traditional guard, he’ll shoot over you. If you’re a forward, he’s drive right past you.

Also, the Hawks play their best basketball when they are desperate.

St. Joe’s made a nice run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, soundly beating Fordham, Richmond and then 3-seed Xavier, all games it needed to win. Perhaps once rumblings started of them being in the NCAA Tourney even with a loss to Temple, the Hawks lost the desperation Phil Martelli wanted them to be playing with, and dropped a 69-64 decision to their Philly rivals. When I stepped into their locker room, it was dead silent, and Ive never seen someone look as angry and depressed as the captain Carr was after that game. Look for St. Joe’s to come out firing against a team it can definitely beat.

Temple will have to play a very good game for an upset, while Villanova and Cornell will have to play great ones.

The Owls are playing great basketball, and should have been higher than a 12-seed. Michigan State is a great team, but not only guards Mark Tyndale (an absolute beast - had 15 rebounds against Charlotte in the semifinal) and Dionte Christmas (can score with the best of them) are playing well, the supporting cast - from 5-8 Chris Clark to 6-9 Lavoy Allen to 7-foot Sergio Olmos - is better than it ever has been. This should be a game, and it’s hard to pick against the Owls.

Villanova and Cornell may have a shot, but it’s slim. The Wildcats slip into the Tournament, and play Clemson, a team that really has Final 4 potential. The Tigers are 4-5 against Tournament teams, but four of those losses are to North Carolina or Duke, including having fallen twice to the Tar Heels in overtime and again last weekend by a thread. Scotty Reynolds is getting more help these days, but K.C. Rivers and Clemson’s multiple big men inside as well as shooter Terrence Oglesby should be too much for Villanova

True, it didn’t do much in the non-conference schedule, but it’s hard to go against Cornell’s win streak. Still, does it have a shot of stopping the Lopez twins? Probably not. But any team that shoots as well as the Big Red do, both from the field (49.2 percent, 41.4 from three) as well as from the line (76.3 percent) can be prime for a big upset.

We all knew that Fran Dunphy and his Temple Owls would be going to the Big Dance after beating St. Joe’s in the A-10 championship on Saturday, but the Hawks’ fate was uncertain. After yesterday’s loss, Phil Martelli said, “I’ve told everybody, if you believe in a greater power than us, pray your (butt) off. Right now, I have to believe in the power of prayer.”

Maybe it has something to do with Easter weekend approaching, but not only were Martelli’s prayers answered — so too were those of Holy War rival Villanova. Both Big 5 squads were very much on the bubble heading into today, and both found their way into the tournament bracket.

While Villanova snagged a 12 seed, St. Joe’s wound up with an 11 seed, which is a bit suspect. Why? Because Temple, the A-10 champion, got stuck with a 12 seed. The two teams split the regular season series, but the Owls beat the Hawks in the A-10 championship game, when it counted most. It seems pretty unfair that the Hawks would wind up with the better seed. But hey, it’s just one seed, and when has the tournament selection committee ever been perfectly accurate or fair?

And to top it all off, Notre Dame won more games this season than it ever has before, earning a 5 seed. The dozen or so of you non-Jews at Penn clearly need to go to church more often.

In any event, it is the first time since 1999 that three Big 5 teams have made the tournament. Now, in the one year that Penn finally fails to make the tourney, you have your pick of Cornell or three Big 5 teams to root for.

ATLANTIC CITY — It’s over, the Owls are dancing! The Temple fans streak onto the court and the players go berserk. Christmas rips his shirt off and runs to the sideline, and the bench streaks toward center court. I couldn’t see who, but someone has grabbed Clark and is carrying him off the court. Olmos is flipping out as well. Christmas now is hugging a relative while holding back tears and shouting the whole time.

It was a great game, even though the very end wasn’t down to the wire. Carr turned it on in the second half, and Nivins had a great game, but the collective effort of the Owls was too much, all the way in the second half.

FINAL: Temple 69, St. Joe’s 64

Box score 

Owls fans are getting ready to rush the court… They start the chant “The Hawk is dead” and Hawks fans claim again it “will never die.”

0:06.1 2nd Half: Temple 68, St. Joe’s 61

The Temple fans are sensing it happening. Carr cuts it to four with a drive, but Brooks hits two on the line.

Tyndale finally hits from the line and it is just about done.

0:20.3 2nd Half: Temple 64, St. Joe’s 59

Calathes spins toward the hoop, and can’t seem to go anywhere. He gets the ball back and misses a three.

Tyndale misses free throws, and Carr misses another three for the Hawks.

0:48.8 2nd Half: Temple 63, St. Joe’s 59

Calathes drains a jumper over Tyndale, just after Tyndale missed two free throws.

Wow, Christmas strips Calathes going to the hoop, and Clark goes to the line for two.

2:27 2nd Half: Temple 63, St. Joe’s 57

Nivins makes both free throws off of the offensive board, but Tyndale drives the lane and finds Brooks on the outside for a triple.

Finally. Calathes hits a three as Tyndale floated to far in help defense, and Carr capitalizes off of a Tyndale miss hard in the lane.

Clark drives, though, and finds Brooks for an easy two. Carr manhandles Brooks once again, though.

But Tyndale takes it into his own hands, again, stepping through for the and-1 to takes a six-point lead. Tyndale then goes back to beating Calathes, this time dishing to Christmas inside.

8:12 2nd Half: Temple 53, St. Joe’s 46

The Hawks fans chant “airball” as Brooks misses from three, and the Owls fans come back with “scoreboard!” I really don’t think “scoreboard” is a valid chant when you’re up six.
Brooks follows that up with an an-1 from 13 feet out, pumping his fist after. There have been a lot of fouls called, maybe a few too many.

9:41 2nd Half: Temple 49, St. Joe’s 44

Calathes is sitcking to Clark, even on screens. Martelli really wants to keep the little man off his game, but it’s not working - Allen hits again.

Christmas is money on a three on the pass from Clark, and the Hawks are in big trouble. Calathes hits a three of his own, though, and it’s back to a 6-pt game.

Then, Allen’s pass to Clark in the corner gets blocked, and the Hawks get the ball back to Nivins inside, and he makes two from the line.

The crowd for both teams is getting louder as the lead is four….

11:52 2nd Half: Temple 43, St. Joe’s 37

Olmos and Nivins can’t convert, and Christmas misses over two guys.

Allen scores inside, but Carr gets three of those points back with an and-1 layup. Calathes is guarding Clark, though it might just be for a possession. Nope, he’s really guarding him.

As a result, Temple works the high-low, and Olmos scores and and-1. Tyndale clenches his fists. This has truly been a fantastic run for Temple, and an equally-amazing collapse for the Hawks. They have scored five points in eight minutes, and were on a five-minutes scoring drought.

It’s a great atmosphere here, both fan groups have been loud, though it’s been Temple producing the noise as of late.

14:53 2nd Half: Temple 39, St. Joe’s 34

Allen dunks around Ferguson in a play that was a lot easier than it should have been. And after a nice skip pass from Tyndale, Christmas hits a well-contested three over Carr.

Nivins scores a nasty tip-in, but Christmas penetrates the lane effortlessly for a layup.

Clark has missed two threes from the corner, but both have been rebounded offensively. Olmos now gets fouled on that possession, and the Owls all of a sudden have a chance to take the lead.

And Clark does just that. And more.

He has the gravitas to attempt yet another corner three, and Clark drains it to take Temple’s first lead of the game. Then Clark plucks Calathes’ pocket and hangs in the air to avoid Carr’s defense to take a five-point lead.

Stats: With Calathes playing only 13 minutes and taking four shots, Govens and Nivins are taking control of the game, scoring nine and 12 points, respectively. Like Govens, Christmas is 4-for-8, but the guard has netted 12 points. Allen has played well inside again for Temple, getting those two blocks as well as four rebounds.

St. Joe’s has made almost twice as many shots as the Owls (13-of-30 to Temple’s 7-of-25). The teams are equal in rebounding, but Temple has committed eight turnovers compared to only four assists.

Halftime: Temple 25, St. Joe’s 32

Man, Clark just hit a huge three. He’s so fast he was essentially guarded by no one after a jab step, and hits the trey.

Martelli deftly calls a timeout with 5.4 seconds remaining in the half. Unlike the second half, the clock keeps running, and it takes three ticks to inbound the ball, so the Hawks save a possession, but Ferguson misses a three.

0:30.4 1st Half: Temple 22, St. Joe’s 32

Olmos finally slows Nivins down, forcing im to shoot a bad hook, but the next possession Nivins once again scores at will.

Brooks gets the ball over Nivins on the perimeter, but doesn’t realize the shot clock is running down until it’s too late.

Calathes is called for travel, or carry or something. I didn’t see anything. Brooks airballs another shot, and Olmos barely gets a layup off before getting fouled.

Clark was just guarding Calathes, funniest thing ever, 14-inch difference. Well, not funny for the Owls. Calathes gets doubled because of it, and Ferguson is wide open for a three which he of course hits. He just might get one of my five votes for all-tourney team.

3:36 1st Half: Temple 21, St. Joe’s 27

Nivins hits an elbow jumper, and Govens scores yet again on a drive. The Hawks always seem to have someone in double

Christmas makes it look easy, hitting another three over Williamson.

Thanks to a screen, Calathes gets by Tyndale and slaps the backboard for a layup, but Christmas is doing his best Darnell Harris impression, nailing a 25 footer. Williamson’s long arms can do nothing about that.

7:46 1st Half: Temple 15, St. Joe’s 21

My, how the tides have changed.

Christmas simply takes the ball from Arvydas Lidzius at midcourt, and scores. The Owls’ 3/4 press doesn’t work, but Lidzius misses from point-blank range.

Then Dionte pulls up from NBA range and sinks it in Williamson’s eye, and as the lanky guard falls on him, it’s a four-point play.

Calathes is back in the game, surprisingly, and misses a three. Govens helps out with another jumper.

Coming off playing the entire game yesterday, Allen throws Idris Hilliard’s shot away, and then has another spectacular block on Nivins, but he’s whistled for a foul on the rebound, and the Owls fans go ballistic.

11:49 1st Half: Temple 5, St. Joe’s 15

Calathes picks up his second foul already, and is out of the game in favor of Garrett Williamson. That’s about the only thing that’s gone wrong for the Hawks.

Christmas misses two threes on one possession, Tyndale misses, gets his own rebound and then misses again. Even Chris Clark bricks a three. On the other end, Govens and company are draining everything.

15:46 1st Half: Temple 5, St. Joe’s 8

The crowd is now almost full, the most packed I’ve ever seen this building, and definitely the loudest. The chants were tame before the game, but the Temple fans booed Phil Martelli when he walked out. That’s just unnecessary.

Govens connects from the elbow, and as Martelli yells something to ref Joe DeMayo, and immediately Guzman is whistled for a carry. Olmos can’t convert and neither can Allen on a jumper, but Calathes misses a three and Ferguson picks up a bad foul on a rebound.

Allen somehow forgets about Nivins, and he scores on a layup inside. Tyndale gets the ball, maybe for the first time of the game, and gets fouled by Calathes on a three. He hits all of the freebies.

Nivins just beasts Olmos inside, nastily dunking on him from the reverse angle. The teams trade layup, and then Carr drives into the lane and somehow finds Nivins on the other side of the paint, and he’s fouled.

______

We’ve eliminated 10 teams, but the Big 5 rules the Atlantic 10 championship game. After demolishing Fordham and Richmond, the Hawks knocked off top-seeded Xavier to enter the title game, facing Temple for the third time this year. With an RPI of 42, the Hawks may get into the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens tonight. Temple has won six straight games and is undefeated in March. The Owls knocked off La Salle in the first round, and fairly easily took out Charlotte last night to reach the final.

The last time these two teams met it was a fantastic game, and even that didn’t quite live up to what happened in the first meeting. With 3.9 seconds left, Calathes sank a three to put the Hawks up by one, but Mark Tyndale came storming down the court and got off a layup at the buzzer, but at the top of its arc, Nivins swatted it away, and the Hawks won. The second time around, the Hawks led by double-figures most of the game until Tyndale scored the game’s final basket with 20 seconds left and the Owls won the rematch.

___

There is a half-hour until tipoff, and this game already has the feel of a Big 5 game. There aren’t a huge number of fans present, but the student sections have already begun chanting at each other.

Starters:

St. Joe’s:
G Darrin Govens
G Tasheed Carr
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins

Temple:
G Luis Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

ATLANTIC CITY — The Big 5 is in the Tournament. Temple faces St. Joe’s in the A-10 final. The first two meetings were so amazing, the final of the Atlantic 10 Tournament has big shoes to fill. ESPN will also know it’s going to get a big crowd tomorrow.

FINAL: Temple 60, Charlotte 45

What a performance from the Big 5 today, the 30-year streak is left intact.

Tyndale is called for a travel while fighting for possession, and he is less than pleased.

Gerrity airballs a three. The crowd chants “We want St. Joe’s!” They know this one is done.

1:37 2nd Half: Temple 58, Charlotte 44

Tyndale double-dribbles, and Charlotte gets it back with 1:50 to go. Goldwire clanks another three, once again, and Charlotte’s time is running out. The Big 5 is 1:37 away from getting a team in the Tourney for sure.

2:09 2nd Half: Temple 55, Charlotte 44

Allen fights for another box out, and goes to the line when someone goes over his back.

I just keep waiting for Goldwire to take over, but it just hasn’t happened. Immediately following me typing that, he makes a lefty layup. But hey, the Hawks have to be happy it’s that, not a three. He hits four of those per game, and a good amount come in the final minutes, as UMass found out last night.

2:44 2nd Half: Temple 51, Charlotte 39

I get shorted out from the connection again, but basically Charlotte scored a few quick hoops to get within five, but the Owls started draining as well, inluding a Tyndale three from the top of the key.

7:59 2nd Half: Temple 44, Charlotte 36

Allen signals the end of Mack’s easy inside scoring with a big-time block off the glass.

Brooks drives, and somehow finds the space to fit in a layup from the baseline angle. Mack misses a three, hits two from the line and now comes out in favor of Goldwire.

Allen skies through the lane, but the rebound is off of him. Coley, now, does the coasting through the air, on his way to an and-1. Charlotte gets the ball back on the free throw, but Mack misses a three, and Tyndale gets into the lane for a deuce.

Clark throws up an airball and Goldwire answers with a huge three. All of a sudden, it’s a five-point game.

11:40 2nd Half: Temple 40, Charlotte 32

Tyndale goes flying over Charles Dewhurst’s back, and a foul is commited. I don’t know how that is called, I thought the ball was out of bounds first on the top of the backboard.

Michael Gerrity blows an open layup, but Goldwire drains a three. Finally. Tyndale hustles to force another possession on a board, and Brooks scores inside.

Tyndale gets fouled, and then is warned by the referee quietly about shooting after the whistle. In soccer, that’d be a yellow card.

Mack scores inside again, Tyndale commits a hard charge and this game is getting close.

15:23 2nd Half: Temple 38, Charlotte 25

Christmas follows a Mack layin with a beautiful one himself, putting just enough english on it. Just as I write this, Tyndale goes to the hoop for a strong and-1.

Once again, Olmos is in foul trouble with his third. He has some work to go to pull off a third-straight game in double-figures.

But the focus is back onto Temple’s self-proclaimed one-two punch. Christmas splashes in a three and the Owls are up 15.

Charlotte hits two free throws, and Mack draws an offensive foul. Wilderness now hits a big basket to get a withing striking distance of striking distance.

In transition, the Owls strike easily, as Christmas gets it to Tyndale, who sends the ball Brooks’ way for a layin.

For some reason Olmos is standing up on the bench. I feel bad for the seven-feet-worth of fans sitting behind him.
Halftime stats: The Owls lead by nine, and a major reason why is that the 49ers have gone 3-for-16 from three. Goldwire has two makes to eight misses. The defense has been great, and we’ll see if they can keep it up.

Halftime: Temple 28, Charlotte 19

Clark gets all three from the stripe to fall, and Temple gets a little lead going again. Tyndale builds on it with an and-1 to go up 10, but only after a great block by Allen on Goldwire.

Christmas strips Coley, and the Owls get their star sophomore to the line with a backdoor cut.

The half ends with Mack expertly stripping Tyndale, and he is livid about that.

3:59 1st Half: Temple 22, Charlotte 14

Tyndale turns it over badly, but Charlotte misses yet another three. They live and die by that shot - the 49ers were down 34-19, I believe to UMass and came back to win.

Clark isn’t scared to launch again after missing twice, and drains a triple.

Semaj Inge loses the ball, but Tyndale gets it back and finds Clark, who gets fouled on a three.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 19, Charlotte 14

Ian Anderson finally gets the Owls into double-figures, and Wilderness scores to cut the early lead to seven. He then scores again, and this is really a game once again.

Clark misses two threes by a bit, and Charlotte gets a chance to make it a one-possession game from the line.

9:15 1st Half: Temple 19, Charlotte 9

Chris Clark is in the game now for Temple after his big shooting night in the first half. He was peculiarly laying down on hisstomach before coming in. Maybe it was in order to stretch his back, but I don’t think that was it. They didn’t have enough chairs on the bench.

Christmas gets a hand out on a Goldwire three, and Clark buries it for Temple. It has been a long, long time since the 49ers scored. They have two threes, but that’s about it, and they have attempted a whole lot more than two.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 16, Charlotte 8

Christmas misses some free throws, but Allen corrals the rebound. Tyndale has a great box out to get the rebound over a 49er, andthen drives for a layup.

Allen now gets his full hand on a shot, and Olmos finishes at the other wnd with a big dunk. Normally stoic, he is pumped, yelling “let’s go!” while running down the court.

Goldwire finally sticks a three and Tyndale answers. Goldwire tries another and misses, while Tyndale beasts his way for an acrobatic offensive board and putback, then dives on the ground for a loose ball. He’s willing to get his all-white shoes dirty today. Just due to his tenacity, he’s probably the Big 5 Player of the Year in my book.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 7, Charlotte 5

Goldwire has missed two threes to start it off, but they’ve barely stayed out. He won the game for them last time, and is ready to do it again. He won’t score right away, but draws a quick charge on Christmas.

Olmos is playing with a little passion, powering his way to the hoop. Meanwhile, Mack connects on his second shot, putting his team on the board with four minutes gone.

Guzman is left wide open, and he hits a three, only to be answered by Goldwire. Over Olmos. Impressive.

Starters:

Temple:
G Luiz Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

Charlotte:
G Leemire Goldwire
G Dijuan Harris
F Charlie Coley
F Lamont Mack
F An’Juan Wilderness