February College Basketball Report
Brad Diamond Sports
Villanova
I can recall picking up the Starbucks edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday morning, noting the definitive headline on the face of the sports page, “Crushed by Orange.” The Nova Nation is surely in the finger pointing stage as their ‘Cats are going dancing into March, knowing they will not be a #1 seed in the Corporate Clash on Selection Sunday. Some of the pointing should be at HC Jay “Pinstripe” Wright for not seeing the big picture early in the season. The Nova 4-Guard offense is outstanding when you need a small lineup to combat the obvious. However, Wright seemed more intent on developing that winning streak, instead of cultivating the inside game of the club. Saturday night in Syracuse the horn blew, and can you imagine, the coach actually started one of his many prized recruits, Mouphtaou Yarou (6 ' 10”) to battle the frontline of the Orange. Yarou showed big considering his lack of quality playing time taking down 8 rebounds and scoring 13. However, the ‘Cats were out rebounded 48-36 with Syracuse pulling down 22 offensive boards. The assist-to-turnover ratio was 2-1 for Syracuse illustrating their outstanding play on the break. The kids at Neumann-Goretti High School, where F-C Rick Jackson matriculated, all thought the Orange AA type made a mistake by leaving Philly. Jimmy B. did it again, comes into our area and takes the quality talent. This leads to our premise that Syracuse will, most likely, garner a #1 seed in the East. Villanova will definitely take a hit from their backers as the line movement shifted down on Saturday, indicating the sports-betting public was going to the underdog.
The Vegas Brain Trust took home the cash with that Orange statement. The Nova Nation is streaking, losing 4 of their last 7 SU, 6 of 8 against the Las Vegas Line. Interesting the last four non-covers for the ‘Cats were all on odd number days, the final regular season tilt versus Cincinnati and West Virginia, March 2nd & 6th obviously are even numbered events. Check out the Wildcats major rebound this week. One final note, Syracuse is now ranked #1 in the major polls, the first time since 2003.
Temple
The Owls closed down the Explorers early in second-half yesterday with a 17-0 run The LaSalle zone cam out flat footed after the break which pretty much ended any chance of turning around the event. The Owls are now tied for first place in the A-10 with Xavier who survived Richmond on Sunday. The win pushed the Temple mark to 4-0 in the historic Big-5 solidifying a championship. If current form holds the Owls, along with Villanova could secure a top-four seed in the NCAA tourney. That would be the first time since 1988 a Philly group earned such an honor. Currently, Dunphy ' s Owls are 11-3 on the road and now must close out the season with a visit to St. Louis and a home game with George Washington. Temple is 3-6 ATS on the road last nine times out, so you could be looking at a Bills side on Wednesday night. St. Louis ' biggest headache, trying distract the inside defense of Temple ' s Lavoy Allen who turned out to be one of the best defenders nationally.
Colonial Athletic Conference Notes
Huge letdowns in the CAA have been Drexel and Delaware. HC Bruiser Flint of Drexel has tough guards, a competitive inside game, but horrible shooters. You can hang tough with solid guards and strong defense, but the unit will eventually wear down if the shooting marks are always under 40%. On the season, the Dragons are averaging just 63.8 points per game #275 nationally. Delaware is ranked slightly higher with 63.9. On Friday Delaware plays from their 6th seed position versus James Madison in the CAA tournament. Old Dominion won the in-season conference title with a 15-3 SU mark, but troubling signs were evident in the Bracket-Busters event last week. Northern Iowa without outstanding guards and long-range shooting buried the Monarchs. ODU did not help themselves with careless turnovers and mental errors. My choice to win the CAA Championship is Northeastern.