Oof.
I don't eat scrapple, and I'm not all that into Rocky, and I couldn't care less if Wing Bowl existed or not. But if there's one real sign that I live in Philadelphia, it's that I have a very high tolerance level for low-scoring basketball.
It got one hell of a test tonight, though: Villanova 56, St. Joe's 39.
Villanova finished with what Temple scored in a half against La Salle on Sunday.
(Now there's a rollout for you.)
Coming in, Villanova was averaging 80.5 points per game in its city games this season; St. Joe's was averaging 73.3. And we got 56-39.
We got it at 70 possessions per side, which is quite higher than either team's average tempo this season -- 67.6 per game for Villanova, 62.2 for St. Joe's.
Played in forty minutes of basketball that did include the legal use of a three-point line. Not that you'd know, though. The Hawks shot 3-for-16 from beyond the arc, which is 18.8 percent, and the Wildcats shot -- ack, I can't believe I'm typing this -- 3-for-22, which is 13.6 percent.
Paging Steve Donches or Paul Arizin to the Main Line, stat. Or Penn's Bobby Morse, who could really shoot from long range.
And the turnovers... yikes. We welcome the St. Joe's freshman class to the Holy War: three each by Darrin Govens and D.J. Rivera, four by Garrett Williamson and six by Jawan Carter. Junior Pat Calathes had four too. Twenty-two overall for the Hawks. Then again, 'Nova gave the ball up 17 times, with (yep) freshman Scottie Reynolds doing it four times.
No St. Joe's player scored double figures; Mike Nardi (11) and Curtis Sumpter (14) did so for 'Nova. Sumpter's the player of the game, of course, on 6-11 shooting (0-1 from 3), 2-2 from the line, seven rebounds (four on offense), two assists and three blocks. It ain't much, but it'll do.
At least the Hawks matched the Wildcats on the glass with 40 boards apiece. St. Joe's even gets the edge with 12 offensive rebounds to Villanova's 11.
Oh, and St. Joe's shot 10-22 from the line. Which is at least better than Penn's 8-21 (another rollout), but it's still frigid. I was cold enough walking today from the Inquirer/Daily News building to Broad and Race, at which point I decided to get on the bus to get to the El (I am not kidding, and yes it's stupid) because it was just so freezing out. I did not need this.
One last time, for emphasis' sake: Fifty-six to thirty-nine.
But at least there was that Will Sheridan dunk.
