Fastbreak Friday: No. 3 Villanova charging toward tournament play

Share

Fastbreak Friday is a weekly preview of the weekend's local college basketball action. CSN anchor/reporter Amy Fadool and CSN producer Sean Kane provide their analysis on all the games involving city teams and predict the outcomes. This is the final Fastbreak Friday of the season — the college basketball regular season ends this weekend. Season prediction records can be found at the bottom of the column.

Georgetown (14-16, 7-10 Big East) at No. 3 Villanova (26-4, 15-2 Big East), Saturday, 12 p.m.

SK: Villanova enters its final game of the regular season having already wrapped up a third consecutive Big East regular season championship. The Wildcats will once again be the No. 1 seed at next week's Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. There is still plenty to play for on Saturday against Georgetown, a win keeps Villanova on track to claim a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, you can't talk about Villanova the past few years without talking about the NCAA Tournament. There is no getting around the fact that the Wildcats lost in the first weekend of the Big Dance each of the past two years — in 2014 as a No. 2 seed and again last year as a No. 1 seed. Jay Wright and his players do an admirable job of discussing their recent NCAA Tournament failures. They've been asked about it constantly, starting in November when the season began.

I understand the NCAA Tournament is what everyone remembers. It's worked in Villanova's favor over the years as well. No one remembers that the 1985 Villanova team lost 10 games in the regular season. All anyone cares about is that team's magical run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating with a win for the ages over Georgetown in the title game. And 2008 is a more recent example, one that Wright often cites. Villanova was the last team in the NCAA Tournament, grabbing an at-large bid as a No. 12 seed. The Wildcats went on to win a couple of games and advance to the Sweet 16. That's all anyone remembers about that 2008 team.

So, it works both ways, and the last few years it's worked against Villanova. But it would be unfortunate to let those NCAA Tournament shortcomings completely negate what the Wildcats have accomplished in the last three regular seasons. The numbers are staggering. Villanova has a 88-12 record the last three years, equating to a robust .880 winning percentage. The Wildcats are 47-6 in Big East play over that span. They have carried the banner for the revamped Big East, taking everyone's best shot along the way and continuing to dominate the competition. The result has been those three consecutive regular season titles and the opportunity to win a second straight Big East Tournament next week.

The college basketball regular season is a four-month grind. It's a grueling process for 18- to 22-year-old kids. Elite teams often lose to lesser teams simply because they didn't put forth the appropriate amount of effort on a random Tuesday night in February. That doesn't happen to Villanova — the Wildcats bring it every night. It's a credit to Wright and his staff as well as the caliber of players they recruit.

Villanova will take care of business at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday against a Georgetown team playing out the string of a disappointing season. It wouldn't be a surprise to see junior Kris Jenkins lead the way. Jenkins is playing the best basketball of his career. He scored a career-high 31 points in a win over DePaul on Tuesday, and is averaging 23 points in his last four games. Jenkins is a Washington D.C. native and he would love to put on a show against his hometown Hoyas.

This will be Villanova's final regular season game at the Wells Fargo Center this year. But the Wildcats hope to return to the familiar confines of South Philadelphia for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the NCAA Tournament later this month. But first things first for a Wildcats team that prides itself on focusing on the task at hand. That's beating Georgetown to put the finishing touches on a 27-win regular season.

Villanova 81, Georgetown 65

Duquesne (15-15, 5-12 A-10) at St. Joe's (24-6, 13-4 A-10), Saturday, 4 p.m.

SK: St. Joe's dropped into a three-way tie for second place in the Atlantic 10 following Wednesday's loss at St. Bonaventure. The Hawks could use a win over Duquesne on Saturday for a number of reasons — the most important of which being seeding in next week's A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn. St. Joe's could pull even with VCU atop the league standings with a win Saturday and a VCU loss at Dayton. However, VCU owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. Joe's thanks to the Rams' win over the Hawks in early January. Dayton and St. Bonaventure could also finish the regular season 14-4 in conference play, further complicating A-10 tournament seeding and who would actually call themselves the league's regular season champions.

The Hawks could also use a little breathing room in the NCAA Tournament selection process. St. Joe's would be in the Field of 68 if the tournament started today, but things tend to become unpredictable once the conference tournaments begin. A win over Duquesne to wrap up the regular season in addition to at least one win in the A-10 Tournament would seem to give the Hawks solid footing in terms of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

But if you ask Phil Martelli and his players, they'd like to win Saturday simply to erase the bad taste in their mouths from Wednesday's 98-90 loss at St. Bonaventure. The Hawks allowed Bonnies senior guard Marcus Posley to pour in 47 points — the most points by one player in a Division I game this season. St. Joe's had four players score 18 points or more in the loss. Offense clearly wasn't the problem. Not being able to find a way to slow down Posley was the difference in the game.

St. Joe's should have little trouble on its home floor against Duquesne. The Hawks will be motivated on a number of fronts while the Dukes have little to play for and are limping to the season's finish line with losses in their last eight games. Hagan Arena will be rocking Saturday afternoon as St. Joe's looks to gather as much momentum as possible heading into the conference tournament. Expect the Hawks to set the tone early and cruise to a decisive win.

St. Joe's 82, Duquesne 61   

Temple (19-10, 13-4 AAC) at Tulane (10-20, 3-14 AAC), Sunday, 2 p.m.

AF: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It's the opening line of the Dickens classic, "A Tale Of Two Cities."

So what does the literary classic have to do with the Owls' game against Tulane. Well, nothing really, but it's a tale of two teams, one the best of the conference, one of the worst. When I saw the AAC standings, it was the first thing that came into my head, because who doesn't love to quote Dickens, am I right?

Thanks to the win over Memphis in Thursday, Temple locked up the top seed in next week's American Athletic Conference Tournament. The Green Wave, meanwhile, are at the very bottom of the league. So with three wins, they subsequently locked up the bottom seed, if there is such a thing.

In the win over Memphis, another balanced scoring attack paced the Owls to a victory. It was very balanced, actually, because for the second time this season, five Temple players scored in double figures. And on senior day, Jaylen Bond posted his eighth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls are still without freshman Trey Lowe, who's recovering from injuries he suffered this week in an auto accident. He's been a valued contributor, especially late this season. No update right now on if he will return for next week's conference tournament.

Temple should have little trouble with Tulane, though the game has no impact on the standings or seedings for next week. But I'm sure Fran Dunphy would prefer his team end the season with a positive vibe and head into the AAC Tournament with some momentum. It would also give Temple it's 20th win of the season, and that's usually a magical number to the NCAA Tournament committee.

Temple 77, Tulane 70

La Salle (8-20, 3-14 A-10) at Massachusetts (12-17, 5-12 A-10), Saturday 3 p.m.

AF: Don't look now, but the Explorers are on a two-game win streak and have won three of their last five. OK, you can look. It's the end of the season. Mercifully, La Salle is trying to end its forgettable season on a high note. And winning their last regular season game would certainly help get just a little of the bad taste out of the team's mouths, though it certainly can't erase the fact that it's been one of the worse seasons at 20th and Olney in 20 years. Back in the 1995-1996 season, the Explorers won only six games.

The good news, they can't do worse than that and can earn their ninth win of the year on Saturday. The bad news is the game is on the road, a place where La Salle has only one win this year. So it'll be an uphill battle.

But Dr. Giannini's team is playing better ball as of late. Cleon Roberts shined with 24 points, thanks to a career high six three-pointers in the win over Saint Louis. And in the game before, also an identical 76-68 win over George Mason, it was Jordan Price leading the way with 24 points.

In both games the Explorers had to fight off late comebacks by their opponent and in the Saint Louis win, the Billikens got as close as five points.

So defense will have to be the focus for La Salle this weekend. UMass is capable of scoring with the better teams in the A-10, but they are confounding, losing to lowly Fordham while beating VCU. It'll be senior day for three of the Minutemen's top four scorers, Trey Davis, Jabarie Hinds Antwan Space. Those three combine to average nearly 41 points. So they'll be a handful as UMass looks to close out its own disappointing season on a high note.

UMass 74, La Salle 70

Pennsylvania (11-14, 5-6 Ivy) at Dartmouth (9-17, 3-9 Ivy), Friday 7 p.m.

Pennsylvania (11-14, 5-6 Ivy) at Harvard (12-16, 4-8 Ivy), Saturday 7 p.m.

SK: I expect this weekend to offer proof that Steve Donahue has the Penn program trending in the right direction. Last Saturday's blowout loss to Columbia was discouraging, but it shouldn't overshadow the fact the Quakers had won five of their previous seven games or that Penn's 11 wins this season are the most the program has had since the 2011-2012 season. Donahue can coach and he has some nice young pieces to build with moving forward. I've always been of the belief that Donahue will get the Penn program back on track and competing for Ivy League titles. His first season has done nothing to change my mind. 

The Quakers beat Dartmouth and Harvard last month at the Palestra by seven and 10 points, respectively. Things figure to be a little more difficult on the road this weekend, but it shouldn't be anything that Penn can't handle. A pair of wins this weekend would ensure that the Quakers finish at least .500 in conference play. That would be a big deal for a program that went 9-19 against Ivy League competition the previous two years.

I say Penn completes a road sweep this weekend with senior big man Darien Nelson-Henry leading the way.

Penn 68, Dartmouth 63

Penn 71, Harvard 68

Drexel (5-24, 3-15 CAA) vs. Elon (16-15, 7-11 CAA), Friday 6 p.m. (Opening round of CAA Tournament)

AF: It's tournament time for the CAA and the Dragons are in Baltimore hoping to salvage something from a very unenviable season.

Drexel ended the regular season last weekend with a loss on senior day to Northeastern. It was a game in which the Dragons led for a majority of time, but not when it counted most. Like we've seen all too often this season, a lead vanished in the closing minutes of the second half and Drexel walked away winless and looking for answers on the defensive end. Certainly a disappointing end for senior Tavon Allen, who poured in 27 points in the loss.

The season is almost over for Bruiser Flint's crew and I think he and they will all agree with me when I say they just want to put this one behind them, and fast.

But making a little noise in the CAA would help get through the off season a bit easier. And by a "little noise," I mean at least winning a game in the conference tournament, something Drexel didn't do last year.

The Dragons face Elon, a team they saw just a few weeks ago. They also saw the familiar result of a late lead evaporating and a loss. But Drexel should be able to learn from that game, and all the others, to put up a defensive front the whole 40 minutes and stave off any late run. Easier said than done, clearly.

I picked Drexel last week, and it almost paid off. I just couldn't pick against them on senior day after this season of discontent. If there's a trophy handed out to the winner of the FastBreak Friday predictions (hint: there isn't, no matter what Sean Kane says), I'm not winning it. So let's go out with a bang!

Drexel 72, Elon 68  

Prediction Records

Sean Kane: 30-6

Amy Fadool: 24-11

Contact Us