CSN anchor/reporter Amy Fadool and producer Sean Kane get you set for all of the weekend's local college basketball games with Fastbreak Friday. Look for this column every Friday during the college basketball season.
St. John's (11-13, 5-6 Big East) at No. 4 Villanova (21-2, 8-2 Big East), Saturday 8 p.m.
SK: This is the second meeting of the season between Villanova and St. John's — the Wildcats outlasted the Red Storm, 70-57, three weeks ago at Madison Square Garden. Both teams come into Saturday's rematch at the Wells Fargo Center riding positive momentum. Villanova clawed past Virginia on Sunday before winning at Providence on Wednesday, while St. John's is coming off a very impressive 14-point win over Marquette. That would be the same Marquette team that beat Villanova 10 days ago.
St. John's has shown significant improvement in Chris Mullin's second season as head coach. After going 1-17 in Big East play a year ago, the Red Storm already have five league wins this season and 11 overall. There have been some impressive victories — at Syracuse, at home over Butler, at Providence and this week's home win over Marquette. Mullin's guards led the way Wednesday against Marquette. The trio of Bashir Ahmed, Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett combined for 58 points and shot a collective 49 percent from the field.
Before we get to the guard that has been steering the ship for Villanova, a salute to the Wildcats' senior class. Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds won their 118th career game Wednesday at Providence. That breaks the school record for most wins by a class set last year by Ryan Arcidiacono, Daniel Ochefu and company. Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds have a 118-15 record at Villanova and are 56-8 in Big East games. Their accomplishments have been listed in this column previously but they bear repeating — a national championship, three Big East titles, one Big East Tournament title, a perfect 16-0 Big 5 record, and they are yet to lose a game on campus at the Pavilion. This is a truly remarkable class and their run is far from over.
As impressive as the seniors have been, Villanova's best player over the last two weeks has been sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson. He had a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting against Providence, and his steal and subsequent three-point play with 40 seconds remaining put the game out of reach. Brunson's performance Wednesday came on the heels of a gritty 15-point effort in last weekend's 61-59 win over Virginia. He went 9 of 10 from the foul line in that game and also handed out four assists. Factor in last week's 19-point performance at Marquette and Brunson is really starting to hit his stride offensively — he's averaging 16.2 points and 5.0 assists in his last five games.
Jay Wright has spoken often about the sacrifice Brunson made last season. He arrived as a freshman at Villanova billed as a high school All-American and fresh off an MVP performance for Team USA in the FIBA Under 19 World Championships. But Brunson didn't have to play a starring role last season for the Wildcats with Arcidiacono, Ochefu, Hart and Jenkins leading the way. He put personal accolades aside and settled in as a complementary piece for a team that went on to win a national championship.
But with Arcidiacono now pursuing an NBA career, Brunson is the unquestioned floor general and he's playing that role to perfection. With the calendar turning to February, Brunson has the look of a player capable of leading his team deep into March. Hart remains Villanova's best player but Brunson is the engine that drives the Wildcats on both ends of the floor. Look for Brunson to keep his team focused Saturday night against St. John's.
Villanova 77, St. John's 62
South Florida (6-15, 0-10 AAC) at Temple (12-11, 3-7 AAC), Sunday 1 p.m.
AF: First and foremost this Sunday, it is Hooter the Owl's birthday. Sure, there is another big game going Sunday evening. But the main event, for kids and mascot lovers, is Sunday at the Liacouras Center. All the city's mascots will be at the game celebrating Temple's mascot's big day. Fun fact, the Owls are 11-0 on Hooter the Owl's birthday celebration game days. I'd like to think it's because of the luck of the Owl, and not purposeful scheduling, so don't ruin that for me.
The Owls will try make it 12 in a row on the big birthday when South Florida comes to town. The Bulls are winless in the AAC and are coming off a 41-point loss at No. 19 Cincinnati last Sunday and an 85-75 Thursday loss at home to Memphis. In fact, USF hasn't won a game since before Christmas. That is one of the reasons the Bulls are now coached by interim head coach Murry Bartow and not Orlando Antigua, who was fired at the beginning of the year.
On the home team's side, Quinton Rose is starting to hit his stride for Temple. The freshman helped the Owls to their first conference road win thanks to 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds. They've won two of their last three and while I don't think Temple will be fighting for the top of the AAC, they are showing a better brand of basketball.
Temple wins on Hooter the Owl's birthday for the 12th straight time.
Temple 76, USF 62
La Salle (12-8, 6-3 Atlantic 10) at George Mason (14-8, 4-5 Atlantic 10), Saturday 7 p.m.
SK: I'm admittedly a little skittish trying to figure out La Salle after whiffing so badly the last time I tried to predict one of their games. Two weeks ago, I sized up the Explorers' trip to VCU and banked on John Giannini's team figuring out a way to get a road win and extend its winning streak at the time to six games. La Salle proceeded to lose by 38 and followed that performance up with losses to Penn and St. Joe's. Wednesday's home win over UMass righted the ship somewhat, but good luck predicting what's next for the Explorers.
On the surface, Saturday's trip to George Mason appears even more predictable. The Patriots have experienced their share of peaks and valleys as well — wins over Penn State, Richmond and St. Joe's and recent losses to George Washington and Saint Louis.
Our esteemed CSN La Salle insider/producer Andrew Greth has astutely identified 80 points as the line of demarcation for the Explorers. In their last 17 games, they are 9-0 when they score 80 or more points. The question now becomes — can they get to 80 against George Mason? I say they can.
And as hesitant as I am going with La Salle again after that VCU debacle two weeks ago, I'm all in with the Explorers. Jordan Price and B.J. Johnson will figure out a way to get a win Saturday.
La Salle 83, George Mason 77
Fordham (9-13, 3-6 Atlantic 10) at Saint Joseph's (10-11, 3-6 Atlantic 10), Saturday 6 p.m.
SK: This is a matchup of teams with identical 3-6 marks in conference play and desperate for a win. After starting the season with a 5-1 record, Fordham is 4-12 in its last 16 games. St. Joe's, meanwhile, has lost six of its last nine games. One of those wins, however, was a 15-point victory at Fordham.
The rematch will be played at Hagan Arena on Saturday night. The Hawks are coming off a disappointing 75-60 home loss to Davidson on Tuesday. St. Joe's shot just 34 percent in that loss and an even 30 percent from three-point range. Long distance shooting has been the Achilles heel for Phil Martelli's team all season long — the Hawks rank 297th out of 347 Division I teams with a 32 percent success rate on three-point attempts.
Regardless of how poor the outside shooting may be, I can't see St. Joe's losing to Fordham at home after beating them by 15 on the road. Expect solid outings by Lamarr Kimble and Charlie Brown and a bounce back performance from James Demery, who had 25 points against Fordham a month ago but just four points Tuesday in the loss to Davidson.
St. Joe's 70, Fordham 60
Penn (7-9, 0-3 Ivy) at Harvard (11-6, 3-1), Friday 7 p.m.
Penn (7-9, 0-3 Ivy) at Dartmouth (3-14, 0-4 Ivy), Saturday 7 p.m.
AF: Penn returns from a layoff of over a week to go on the road and resume Ivy League play. The Quakers' last game was a Jan. 25 win over Big 5 rival La Salle. Their last Ivy League contest was Jan. 14, a loss to Brown. First up for Steve Donahue's team, a Harvard team near the top of the league standings. The Crimson suffered it's first and only Ivy loss last weekend at Columbia.
Once again, Tommy Amaker has Harvard rolling. And just this past December, Amaker became the winningest coach in Harvard history, with his win total up to 186. Yes, they've been playing basketball for over 100 years, but in that span Harvard had some seasons of only 12 games, total. So that would figure into the tally for winningest coach in Crimson history.
Penn hasn't performed well in Ivy League play and despite a monster effort, game in and game out from A.J. Brodeur, they haven't really found a consistent team effort this season. This would be a tough test for any team, but especially one who's still finding its identity.
On the flip side of the Quakers' road trip is Dartmouth, who's last in the league and also winless in the Ivy at 0-4. The Big Green has only won three games, all in late December. In the five losses to start this 2017 calendar year, Dartmouth has lost four of them by double digits and is only averaging 60 points in that span.
So this will be a split in New England for the Quakers and I think they'll finish with a win.
Harvard 72, Penn 58
Penn 73, Dartmouth 61
Drexel (8-16, 2-9 CAA) at Hofstra (11-13, 3-8 CAA), Saturday 7 p.m.
AF: The Dragons really could use a pick-me-up right now. Back-to-back double-digit losses had Drexel looking to get back on track against Towson Thursday night. If you happened to catch this one in person at the DAC, or followed online like me, you caught a good one. For the first time since 2002, the Dragons eclipsed the 100-point mark in a double overtime thriller of a loss.
Kurk Lee made the bucket to send it into the second overtime and nearly won the game, but his layup just slipped off the rim as time expired. Yes, there are no moral victories, but Zach Spiker can take some solace in the way his team fought back and hung tough until the end.
Drexel goes on the road to face a Hofstra team it beat less than two weeks ago. That was another overtime thriller, this time a Dragons win, thanks to Lee. He hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left giving Drexel its second conference victory.
The Pride are coming off a win over Delaware this week, marking just their second win in their last 10 games. I expect another tight game, but worry that Drexel's double overtime game may linger for them.
Hofstra 70, Drexel 68
Prediction records
Sean Kane: 20-6
Amy Fadool: 16-8