Soft Pretzel Logic

NEW HAVEN, CONN. -- Hey folks,

I love the banter on here about soccer, and the fact that it's going on is very encouraging. I'll definitely keep it in mind with some big international tournaments coming up this summer.

But as far as MLS is concerned, there's a long way to go until April 2010. So let's return to college hoops for a while.

I'm at Yale University to cover Penn's game here tonight, and am sitting on press row in the John J. Lee Amphitheater. This is my sixth trip here, and it's long been one of my favorite arenas to visit. It's certainly the most unique of the many I've been to.

The seats are basically wooden semi-cylinders, with student-section bleachers that go right up to the sideline. The ceiling is low and flat with a checkerboard pattern pressed into it, trapping the noise on the floor. The sideline seats are in balconies, and both bands are at the same end of the floor.

Plus, there's the faux-Gothic exterior of Payne-Whitney Gym, the building that houses the basketball arena (at right). It's all very Ivy League, no question about that, but the place gets loud in a hurry. It's a pretty good atmosphere as mid-major venues go, and it's a big reason why the Quakers have lost three of their last four games here, and four of their last six.

At the very least, it's not the kind of place you come across in the Big East.

Food-wise, New Haven has fabulous pizza. It's a thin-crust, big-slice kind of town, and a couple places do it well. I prefer Naples Pizza, but I know others who swear by Yorkside Pizza, Sally's and Pepe's.

If you don't want pizza, the Educated Burgher is the place to go for a burger or corned beef sandwich. The Burgher also has great milkshakes, and its fast service makes it a good place to go to eat before a game.

Now, I say all that knowing that almost all of you will never have a good reason to come here. But if you're driving up 95 on your way to points north, it's a good place to get off the highway for a few minutes.

Anyway, since it's Friday, that means it's time for Crunchy Numbers. So here they are, with La Salle again making the most noise.

It's also notable that including last night's really bad home loss to St. Louis, St. Joseph's' RPI fell from 45 to 55 over the last week. But the Hawks' strength of schedule rose from 105 to 90. Those will be important numbers to keep an eye on as the Hawks try for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Drexel

-- Offensive efficiency: 90.1 (324)
-- Defensive efficiency: 97.7 (76)
-- Tempo: 65.7 poss / 40 mins (221)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 45.9 (307)
-- 3-point FG %: 31.2 (308)
-- Free throw %: 63.5 (313)
-- Steal %: 12.9 (329)
-- Ratio of assists to field goals made: 60.7% (62)

Defense

-- Effective FG %: 47.1 (56)
-- 3-point FG %: 33.3 (77)
-- 2-point FG %: 45.8 (81)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 31.9% (89)

Frank Elegar

-- Defensive rebounding %: 60th (23.1)
-- Free throw rate: 22nd (81.3%)
-- Block %: 85th (7.2)

La Salle

-- Offensive efficiency: 104.4 (130)
-- Defensive efficiency: 102.9 (194)
-- Tempo: 70.3 poss / 40 mins (64)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 51.7 (97)
-- Offensive rebounding %: 36.6 (54)
-- 3-point FG %: 40.4 (9)
-- Block %: 13.6 (336)

Defense

-- Offensive rebounding %: 30.3 ( 65)
-- 3-point FG %: 32.4 (47)
-- Free throw %: 72.1 (300)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 29.9% (39)

Darnell Harris

-- Offensive rating: 7th (130.5)
-- Effective FG %: 37th (62.1)
-- Turnover rate: 14th (9.8%)
-- 3-point FG %: 4th

Jerrell Williams

-- Offensive rebounding %: 59th (13.2)

Penn

-- Offensive efficiency: 95.6 (271)
-- Defensive efficiency: 106.0 (267)
-- Tempo: 70.9 poss / 40 mins (54)

Offense

-- 3-point FG %: 31.1 (310)
-- Steal %: 12.3 (316)

Defense

-- 3-point FG %: 40.2 (332)
-- Block %: 10.7 (79)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 30.4% (44)

Harrison Gaines

-- Assist rate: 7th (40.1)

St. Joseph's

-- Offensive efficiency: 113.7 (10)
-- Defensive efficiency: 102.9 (198)
-- Tempo: 66.1 poss / 40 mins (209)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 55.4 (11)
-- Turnover %: 19.3 (67)
-- Free throw rate: 29.2% (44)
-- 3-point FG %: 40.3 (12)
-- 2-point FG %: 52.5 (44)
-- Free throw %: 71.9 (84)
-- Ratio of assists to field goals made: 59.3% (83)

Defense

-- Free throw rate: 31.7% (76)
-- Block %: 14.0 (20)
-- Steal %: 11.7 (59)

Pat Calathes

-- Offensive rating: 92nd (120.2)

Rob Ferguson

-- Offensive rating: 50th (122.7)
-- Effective FG %: 46th (61.5)

Ahmad Nivins

-- Effective FG %: 19th (64.0%)
-- 3-point FG %: 0.0% (0-0)
-- Free throw rate: 17th (87.1%)

Tasheed Carr

-- Assist rate: 29th (34.8%)

Temple

-- Offensive efficiency: 108.1 (62)
-- Defensive efficiency: 103.3 (206)
-- Tempo: 65.7 poss / 40 mins (223)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 54.3 (25)
-- Turnover %: 18.9 (50)
-- Offensive rebounding %: 27.4 (310)
-- 3-point FG %: 37.4 (74)
-- 2-point FG %: 53.2 (28)
-- Free throw %: 74.5 (29)
-- Block %: 6.8 (23)
-- Steal %: 9.0 (90)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 39.1% (64)
-- Ratio of assists to field goals made: 59.6% (80)

Defense

-- Free throw rate: 32.1% (84)
-- 2-point FG %: 45.2 (61)
-- Block %: 12.3 (45)

Dionte Christmas

-- Percent of possible minutes played: 10th (92.6)

Mark Tyndale

-- Percent of possible minutes played: 13th (92.5)

Ryan Brooks

-- Turnover rate: 70th (12.1)

Sergio Olmos

-- Block %: 60th (8.0)

Chris Clark

-- Offensive rating: 70th (121.1)

Villanova

-- Offensive efficiency: 106.5 (90)
-- Defensive efficiency: 100.8 (141)
-- Tempo: 69.1 poss / 40 mins (98)

Offense

-- Turnover %: 19.8 (92)
-- Offensive rebounding %: 36.9 (42)
-- Free throw %: 71.6 (92)
-- Block %: 12.1 (323)
-- Steal %: 8.9 (88)

Defense

-- Turnover %: 23.4 (64)
-- Free throw rate: 48.1% (328)
-- Steal %: 11.7 (57)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 39.6% (311)

The Philadelphia sports landscape is about to become a bit more crowded.

And a lot louder.

As Inquirer staff writer Jeff Gammage wrote yesterday, Major League Soccer will officially give Philadelphia the league's 16th franchise at a 2 p.m. press conference this afternoon. The ceremony will be held at the Wharf at Rivertown, 2501 Seaport Drive in Chester. You can get directions and more information here.

There is also a new Philly.com soccer page in our Sports section. It includes a lot of the recent Inquirer and Daily News stories on the Chester stadium development, as well as links to scores and news from leagues around the world. I hope you like it; I must admit to having a bit of a vested interest in the page, as I built the thing myself.

One of the stories you'll find there is this great piece this great piece by my College HoopsCast colleague Mike Jensen. Mike has covered soccer for the Inquirer for a long time, and his story paints a richly detailed portrait of the state of MLS in 2008.

It also includes interviews with Bobby Convey and Peter Vermes, two Philadelphia-area natives who have played in MLS as well as with the U.S. national team.

In Thursday's Inquirer, Gammage profiles former U.S. national team player Walter Bahr, who played on the 1950 World Cup team and will be in attendance at today's ceremony.

The Inquirer's business desk is involved as well, with CEO-to-be Nick Sakiewicz the feature interviewee on Wednesday's episode of Philadelphia Business Today. Those of you who have followed MLS through its 12-year history probably know Sakiewicz's name quite well. He ran the Tampa Bay Mutiny from 1996 to 1999 and then moved to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, which he ran from 2000 to 2005.

I think Sakiewicz made some fair points in that interview, as did Gammage in his interview with host Mike Armstrong. But Sakiewicz's less-than-stellar record as a GM is also well-known to American soccer fans. The Meadowlands franchise has never even made the MLS Cup final, while the Mutiny struggled to draw fans at the Buccaneers' stadium before going out of business in 2001. We'll see what he does here.

Regardless, the Sons of Ben -- the supporters club that famously was founded knowing it had no team to actually root for -- are to be congratulated on having their push to get a team here finally pay off. We'll see if their longstanding efforts to have fans name the team will also pay off.

Personally, I'm ecstatic about this news, even though I can't make the ceremony because I'm traveling to cover Penn's basketball games this weekend for the Inquirer.

But the arrival of soccer also poses a considerable dilemma for me.

You might remember that over the summer, I dipped a toe into soccer blogging on here. Ever since I started this blog, I hoped that I would add soccer to the list of subjects covered on here along with college sports and track and field.

I've followed MLS for a long time, not just as an outside observer but also as someone who covered the sport before moving to Philadelphia. With a team finally coming here, perhaps I'll be able to do so again.

I worry, though, that I'll be spreading myself too thin. I'm fairly sure there's some crossover between the college basketball and Penn Relays fans, but I don't know if there's crossover between college basketball and soccer.

I'd like to think there can be. If any of you have ever been to a professional soccer game, whether in the U.S. or another country, you know that college basketball is pretty much the only American sport that can rival soccer for atmosphere.

College basketball is the one sport we have that has soccer-style organized fan sections, with chants and songs and so forth.

So I ask you:

Can this:

and this:

go together?

We'll find out soon enough.

Download it here.

This week, Joe Juliano joins me to discuss a whole host of topics, including:

-- How Villanova's loss to Marquette derailed their NCAA Tournament hopes

-- La Salle's four-game win streak and how it has thrown the Atlantic 10 into chaos

-- Whether the Atlantic 10's strategy of weighting conference schedules relative to how good the teams are is backfiring. Richmond, Temple and La Salle are in contention for byes, while Dayton and Rhode Island have played themselves out of NCAA Tournament contention

-- What St. Joe's and Temple need to do to make the postseason ahead of their big showdown at the Palestra on Sunday night

-- Who should be ranked No. 1 in the nation after Tennessee's win at Memphis

-- And a rundown of all this week's big local and national games.

That noise you just heard somewhere along the Schuylkill Expressway was Villanova's momentum crashing to a halt.

I was starting to think about resurrection analogies at halftime, but then Lazar Hayward and Marquette turned a seven-point Villanova lead into a 10-point Golden Eagles win.

Joe and I will have plenty to say about the game on tomorrow's College HoopsCast (yes, we pushed it to Tuesday again), but in the mean time, did you ever think the Wildcats still had a shot at the NCAA Tournament?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- After watching Penn's defense allow Harvard to shoot 53.7 percent from the field, let's pay tribute to a couple players elsewhere who turned their opponents into swiss cheese tonight.

On the local side, it was Fordham's Marcus Stout, who helped the Rams deal Temple an ugly 78-76 loss at the Liacouras Center:

And on the national side, it was Kansas State's Michael Beasley, who scored more than half his team's total of 86 points in a loss at Baylor:

Oh, and then there's the small matter of Villanova beating Connecticut... and sowing a few seeds about possibly making the NCAA Tournament? Really?

Not to mention Drake winning a great game at Butler, and Tennessee capping off the night with an ugly but pulsating win at Memphis.

I can't help thinking, though, that the 25-2 Volunteers shouldn't really be the No. 1 team in the country come Monday. Obviously they will be, but if I can put a good case together for the Monday podcast arguing for someone else I might just do it.

ABOARD AMTRAK TRAIN 2154, BEGINNING TO WRITE AT HAMILTON, N.J., AND ENDING AT OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. -- Two years ago, I flew to Boston for the Penn-Harvard game and got stuck in a snowstorm very much like the one hitting us today.

The flight up was just fine, but the snow started falling the night I arrived and pretty much every flight in the Northeast was canceled the day I was supposed to leave.

I ended up taking the train back to Philadelphia, and distinctly remember rolling right through the storm. The snow was flying around all over the place, but aside from a few delays nothing really major happened. When I got to 30th Street seven hours later, the skies were clear.

When I went online to book travel to Boston for this year's game between the Quakers and Crimson, I found that roundtrip flights were more expensive than even the Acela train, much less the regular Regional service.

It's AirTran's fault, frankly. They used to fly between Philadelphia and Boston for under $100 each way, and usually a lot less than that. But they discontinued the route back in November, and US Airways immediately did what any good monopoly would do -- jack its fares way up.

So the train it was -- and perhaps will be for a while, US Airways being what it is. Figuring that saving two hours was worth spending a few extra dollars, I stumped for the sleek, quasi-European modernity (and more comfortable seats) of the Acela.

As a result, I sit here en route to Boston surrounded by expensive suits, dossiers full of small-print investment banking data and enough BlackBerries to fill a supermarket produce section. But we're moving and the planes aren't, and this ride is definitely a lot smoother than the Regional service.

Having said that, the ride north is still five hours long. So there's plenty of time to deliver this week's Crunchy Numbers. Pay particular attention to the moves La Salle has made over the last seven days:

Drexel

-- Offensive efficiency: 89.8 (324)
-- Defensive efficiency: 97.6 (82)
-- Tempo: 65.8 poss / 40 mins (221)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 45.8 (305)
-- Offensive rebounding %: 28.1 (305)
-- 3-point FG %: 31.3 (301)
-- Free throw %: 64.0 (304)
-- Steal %: 12.9 (329)
-- Ratio of assists to field goals made: 60.1% (73)

Defense

-- Effective FG %: 47.3 (59)
-- 3-point FG%: 32.9 (63)
-- 2-point FG%: 46.3 (98)

Frank Elegar

-- Defensive rebounding %: 51st (23.6)
-- Free throw rate: 22nd (82.3%)
-- Block %: 96th (7.0)

La Salle

-- Offensive efficiency: 103.5 (140)
-- Defensive efficiency: 102.4 (191)
-- Tempo: 70.5 poss / 40 mins (65)

Offense

-- Offensive rebounding %: 36.6 (55)
-- 3-point FG %: 40.2 (12)
-- Block %: 13.2 (333)

Defense

-- Offensive rebounding %: 30.3 (65)
-- 3-point FG %: 33.2 (77)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 29.4% (32)

Darnell Harris

-- Offensive rating: 17th (127.1)
-- Effective FG %: 62nd (61.1)
-- Turnover rate: 28th (10.8%)

NOTE: Harris is shooting 49.4% from three-point range, which is certainly one of the top performances in the country. Problem is, the stats sites I've seen don't have minimum minutes requirements. The NCAA's report for games played through Feb. 17, at which time Harris was also shooting 49.4%, had him ranked fourth.

Jerrell Williams

-- Offensive rebounding %: 38th (14.1)

Penn

-- Offensive efficiency: 93.8 (287)
-- Defensive efficiency: 106.0 (270)
-- Tempo: 70.8 poss / 40 mins (55)

Offense

-- Free throw rate: 28.4% (66)
-- 3-point FG %: 29.4 (330)
-- Ratio of assists to FGM: 60.7% (62)

Defense

-- 3-point FG%: 40.1 (330)
-- Block %: 10.7 (80)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 31.5% (77)

NOTE: Harrison Gaines has an assist rate of 42.1%, but is short of the Pomeroy minutes requirement needed to be ranked (40% of possible minutes played). As a result, some weeks he makes it into the ranking and some weeks he doesn't.

St. Joseph's

-- Offensive efficiency: 113.9 (9)
-- Defensive efficiency: 102.0 (178)
-- Tempo: 66.2 poss / 40 mins (205)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 55.4 (10)
-- Turnover %: 19.5 (69)
-- Free throw rate: 28.9% (50)
-- 3-point FG %: 40.4 (6)
-- 2-point FG %: 52.4 (44)
-- Ratio of assists to FGM: 59.5% ( 83)

Defense

-- Free throw rate: 31.7% (75)
-- Block %: 14.1 (18)
-- Steal %: 11.6 (62)
-- Ratio of assists to FGM: 61.3% (301)

Pat Calathes

-- Offensive rating: 80th (120.5)

Rob Ferguson

-- Effective FG %: 75th (60.6)

Ahmad Nivins

-- Effective FG %: 24th (63.8%)
-- 3-point FG %: 0-0 (0.0%)
-- Free throw rate: 18th (81.7%)

Tasheed Carr

-- Assist rate: 29th (35.1%)

Temple

-- Offensive efficiency: 108.0 (60)
-- Defensive efficiency: 103.6 (220)
-- Tempo: 65.4 poss / 40 mins (242)

Offense

-- Effective FG %: 54.1 (29)
-- Turnover %: 19.0 (47)
-- 3-point FG %: 36.9 (95)
-- 2-point FG %: 53.3 (26)
-- Free throw %: 74.6 (29)
-- Block %: 6.6 (25)
-- Steal %: 9.1 (96)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 39.9% (53)
-- Ratio of assists to FGM: 58.9% (97)

NOTE: The Owls' offense is in the top 100 in nine of the 11 statistical categories Pomeroy tracks.

Defense

-- 2-point FG%: 45.3 (66)
-- Block %: 12.2 (45)

Dionte Christmas

-- Percent of possible minutes played: 15th (92.1)

Mark Tyndale

-- Percent of possible minutes played: 18th (91.8)

Ryan Brooks

-- Turnover rate: 54th (11.7%)

Sergio Olmos

-- Block %: 57th (8.3)

Villanova

-- Offensive efficiency: 106.7 (87)
-- Defensive efficiency: 100.2 (134)
-- Tempo: 69.2 poss / 40 mins (101)

Offense

-- Turnover %: 19.6 (78)
-- Offensive rebounding %: 36.9 (43)
-- Free throw %: 71.5 (93)
-- Block %: 12.4 (324)
-- Steal %: 8.6 (53)

Defense

-- Turnover %: 23.8 (49)
-- Free throw rate: 48.9 (329)
-- Steal %: 11.6 (64)
-- Ratio of three-point attempts to all FGA: 39.7% (311)

NOTE: Villanova's defense is giving up 37.4% three-point shooting, 284th in Division 1. A week ago, the Wildcats were giving up 39.6% from the perimeter, and were ranked 325th. This week's Crunchy Numbers marks the first report since Christmas Day in which the Wildcats are not ranked 300th or below.

While working on some other projects before rejoining you en route to Boston on Friday, here are a few topics to discuss:

1. Where did this kind of a performance by Villanova come from?

2. Where on earth did that pullover Bob Huggins was wearing come from?

3. Why can't more games be on Channel 17? (Okay, we know the answer to that one, but still.)

4. At the end of last night's Purdue-Indiana game, Brent Musburger said he hoped to see Kelvin Sampson on the sidelines for the Hoosiers' next game on Saturday. Now, I'm a pretty big fan of Musburger, and you're welcome to not be, but let's focus on this: I thought that was a bit uncalled for in journalistic terms, and I also think Sampson deserves to lose his job. What do you think?

And a bonus: Is this guy the best player in college basketball, and, after last night, has his team shown that it's the best in the ACC?

(Yes, I took a picture of my television, because I can't find any photos of Huggins from the game on the wires yet.)

Postgame audio

La Salle: John Giannini, Rodney Green and Darnell Harris
St. Joseph's: Phil Martelli

Inquirer recap by Ray Parrillo
Daily News recap by Bob Cooney

Inquirer photo gallery by Ron Cortes

It was a lot like the St. Joe's-Temple game. Except this time, the Hawks didn't win... and this time, the end of the game was even crazier.

With nine seconds left and La Salle up, 90-89, Darnell Harris clanked the front end of a one-and-one off the back rim. Tasheed Carr brought the rebound down the floor and was driving to the basket, but lost the handle trying to get the ball to Rob Ferguson. Rodney Green got into the scrum, got the ball and called timeout.

Paul Johnson threw a football inbounds pass to Green, who caught it halfway over the midcourt line and was bear-hugged by Carr. Green missed the free throw, but somehow managed to commit a lane violation before the second free throw.

Rob Ferguson launched the ensuing inbounds pass down the floor and it was batted down by Johnson. Tasheed Carr got the loose ball and threw it up, but he was too late -- and the ball bounced off the rim anyway.

Cue another hailstorm of streamers, a tidal wave of La Salle students rushing the floor, and one of the most stunned Palestra crowds you'll ever see -- in both directions.

This had to be the best Big 5 game not only this year but in quite some time.

La Salle shot 30-for-59 from the field (50.8%), including 16-for-19 from three-point range (55.2%) and 14-for-30 from two-point range (46.7%), and 14-for-21 from the free throw line (66.7%). Fourteen offensive rebounds, 18 defensive rebounds, 22 assists, 12 turnovers, one block, seven steals and 16 fouls committed.

That adds up to 67 possessions and 1.343 points per possession.

St. Joe's shot 34-for-54 from the field (63.0%), including 8-for-16 from three-point range (50.0%) and 26-for-38 from two-point range (68.4%), and 13-for-16 from the free throw line (81.3%). Four offensive rebounds, 17 defensive rebounds, 19 assists, 11 turnovers, seven blocks, three steals and 18 fouls committed.

That adds up to 67 possessions and 1.297 points per possession.

It was an extraordinary display of offensive efficiency by both teams, and even more remarkable because it was in a Big 5 game. Even though a lot of City Series games this year have been high-scoring, there's no denying that the Big 5 has historically been defined by low scores.

Pat Calathes and Darrin Govens tied for game-high scoring honors with 26 points each. Calathes shot 10-for-15, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. Govens was 10-for-14, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and 17 of his points came in the second half.

Honestly, it's so hard to ignore what Calathes did in so many ways tonight that I have to split Line of the Game honors between him and Darnell Harris, who really put the Explorers on his back.

And finally, the second half rollouts:

La Salle

14:38 -- SJ HOSTS TOURNY --> WILL THEY PLAY?
7:56 -- St. Joe's has class... Rivera usually cuts
2:39 -- HOLY CRAP! HOLY CROSS?

St. Joe's

11:39 -- KEEP EXPLORING THE BOTTOM OF THE A10

We also had, with 11:36 to go, the Hatfield Meats pig on the floor shooting hot dogs and t-shirts into the stands. As happens at least one almost every time I see him/her/it, one of the hot dogs exploded all over the floor.

Okay, now I really have to get out of here and go to sleep.

What kind of a Big 5 game is this?

Here we are at halftime, and St. Joe's is up 50-46. That's right, 50-46. La Salle even led a couple times.

Want to know why?

La Salle shot 14-for-30 from the field (46.7%), including 10-for-17 from three-point range (58.8%) and 4-for-13 from two-point range (30.8%), and 8-for-10 from the free throw line (80.0%). Six offensive rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 7 turnovers, no blocks, two steals and seven fouls committed.

That adds up to 36 possessions and 1.287 points per possession.

Yves Mekongo Mbala and Darnell Harris have 13 points each, on 3-for-3 and 3-for-5 shooting from the perimeter, respectively.

St. Joe's shot an even better 20-for-30 the field (66.7%), including 4-for-10 from three-point range (40.0%) and 16-for-20 from two-point range (80.0%), and 6-for-7 from the free throw line (85.7%). One offensive rebound, 11 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, four turnovers, four blocks, three steals and eight fouls committed.

That adds up to 36 possessions and 1.376 points per possession. Whoa.

Pat Calathes already has 20 points, having shot 7-for-9 from the field -- including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

And these were the rollouts:

La Salle

12:34 -- "La Salle has rollouts?!"
7:22 -- "SJU is an armpit"
3:30 -- "RECORD □"

St. Joseph's

12:55 -- "HAWKS SALUTE LA SALLE FANS (BOTH OF THEM)
3:27 -- "EVEN DR. G CAN'T CURE LA SALLE"

Greetings from the Palestra, where La Salle and St. Joe's have just tipped off in a Big 5 clash. The place is not full, but the crowd is still pretty healthy -- probably 7,000 -- and the split is about 60-40 for St. Joe's.

In other words, there's a quite healthy contingent of Explorers blue and gold in the house. The St. Joe's student section fills sections 120 and 220, but not much more; the La Salle student section fills sections 108 and 109.

As I've been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple days, I don't really have the energy to do a full liveblog as I have for other Big 5 games this year.

But here are the starting lineups:

La Salle

F 12 Yves Mekongo Mbala
F 20 Jerrell Williams
F 31 Paul Johnson
G 10 Rodney Green
G 11 Darnell Harris

St. Joseph's

F 52 Rob Ferguson
F 12 Pat Calathes
C 34 Ahmad Nivins
G 12 Darrin Govens
G 0 Tasheed Carr

I can also tell you that while the Hawks got out to an early 6-0 lead, prompting John Giannini to call timeout, Darnell Harris hit a three on the ensuing possession and the Explorers students threw blue and gold streamers backwards from the front row. That was awesome.

I don't know if there will be a photo in any of the papers tomorrow, but I wish that could happen more often.

Finally, this week's College HoopsCast is now online; you can listen to it here. This week, Mike Jensen joins me to discuss:

-- How high Temple will finish in the Atlantic 10
-- Whether Villanova will make the Big East Tournament
-- Monday night's game between St. Joseph's and La Salle
-- And a look at the week's big national stories, including the Kelvin Sampson controversy at Indiana and Saturday's big game between Tennessee and Memphis.

I'll be back at halftime with stats and a recap of rollouts, and again after the game.

No, it's not what you're thinking of.

While the biggest story on the floor in Ivy League basketball has been Cornell's undefeated run, the biggest story off it has been Brown coach Craig Robinson.

As Kevin Tatum and Mike Kern noted in this morning's papers, Robinson is the brother-in-law of Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois senator Barack Obama. And as Obama's campaign has grown in stature, so too has the spotlight on Robinson.

After the Bears' 66-61 win over Penn at the Palestra, I caught up with Robinson for a few minutes to talk to him about his twin lives in basketball and politics.

What impressed me most was the degree to which he fully embraces his notoriety, and doesn't tire at all of the constant interview requests he has received ever since taking over in Providence, R.I., last season.

"It doesn't get old -- that's like asking me, do the questions about [Bears senior guard] Damon Huffman get old," Robinson said. "It's what we're doing, and I'm happy to answer them. it does not get old, it's very exciting, it's very important."

Another unusual trait of Robinson's is that he does not hesitate to speak his mind on his affiliation. He might be helped in that respect by coaching at a strongly liberal Ivy League school, but it's certainly in contrast to the hot water in which Rick Majerus found himself when he aired his views last month.

"Aside from the fact that he's my brother-in-law, if I wasn't related to him, I'd be working for his campaign when I could," Robinson said. "I've been a cynical participant in the political system, like most young people. And he has gotten me, my family, a whole lot of young people excited about politics again."

There are of course, plenty of analogies to be drawn between sports and politics, and the one in Robinson's life goes like this. Brown played two early games against Yale, sort of like the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Then, four days before Super Tuesday, the Bears headed to Cornell for the game that would decide much of the momentum in this year's Ancient Eight race.

"I use all my coaching analogies when I talk to the campaign staff," Robinson said. "After New Hampshire, when everybody thought [Obama] was going to get a blowout and he didn't, I was telling them, 'That's like the first half of the first half. We've got three quarters to go.' "

The political and sporting tracks haven't quite run parallel to each other, as the Bears have two conference losses while Obama has the lead in delegates for the Democratic convention. But without an Ivy League conference tournament, the winner will be decided based on who has the most wins.

And if there's a tie, the Ivy League has an advantage over the political process: there would be a playoff in full view of the public instead of backroom dealings between superdelegates.

Robinson is fortunate to be able to have an influence in both spheres, and understands just how unique that is.

"When I'm with guys like you, they want to talk about politics; when I'm with the political reporters, they want to talk about basketball," he said. "It's great -- I've never been so popular."

Robinson also admitted to having moments where he does step back and realize just how special it is to be that close to a highly-touted presidential candidate. Even if Obama "is not taking my advice on anything other than whether to go left or right."

On the floor, that is.

There are, by the way, local angles on Robinson's paths through both sports and politics. The basketball historians out there know that Robinson was a two-time Ivy League player of the year at Princeton and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983.

And while the Tigers won three Ivy League titles in Robinson's four years in Old Nassau (two were splits with Penn, of which the Tigers won one), Robinson never won a game in the Palestra.

Until last night.

"When I played here and we beat Penn, we played at the Spectrum," Robinson said.

There is also a photo of Robinson right in the middle of the Penn-Princeton rivalry display on the east concourse, which Robinson actually didn't know about until last night.

"To know the storied history of that rivalry, plus this place, the Palestra, that's really quite an honor," he said. "It caught me off guard. I'm very humbled by it, very humbled."

Regardless of your political or sporting affiliation -- and it did not go unnoticed that Pennsylvania's biggest Hillary Clinton supporter, Penn alum Ed Rendell, was across the floor from the Brown bench -- Robinson strikes me as a very easy guy to root for.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Well, on this day without any really big games we have a big piece of news. To the surprise of just about no one I can think of, the NCAA has dropped a warning of five "major" violations on Indiana University and its head men's basketball coach, Kelvin Sampson.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz reports that Sampson's job status "apparently will be decided on a game-by-game basis."

Katz's colleague, columnist Pat Forde, notes that the NCAA's report on the Hoosiers "redacted only one name, which would indicate only one current player was named in an alleged recruiting violation."

I can't honestly say I was suprised when I read that line, given what we all know about Indiana's recent recruiting.

As of now, the best column I have read so far on this topic is by Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, who came out firing from the very first line.

This is what happens when you hire sleaze.

So I open the debate to you all. And I would like to start things off by arguing that even with the Villanova phone card scandal, the coaches around here are about as much the polar opposite of Sampson as can be.

If you were in charge at Indiana, what would you do?

I invite you to prove me wrong, but looking at tonight's schedule of games only makes today more miserable than it was already going to be for me.

So in order to distract myself from the fact that I'm single and working a very long shift today, I turn to blogging -- and to something else I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I am sure that many of you are, like me, fans of ESPN's College GameDay. Well, we know that the show has been to Cameron Indoor Stadium, Allen Fieldhouse, the Carrier Dome, Rupp Arena, the Dean Smith Center, Freedom Hall, and now this year Pauley Pavillion. They've even been to mid-majors Gonzaga and Southern Illinois.

Well, I say that we need to make Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps and company come to the Palestra next year. With St. Joe's playing all its games on 33rd Street next season, there won't be a better time to bring that kind of national attention to the Big 5 for quite a while.

You wouldn't have to just focus on the Hawks, though. I bet that with some coordination between the schools, you could get fans of all six teams in the building for the morning show. It would be like nothing College GameDay has ever seen -- possibly including their wild football trips.

How about this for a February Saturday of hoops:

11 a.m., ESPN: Morning show with fans of all six schools

12 p.m., ESPN2 or ESNU: Cornell at Penn (it will definitely be the best Ivy game next season, and possibly for a few years to come)

2 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU (or CSTV): Any A-10 team at La Salle

4 p.m., ESPNU: Any CAA team vs. Drexel

6 p.m., ESPN: Syracuse or Georgetown vs. Villanova at the Wachovia Center

8 p.m., ESPN: Night show

9 p.m., ESPN: Temple at St. Joe's

It would take a level of cooperation perhaps never before seen between the schools, the Big 5, the Ivy League, the Atlantic 10 and the Big East.

The first step would be to get the Penn game moved from 7 p.m. to noon, which would be an issue because of the short turnaround from the night before for both teams. Princeton is close enough to Philadelphia that it might not be too bad for the Big Red, but the Ivy League sticks pretty tightly to the 7 p.m. tipoff schedule.

The second step would be to get all the home games lined up on the same day, which would mainly fall on the Atlantic 10 because of the number of teams involved. I would think the Big East and CAA would have the least work to do.

The third step, and perhaps the biggest, would be to give ESPN the space it needs. The morning show will be fine on the floor, but the Palestra's close quarters won't make it too easy to set up a studio for the evening show.

Then again, the UCLA show used a few directors' chairs and a mounted logo in the middle and that didn't seem to take up too much space. The balcony behind the west basket should be big enough for that.

It's all just a daydream for now, of course. I've floated this idea to a few people I know in the region and at ESPN, but none of them really have the pull to get it done.

I haven't got anything better to do today, though, so I throw it out there for you to discuss among yourselves.

Download it here.

Today, Joe Juliano joins me to discuss:

-- Villanova's tough loss last night
-- Malcolm Grant (which hopefully we won't have to deal with too much anymore after today?)
-- Whether the Wildcats can make the Big East tournament
-- The St. Joe's-Xavier game
-- Temple's overtime win against UMass
-- And all the big games locally and nationally this week.

Also, I didn't see the Jay Wright thing but I've heard about it a few times now. Just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen, but sort of like with Malcolm Grant, I'd rather not go talking in depth about things I don't know anything about.

But since I got linked to on my friend Dan Steinberg's D.C. Sports Bog today, I'm going to return the favor and steal the YouTube embed he posted of the end of last night's game.

I see the comments about Malcolm Grant and I would just like to say this in brief. I am not as well-connected to the Villanova program as the beat writers are, so I don't hear much about the Wildcats off the record, but I do think questions about Grant are fair to ask.

I can tell you that Jay has been asked by reporters about why Grant doesn't play and the answer thus far has been preferring Reggie Redding for his defense.

That is not to pass judgement, just telling you what has been said on the record.

And while I don't want to have to take the question up every week, I will try to give it another hearing when I record this week's College HoopsCast later today.

By the way, if you think last night's finish was rough, consider what happened to the Rutgers women just a few minutes later at Tennessee.

WASHINGTON -- In a game with enough calls to make a presidential campaign fundraiser jealous, the 48th and final foul of the night was perhaps the most controversial of them all.

With the score tied at 53-53, Scottie Reynolds’ driving layup was blocked by Jeremiah Rivers in the game’s dying seconds and Jonathan Wallace came out of a ferocious scrum with the loose ball. As he turned to launch a heave at the buzzer, Corey Stokes went out to block him and got just the slightest piece of Wallace’s jersey.

The whistle blew with one tenth of a second left.

Wallace strode to the foul line and calmly sank two free throws to give Georgetown a 55-53 win.

As I watched a replay of the contact, I had a very hard time seeing enough to judge it a foul. Especially with so little time on the clock.

But perhaps a less than palatable game all around deserved just such an ending. This thing was really hard to stomach at times.

Corey Fisher made only one of 16 field goal attempts, Scottie Reynolds made six of 13, Jonathan Wallace made four of 10 and DaJuan Summers made four of 11.

The only players who shot 50 percent or better were Roy Hibbert, Jessie Sapp and Patrick Ewing, Jr., and they shot 3-for-6, 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 respectively.

So the final stats were these.

For Villanova: 14-for-57 from the field (24.6%), including 3-for-23 from 3-point range (13.0%) and 11-for-34 from 2-point range (32.4%), and 22-for-27 from the free throw line (81.5%). Sixteen offensive rebounds, 25 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 11 turnovers, two blocks, five steals and 24 fouls committed.

That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.818 points per possession.

In the second half alone, ‘Nova shot 4-for-31 from the field -- and a nice, round 0-for-13 from beyond the arc.

After Dwayne Anderson’s dunk to open the second half, the Wildcats went 11 minutes and 52 seconds without a field goal.

For Georgetown: 16-for-40 from the field (40.0%), including 7-for-20 from 3-point range (35.0%) and and 9-for-20 from 2-point range (45.0%), and 16-for-24 from the line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 31 defensive rebounds, 11 assists, 18 turnovers, six blocks, six steals and 24 fouls committed.

That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.841 points per possession.

It would have been huge for Villanova to win it, no question. And while I’m sure it won’t make anyone on the Main Line feel good, at least Georgetown really was just as bad.

WASHINGTON -- Well, this is a surprise.

Villanova leads Georgetown at halftime, 29-28, although I'm not sure the Wildcats really had much to do with it.

Well, Scottie Reynolds did, but I'm not sure about the rest. Much to the annoyance of the Georgetown students behind me, Reynolds scored 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range and 3-for-5 from the free throw line.

But consider this for Georgetown, and to be quite honest it had far more to do with the Hoyas themselves than Villanova's defense.

Georgetown shot 9-for-25 from the field (36.0%), including a ghastly 3-for-12 from 3-point range (25.0%) and 6-for-13 from 2-point range (46.2%), and 7-for-11 from the free throw line.

A lot of those shots were open looks, too.

Four offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, six assists ,seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists, two steals and 12 fouls committed.

That adds up to 33 possessions and 0.872 points per possession.

For Villanova: A slightly, but not much better, 10-for-26 from the line (38.5%), including 3-for-10 from 3-point range (30.0%) and 7-for-16 from 2-point range (43.8%), and 6-for-9 from the free throw line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, six assists, seven turnovers, two blocks, two steals and 12 fouls committed.

That adds up to 34 possessions and 0.818 points per possession.

And now here we are four minutes into the half and it's 31-30, with the only field goal of the half so far a Dwayne Anderson slam ten seconds in. Georgetown's points came from two Roy Hibbert free throws just now.

Yikes.

WASHINGTON -- Greetings from courtside at the Verizon Center, where from the looks of things we'll have a pretty big crowd for tonight's game between Villanova and Georgetown.

I saw a few fans walking on F Street on my way into the arena from the Metro. And I just heard a group of Villanova students in the upper deck chanting "Let's Go 'Nova!" It'll be interesting to see just how many visiting fans are here tonight.

I also walked into the arena concourse right behind a very well-dressed Roy Hibbert. You might remember that I interviewed him last summer at the Pan Am Games trials, and he's just as tall now as he was then. I swear he almost hit his head on the ceiling, even though this place is an NBA arena.

I just saw the costumed version of the Hoyas' mascot, Jack, walking around with a sign that says, "Jesuits are cooler." That's pretty funny.

And the actual canine version of Jack led the team onto the floor. It's not Mike VI or Bevo, but he has his own kind of charm.

Anyway, here's a little something about Georgetown for you all to chew on. It's dedicated to the guy who wants St. Joe's to be a big-time school academically, and the Villanova fans who wanted out of the Big 5, and anyone else along those lines.

Georgetown is a member of the Big East for everything except football, in which it is a member of the Patriot League. But check out this verse of the school's fight song, "There Goes Old Georgetown":

We've heard those loyal fellows up at Yale
Brag and boast about their Boola-Boola.
We've heard the Navy yell,
We've listened to Cornell;
We've heard the sons of Harvard tell
How Crimson lines could hold them.
Choo Choo, Rah Rah, dear old Holy Cross;
The proud old Princeton tiger
Is never at a loss.
But the yell of all the yells,
The yell that wins the day,
Is the "HOYA, HOYA SAXA!"
For the dear old Blue and Gray.

Now granted, that song was written way back before Dave Gavitt was even born. But even so, the only one of those schools Georgetown shares a league with is Holy Cross in football.

And while Georgetown is certainly a top-notch academic institution, I can't help being just a little amused at the lack of references to Villanova, Syracuse or anyone else even remotely close to the Big East.

Then again, I've always thought the Ivy League could use a member institution in the nation's capital.

This city being the place I called home for the first 22 years of my life, I can't help offering a few restaurant recommendations for when you all make a trip down here to see your team play. As almost all the museums here have free admission, you should have a few extra dollars to spend on taking advantage of what is a pretty good restaurant scene here.

Nonetheless, my favorite places in town all offer good value for the money. In something resembling an order, they are:

1. Ben's Chili Bowl, 13th and U Streets. If the cheeseteak is the official Philly food, then the halfsmoke takes the title in D.C. A combination of hot dog and sausage, it is best served piled high with mustard, onions and chili, and without question best eaten at Ben's Chili Bowl.

Now in its 50th year of operation -- which is stunning to me, because I was at the 40th anniversary celebration -- Ben's is as much a District institution as Pat's and Geno's are in Philly, but without the tourists. Ben's has some Philly ties too: it's renowned as Bill Cosby's favorite restaurant, and owner Ben Ali has a Wharton degree.

2. Chadwick's, various locations. If any Georgetown fans come across this blog tonight, they'll be most familiar with the Chadwicks on K Stret right under the Whitehurst Freeway on the Potomac River. But the one closest to my heart is at the other end of Wisconsin Avenue, in my old neighborhood of Friendship Heights. The $10.95 crab cake sandwich is outstanding -- all jumbo lump and broiled, not fried.

3. Julia's Empanadas, various locations. They might not seem like much, but they're the perfect sort of thing to get a few of and take down to the Mall or a pregame tailgate party. I'm partial to the Chilean beef, the Salteña and the really outstanding peach-guava fruit empanada for dessert.

Honorable mention: California Tortilla and Chipotle, various locations. Washington has been front and center in a burrito war between these two chains in recent years. California Tortilla used to just have one store -- now it's all over the Mid-Atlantic -- while Chipotle has always been a national chain that offered a smaller menu but better quality for the things it did offer.

Fortunately for us, in recent months these Hatfields and McCoys have taken their fight to our turf. Chipotle has opened a few locations in the Philadelphia region, most notably at City Avenue and Monument Road, while CalTor (as it's long been known down here) has a franchise at 278 South Main Street in Doylestown.

So you tell me which is better -- but make sure you get some of J.T. Pappy's Gator Sauce when you visit the latter.

Now that I've whet your appetites, let's get on with the game.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – I was going to write this post from LaGuardia, but Mother Nature threw a spanner in the works that you can read about after the jump. So this post comes from the concourse at National Airport, where I’m sitting in a chair looking across the Potomac at the beautifully illuminated Capitol. But it just as easily could have been datelined Ithaca, Queens, or anywhere else between there and here.

On my last travel-blogging adventure, I flew on a big jet with satellite radio in the seats.

Today, I got to walk across a windswept, snow-covered tarmac to climb a folding staircase into a 34-seat turbo prop whose flight attendant didn't have the four hands needed to perform the preflight safety demonstration alone.

But at least the plane I flew from Ithaca to LaGuardia was made by Saab, which made the leather seats seem a bit more comfortable.

Then again, the takeoff was, shall we say, a rather tactile experience. Sort of like the potholes and delivery trucks I have to avoid on the days when I bike to work through Center City.

The landing wasn't much smoother, but it was nice to look out the window and get a glimpse of the National Tennis Center in Queens. Or at least, it was until Shea Stadium got in the way.

This one goes out to the journalists who read this blog.

While I was in Manhattan on Friday, I paid a visit to the famed Strand bookstore just south of Union Square on Broadway.

For those of you who haven't heard of it, the Strand has a huge array of used books as well as a lot of what are called "review books," overstock copies of new releases that are left over after the initial printing round is distributed to bookstores and book reviewers.

There's also a big display of Strand-branded bags, t-shirts, hats, mugs and so forth... almost enough to make you wonder about the anti-establishment image the rest of the place projects.

Next to the merchandise stand is a shelf full of Moleskine notebooks, the high-end cahiers supposedly used by Ernest Hemingway and actually used by Kyle Whelliston.

Like the books, Strand was selling the notebooks at a discount, almost to the point where I thought about spending $7 for a reporters notebook.

I really did. But a few minutes later, I realized that it would be totally worthless. That's in part because I can get free notebooks at work every once in a while -- not to mention the notebooks given to reporters at a lot of sporting events.

But even without that they're still cheap enough at office supply stores that I didn't feel a need to buy a really fancy one just to have as a status symbol.

So I walked away, wandered back downstairs to the review section, and saw a book I've been meaning to get for a while. It was in perfect condition and on sale for half the retail price.

That's more like it.

As I was walking up to the U.S. Airways Shuttle gates in New York, I heard an announcement for the last boarding call for the 4:00 p.m. departure. Since I was booked on the 5:00 flight, I tuned out the rest of the announcement and walked over to a food stand to buy a quick snack.

But then I heard something about later flights and passengers needing to board this flight, and wondered what the gate agent was referring to. Then I looked out the window and saw that it was snowing.

Hard.

The gate agent then asked if I had a ticket for the 5 p.m. flight, and half a second after I said “Yes,” he told me to get on the plane.

“But I have checked bags on the -- ” I stammered, before he cut me off and told me I’d be fine. So I gave him my boarding pass, got one more assurance about my suitcase and headed down the jetway.

When I got to the baggage claim after landing, the Philadelphian in me was quite surprised to find the bags already rolling onto the carousel.

The rest of me was just as astonished when my bag was among the first to arrive.

It had to be a fluke, right?

I vaguely remember what it was like when the Shuttle route between DC and New Yorkwas created in 1989. It was designed for business travelers, with hourly flights and a water taxi from LaGuardia to Wall Street.

There were some perks for flyers too, like free magazines by the dedicated shuttle gate. It became the chic way to travel between the two cities.

But around the turn of the millenium, Amtrak stepped up its game, improving its regular rolling stock and introducing the Acela. At the same time, the Shuttle got more expensive and flying became more of a hassle, with all the security measures we now see as the norm.

Suddenly, the 3 1/2 hour ride from Union Station to Penn Station (or vice versa) became about the same amount of time required to get from Capitol Hill to Midtown by air. Plus, the train had more legroom and power outlets at the seats that didn't require a funky adapter.

Nowadays, I take the train almost everywhere I go on the east coast. Covering Penn games for the Inquirer, I can get to Princeton, Yale, Brown and Columbia by train very easily. Even the 6 1/2 hour ride to Boston and Harvard is palatable -- not least because it has become cheaper than flying.

It's also easy to get to D.C. by train, for occasions such as tomorrow's Villanova-Georgetown game and other occasions when I'm down here.

But walking towards the gate at LaGuardia, I noticed that a lot of the old perks are still there: free magazines, workdesks with power outlets and a couple of Bloomberg Terminals (which are really awesome to play with). You can even rent a laptop by the hour, or a charging plug for your own devices.

As I got on the plane, I realized that Philadelphia never got to experience any of this. A Shuttle route probably wouldn't work in Philadelphia because New York and D.C. are so easy to reach, but honestly, I don't think we're really missing much.

It would be nice if flights to Boston were cheaper, though.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Greetings from the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, where it's 29 degrees and snowing as I wait to start the trip to Washington. It's one of those classic commuter airports, where the gift shop is combined with the café and the security line doesn't even open until it's time to board.

I covered last night's Penn-Cornell game for the Inquirer, and while the Quakers lost, 87-74, I thought they played their best game of the year and were simply beaten by a much better team. The Big Red are now 6-0 in the Ivy League, and have a grip on the Ancient Eight that any presidential candidate would envy.

Reading the morning's paper online, I see that La Salle also fell but Drexel and Villanova got big wins.

We'll see tomorrow if the Wildcats can keep that momentum going against Georgetown, but I have a feeling that the Hoyas are going to be pretty angry after blowing a lead and losing at Louisville last night. Maybe it was Rick Pitino's change of suits, or maybe it was the resurgence of Cardinals center David Padgett (both of which are dissected here), but I'm sure the Hoyas won't see it that way.

As for today, there might not be a better game anywhere in the country than St. Joe's at Xavier. It would be a monster win for the Hawks if they can get it, but it's going to be really, really hard.

Now about the weather here in central New York, which is just as bad as I feared it would be. The sun was shining when I went for a frigid but otherwise pleasant walk downtown this morning. But it started snowing soon after I started the six-mile drive over here, and it was coming down so hard a few minutes ago that I couldn't see the plane on the tarmac just a few hundred feet away.

It's lightened up a bit somewhat, and checking the radar it seems like things could clear up in time for my 1:30 p.m. departure, but I'd better not jinx it.

I'm fairly sure that turboprop is what I'll be boarding to fly to LaGuardia, where I'll have a two-hour layover before taking a proper jet to the best airport I've ever been to. National Airport, just a few miles down the Potomac River from the Capitol, is a spectacular piece of architecture, with huge skylights and cool art pieces all over the terminal. The food and shops are quite good as well.

For now, though, that all seems really far away. I'm sure that if I was anywhere else I wouldn't have any shot at leaving on time. They're used to this kind of weather up here, though, so we'll see what happens. I'm certainly glad I have a two-hour layover in Queens instead of something shorter.

My travels on Friday prevented me from writing Crunchy Numbers, and I need to head for security soon (at least in theory). But in order to keep the week-by-week ranking comparison fresh, I've put one together that includes results up to today. The full edition will return this coming Friday.

Postgame audio

George Mason: Jim Larranaga
Drexel: Bruiser Flint and Scott Rodgers

I guess this is what Drexel's season has come to?

Yes, most of the Dragons' 10 CAA losses have been close, but the blowouts resound just as loudly. And given that one of those blowouts came at George Mason, the fact that Drexel stayed in this game until reasonably close to the end can be seen as a good thing.

Still, I can't help thinking that coming into the season, this was one of the big games of the year in the conference. But the 9-3 Patriots and 2-10 Dragons couldn't have possibly gone in more different directions in CAA play.

Bruiser Flint will readily admit that he needs to have Frank Elegar out there, and the fact that Elegar played 35 minutes tonight was definitely a good thing. But the far more encouraging sign was that the eight made threes was the most since Drexel sank nine in a win over Rider on December 27.

Tramayne Hawthorne had five of them, Scott Rodgers had two and Gerald Colds had one. It's also notable that at the other end of the floor, the Dragons held George Mason to only 4-for-11 from the perimeter.

But the difference came when Patriots coach Jim Larranaga decided to change his defense during Drexel's first-half run, deploying a combination of pressure and a refusal to let the Dragons' guards drive the lane.

Drexel took only nine free throw attempts (and made them all which is certainly notable), but George Mason took 23 free throws and made 21.

The full final stats were these.

For Drexel: 24-for-54 from the field (44.4%), including 8-for-21 from three-point range (38.1%) and 16-for-33 from two-point range (48.5%), and that perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line (100.0%, but you knew that). Seven offensive rebounds, 18 defensive rebounds, 13 assists, 13 turnovers, five blocks, six steals and 18 fouls committed.

That adds up to 64 possessions and 1.011 points per possession.

For George Mason: 25-for-51 from the field (49.0%), including 4-for-11 from three-point range (36.4%) and 21-for-40 from two-point range (52.5%), and 21-for-23 from the free throw line. Nine offensive rebounds, 23 defensive rebounds, 13 assists, 11 turnovers, five blocks, eight steals and 12 fouls committed.

That adds up to 64 possessions and 1.173 points per possession.

As I get ready for a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call to head to New York, I leave you with this question I've been mulling over for a while this season.

When was the last time we had this many freshman guards in the city getting serious minutes?

By my count: Gerald Colds and Jamie Harris at Drexel; Harrison Gaines and Tyler Bernardini at Penn; Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes at Villanova; Kyle Griffin and Darryl Partin at La Salle.

Give that one some thought, and let me know what you think.

Well, for a while there it looked like Drexel might have finally snapped out of the funk it's been stuck in for so long.

But after going up 24-11 on a Tramayne Hawthorne three with 7:55 left in the half, the Dragons fell apart. They were outscored 26-5 over the rest of the half, and George Mason now holds a 37-31 lead at halftime.

The Dragons shot 11-for-22 from the field in the half (50.0%), including 4-for-8 from three-point range (50.0%) and 7-for-14 from two-point range (50.0%), and 5-for-5 from the free throw line., One offensive rebound, 11 defensive rebounds, nine assists, eight turnovers, four blocks, three steals and seven fouls committed.

That adds up to 31 possessions and 0.988 points per possession.

(No, it's not exactly 31.0 possessions by the formula, but you tell me what 0.375 possessions would look like in reality.)

By my math, Drexel shot 10-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-5 from three, during the 24-11 stretch. Which means they shot only 1-for-8/0-for-3 after that.

The Patriots shot 14-for-31 in the half (45.2%), including 2-for-7 from outside the arc (28.6%) and 12-for-24 from inside it (50.0%). Six offensive rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds, six assists four turnovers, two blocks, six steals and eight fouls committed.

That adds up to 33 possessions and 1.128 points per possession.

A few more thoughts after 20 minutes of play at the DAC...

-- Frank Elegar didn't start, but he did come in after the sub-16:00 media timeout of the first half, and threw down a nice slam with 14:00 on the clock to give the Dragons an 11-6 lead.

-- Not a big crowd tonight despite this being the Dragon's biggest home conference game of the season. There are lots of empty seats in all four sections of bleachers. Maybe I've become too used to the big crowds that have come out over the last few years, but it still surprises me.

-- There is a small traveling contingent from Fairfax, Va., led by a guy wearing unquestionably the most attire for a single school I've seen at any game all year. He has, from top to bottom: green shoes with yellow trim, tall green socks, green shorts with a yellow rally towel tucked in at the waist, a yellow "Patriots Platoon" t-shirt over a matching green mock turtleneck, gold and green Mardi Gras beads around his neck, a George Mason flag draped over his back cape-style, a face that is painted half-yellow, half-green, a yellow wig, and a white bandana that reads "George Mason" in green type wrapped around the wig. Impressive.

-- There's also a bit of shine on press row tonight. Noted author and occasional Washington Post columnist John Feinstein is here, and I saw him talking before the game with former NCAA supervisor of officials Hank Nichols. Also in attendance is one of my favorite reporter-bloggers, Washington Post soccer guru and George Mason beat writer Steven Goff.

Goff claims in a post this evening that Philadelphia is "home of MLS's next club." I'm still a little skeptical -- it's hard not to be given how many times our hopes have been raised and dashed -- but I hope he's right.

-- Bruiser Flint is as well-dressed as he always is, but I'm also impressed by George Mason coach Jim Larranaga's attire -- a sharp gray suit, white shirt, silver tie and well-shined black leather shoes.

There's an old adage that a coach gets to buy a new suit when he (or she) makes the NCAA Tournament. I figure that Final Four run two years ago earned Larranaga quite a few new outfits.

It occured to me recently that I just came off a stretch of attending five games in four days this past weekend-plus: Harvard-Penn, Syracuse-Villanova, Dartmouth-Penn, George Washington-Temple and Villanova-St. Joe's.

Well, starting tonight I'm going to take that thing a step further. I'll be attending five games over the next six days, and the twist this time is that three of them are on the road.

After going to the DAC tonight for George Mason-Drexel, I'm heading to New York tomorrow to cover Penn-Columbia for the print edition of the Inquirer. Then on Saturday morning, it's off to Ithaca, N.Y., to cover the Quakers' big showdown with Ivy League title favorites Cornell. And yes, I'm really looking forward to that drive in what could be some nasty weather.

On Sunday, I'll fly from Ithaca to Washington (by way of LaGuardia, which is going to be really fun). After visiting family for a bit, I'll be on the scene at the Verizon Center for Villanova-Georgetown.

Tuesday morning, I'll be back in Philadelphia to put together the week's College HoopsCast before heading to Princeton-Penn at the Palestra that night.

It's going to be quite a trip, and I'll be sure to check in on here regularly along the way. So stay tuned.

And if you wouldn't mind, buy the paper on Saturday and Sunday if you aren't a subscriber...

Interesting results in the Big 5 last night, and I can honestly say I'm not sure any of them surprise me this morning.

Well, St. Joe's losing at Duquesne surprised me when I first heard it. But in retrospect, it doesn't, because the Dukes play a far faster tempo than the Hawks do and the game was played at 80 possessions a side.

It's certainly no surprise that Phil Martelli is furious about his team letting Duquesne shoot 60 percent from the field after defending Villanova so well.

Nonetheless, let's highlight Dukes forward Shawn James, who recorded the first triple-double in school history:

Anyone who gets ten blocks in a game is worthy of the spotlight, even before the points and rebounds.

As for Temple, I said on this week's College HoopsCast that I had a hunch Richmond would sneak a win in this game. That's exactly what happened, though Mark Tyndale's flu had a lot to do with the result as well.

Unlike the St. Joe's-Duquesne game, the Temple-Richmond affair was played at a snail's pace -- 60 possessions a side. That's no surprise, because the Spiders play a Princeton offense and their coach, Chris Mooney, is a Princeton alum (and Archbishop Ryan graduate).

But if I had to pick one coach from anywhere in the country to beat a Princeton offense, I'd pick Fran Dunphy. Including last year's win over Richmond, Dunphy is 21-14 all-time against Princeton offenses -- indeed, at Penn all those games were against the Tigers themselves.

Indeed, the Owls held Richmond to 39 percent shooting from the field last night. Looking at the game flow, it just seems like one of those nights where the two teams were close throughout and the Spiders just edged it at the end.

The line that stands out is from Richmond guard David Gonzalvez:

The good news of the night came in Washington, where La Salle heaped further misery upon my boss' alma mater by beating George Washington. Great job by the Explorers defense to hold the Colonials to 39 percent shooting, and at the other end it was another big night for Darnell Harris:

Just as importantly, the Explorers are now 4-4 in conference play and are in a comfortable position for a trip to Atlantic City next month.

Nationally, Dick Vitale was given quite a gift for his return to the broadcasting table -- a barnburner of a game between Duke and North Carolina.

For as much as I don't like feeding the hype machine that gets cranked up to full blast whenever the Blue Devils and Tar Heels meet, the two teams lived up to their rankings last night and gave it every ounce of the effort you would expect in such a fierce rivalry.

Who knows what would have happened if Ty Lawson had played, though? If nothing else, I'm sure Carolina wouldn't have committed 20 turnovers.

But because he didn't play, and because we all knew his absence was coming, the gameplan for Duke was clear. As J.P. Giglio and Caulton Tudor down at ACC Now predicted, Mike Krzyzewski let Tyler Hansbrough score his points and put the clamps down on everyone else.

Taking out Hansbrough's 28 points on 12-for-21 shooting, the other seven Tar Heel players combined to make only 16 of 48 field goal attempts. Episcopal grad Wayne Ellington was perhaps the game's worst shooter, finishing 3-for-14.

And while UNC shot 3-for-17 from three-point range, Duke shot a (yes, Dickie V) sensational 13-for-29 from beyond the arc.

So full marks to Duke for a big road win that solidified their status among the top of this year's class in college basketball.

Download it here, and be sure to subscribe if you haven't already.

This week, Joe Juliano joins me to discuss the big win for St. Joe's over Villanova, Temple's win over George Washington and Penn's 2-0 start in Ivy League play.

We also talk about the big national and local games this week, including Duke-North Carolina and Villanova-Georgetown.

-- Photo gallery by the Inquirer's Ron Cortes
-- Video highlights of Phil Martelli and Jay Wright's postgame remarks
-- Audio of Phil Martelli's full press conference
-- Audio of Jay Wright, Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds

When it was over, Phil Martelli said that "the team with the best players always wins," and that Villanova has "guys on that team that are better players than I have."

Yet it was Martelli's team that not only came out on top, but did so in as convincing a fashion as you could possibly come up with.

The final score was 77-55, and as I wrote during the game, it barely seemed even that close. Just as importantly, it wasn't an upset.

The margin of victory was a surprise, but the fact that St. Joe's won the game was not at all. I get emails from midmajority.com whenever an "upset" occurs, a function that is defined almost entirely by how much money a conference has to throw around.

But I bet that even the text-messaging machine paused for just a moment and wondered whether it was really worth the effort this time around.

Because the real reason why St. Joe's won tonight was the exact opposite of what Phil Martelli said: they were the better team.

The Hawks played better defense, committed fewer turnovers, dished seven more assists and generally made life miserable for a Villanova team that seemed out of sorts for large chunks of the game.

The final stats were as follows.

For Villanova: 21-for-51 from the field (41.2%), including 4-for-17 from three-point range (23.5%) and 17-for-34 (50.0%) from two-point range, and 9-for-15 from the free throw line. Fourteen offensive rebounds, 16 defensive rebounds, seven assists, 17 turnovers, three blocks, five steals and 20 fouls committed.

That adds up to 61 possessions and 0.900 points per possession.

For St. Joe's: 23-for-47 from the field (48.9%), including 11-for-23 from three-point range (47.8%) and 12-for-24 (50.0%) from two-point range, and 20-for-25 from the line. Ten offensive rebounds, 20 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 11 turnovers, eight assists, six steals and 13 fouls committed.

That adds up to 59 possessions and 1.316 points per possession, and thanks to Eric for noting that I forgot to post those numbers initially.

We pull out assists and turnovers as the key stats: 7 and 17 for Villanova, 8 and 6 for St. Joe's.

Individually, this was a night where Garrett Williamson took no shots whatsoever but still had a huge impact on the game: four rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals in 29 minutes.

It was a night where Pat Calathes' 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks stood out, and only bolstered his growing case for Big 5 Player of the Year.

(I would still vote for Dionte Christmas, but let's see what happens when the two meet at the end of this month.)

But the line of the game goes to the one guy who I felt coming in could truly decide the game for the Hawks. If I was on the other side, the guy who would scare me the most is Rob Ferguson, because if you don't put the clamps on him he's capable at any time of uncorking a performance as remarkably efficient as what he did tonight:

Scottie Reynolds had his moments from beyond the arc, but he finished the night 3-for-12 from the field. Corey Fisher's Palestra debut included five turnovers and a 2-for-7 shooting night.

It is no stretch to say that when those two next play on 33rd Street they will almost surely do better. But for tonight, they lost to the better team, and when last I checked, that's how basketball usually works.

With that, I'm off to sleep. I've been up since 5 a.m. working, and I'd rather not make it the full 24 hours. I'll be back early in the evening with a new edition of the College HoopsCast, and if you're into politics be sure to check out Philly.com's extensive Super Tuesday coverage. I have a bit of a hand in that as well.

If nothing else, we know Phil Martelli will be paying attention.

Note: Latest updates are at the bottom.

Preamble: Greetings from the rafters of an absolutely sweltering Palestra, which is already rocking in anticipation of the 65th Holy War game between Villanova and Saint Joseph's.

There's still well over half an hour to go before tip as I start writing this, and it's as hot in here as it's ever been. The only saving grace is that my seat in the upper press row is not right in front of one of the heaters.

I am, however, right under a bag weight that helps support the loudspeaker apparatus over the court, and I've hit my head on the thing twice three four times already when standing up.

(I've also been up since 5 this morning working, so if you see any errors in the post, please feel free to email me.)

Those of you who've seen me at games before know that I always wear short sleeves when covering games here because of how hot it gets, even on night when the place is 2/3 empty.

Well, because this game is such an occasion, I decided to show up in long sleeves and a sportjacket.

Big mistake.

The jacket has been consigned to sitting on the back of my chair for the rest of the night, and the sleeves have been rolled up. I really should have known better.

Anyway, as is the custom here on the blog, I'll be bringing you all the highlights of the atmosphere: the rollouts, chants, and whatever else comes along. The game is on CSTV, and while I know a lot of you don't have it at least someone's broadcasting it. You could also listen to the radio, which I know for sure because Villanova analyst Whitey Rigsby is sitting right next to me.

I'm going to head back downstairs and get a few extra bottles of water, and I'll rejoin you again in a bit.

Preamble, part 2: If you needed any further proof of what kind of a basketball town this is, consider the fact that the buzz in the building right now has next to nothing to do with tonight's game. Bobby Knight has resigned as head coach of Texas Tech, and all of a sudden that's what everybody is talking about.

None of the media here seem to know why. And that might actually be saying something, considering that in the house tonight are ex-Villanova coach and CSTV analyst Steve Lappas, St. Joe's color analyst and ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi, and Dana O'Neil, formerly of the Daily News and now with ESPN.com.

Preamble, part 3: Seven minutes to go and already the St. Joe's students have unfurled two rollouts. The first one said "FREE LEE!" and was rather discreet. The second one was much more for public consumption, and read, "CAUSE OF NOVA VIRUS: CAFE FOOD OR RU LOSS," with the "RU" in appropriate red.

By the way, even though I usually sit courtside, I actually quite like sitting up high, especially when the building is sold out. It's great to be able to look over the whole scene, with th ecorners full and everyone looking straight down at the court. On nights like this, the place becomes a theater as much as it does a sporting venue.

Preamble, part 4: Paging Father Lannon? Yet another St. Joe's rollout, and this one gets caught by the old shot clock pole in the stands and has to get torn up before it hits the lower level: "WE'RE SORRY YOUR MASCOT IS A PUSSY."

Just reporting what I see, folks.

The starting lineups:

... and hasn't a lot already happened even before the game starts.

Villanova

C So 5 Casiem Drummond
F Jr 33 Dante Cunningham
G So 1 Scottie Reynolds
G Fr 10 Corey Fisher
G So 15 Reggie Redding

St. Joseph's

F Sr 52 Rob Ferguson
F Sr 12 Pat Calathes
C Jr 34 Ahmad Nivins
G So 13 Darrin Govens
G Jr 0 Tasheed Carr

15:40 1st, 10-4 St. Joe's: We knew the crowd was going to be overwhelmingly in the Hawks' favor, but the place is really roaring at the first media timeout. St. Joe's is 4-for-5 from the field to Villanova's 2-for-5, with the loudest shot so far a three by Pat Calathes just now. Tasheed Carr also had a nice jumper from the right corner just inside the arc with a man pretty well in his face.

Here comes a St. Joe's rollout with a not too surprising theme: "EVEN TIM DONAGHY BET ON SJU"

For or against?

8:30 1st, 24-18 St. Joe's: A rollout during play, which isn't something you see every day: "ST. JOE'S INVADES NOVA NATION!"

I have a hunch there's more too that.

... And there is: "BIG 5: PENN TEMPLE LA SALLE ST. JOE'S DREXEL"

Given the numbers of people on the Main Line over the years who would agree with that, I'm not so sure how good an idea it is to put that on a rollout. But that's just me.

A bit about the game, by the way: 'Nova had cut the Hawks' lead to 19-18 with a three from Corey Fisher, but Darrin Govens answered with a three of his own at the other and and that was as close as the Wildcats have come.

4:07 1st, 35-20 St. Joe's: A classic Rob Ferguson three from the top of the arc, and Jay Wright has seen enough of that. Timeout Villanova, and it's all one way traffic on the floor and in the stands.

3:46 1st, 35-20 St. Joe's: A media timeout, and a St. Joe's rollout: "HAWK D [in red] WRAPS REYNOLDS [in black]." For the record, Reynolds is 2-for-8 and 2-for-4 from three, with seven points total.

2:36 1st, 42-22 St. Joe's: Another Villanova timeout, this one caused after Pat Calathes grabs a Wildcats turnover and races away for a deafening slam. This thing is getting out of hand in a hurry.

HALFTIME, 42-26 St. Joe's: What a half for the Hawks, capped off by a ridiculous off-balance heave by Darrin Govens for a shot clock-beating three with a few seconds left. I thought St. Joe's would be winning, but not by this much. I'll report the full stats in a bit, but let's start with 11 Villanova turnovers and St. Joe's shooting 15-for-19 from the free throw line.

Okay, here are the numbers.

For Villanova: 10-for-26 from the field (38.5%), including 2-for-8 from three-point range (25.0%) and 8-for-16 from two-point range (50.0%). Seven offensive rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, three assists, 11 turnovers (how's that for a ratio), two blocks, three steals and 13 fouls committed.

That adds up to 33 possessions and 0.780 points per possession.

For St. Joe's: 12-for-22 from the field (54.5%), including 6-for-12 from three-point range (50.0%) and 6-for-10 from two-point range (60.0%). Four offensive rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds, eight assists, six turnovers, five blocks (wow), six steals and seven fouls committed.

That adds up to 33 possessions and 1.363 points per possession. Almost double Villanova's. Wow.

Off we go in the second half.

16:22 2nd, 53-29 St. Joe's: Whoa. Rob Ferguson ball fakes Shane Clark at the top of the arc, Clark goes sailing by him and Ferguson easily drains a three.

15:51 2nd, 53-29 St. Joe's: A media timeout after Shane Clark is whistled for his first foul. A rollout: "2 COREY'S DON'T MAKE A WRIGHT"

14:36 2nd, 56-31 St. Joe's: This is the kind of night it's been for Villanova: St. Joe's tries to trap Scottie Reynolds at the perimeter with under ten seconds on the shot clock. Reynolds drives a bit, but can't get too far because Ahmad Nivins is in his way. He finds Dante Cunningham underneath with two seconds left, Cunningham just gets the layup off, it goes in the basket -- and he's called for a charge. On top of that, it's Cunningham's fourth foul.

11:42 2nd, 58-35 St. Joe's: It wouldn't quite be right to say that the atmosphere has gone flat, but there's a definite sense that this game is pretty close to being done.

A rollout: "nOVA DIET... NO MSG." Fair enough. I would like to know why the first n is lowercase, if any St. Joe's students see this.

9:24 2nd, 61-40 St. Joe's: Dwayne Anderson pokes the ball free at the arc, and as it bounces away he goes chasing after it. Anderson can't run fast enough to get to the ball, so upon crossing the foul line he basically pulls a Slip N' Slide move on the well-polished hardwood and goes sailing all the way from there into the photographers behind the basket. Applause from both ends of the floor.

7:30 2nd, 65-42 St. Joe's: A few Villanova fans are starting to leave. Not that there were many to begin with, but in all fairness most of them are staying. Lest you Hawks fans try to start something.

5:59 2nd, 70-42 St. Joe's: Garrett Williamson soars to block a Scottie Reynolds three. He dishes it up the court to D.J. Rivera, who can't quite get the fastbreak layp to go, but Pat Calathes puts it back. Jay Wright calls timeout. This is getting a bit ridiculous.

A rollout: "HOW DOES VU GET TO B.E. TOURNEY?"

The answer follows: "CALL TICKET MASTER"

3:56 2nd, 70-44 St. Joe's: The last media timeout. Commemorated by my hitting the sandbag above me for the sixth time tonight. Joe Lunardi bet the over when I told him I had already hit it three times, which just goes to prove once again how smart he is.

No rollouts during that timeout, though. I figure there's one left.

3:23 2nd, 73-44 St. Joe's: My goodness. The Hawks beat the shot clock yet again, this time on an NBA-range three from the top of the arc by Rob Ferguson that went in off the backboard.

2:20 2nd, 75-44 St. Joe's: Okay, enough with the shot clock-beating already. This time, Ferguson at the arc feeds Pat Calathes, who drives a step or so with a second left and lays it in off the glass. Timeout Villanova.

The St. Joe's fans start chanting "This is our house!" and the Villanova fans who two years ago chanted "This is Penn's house!" don't even bother doing anything.

A rollout: "WHAT THE BIG 5 MEANS ON THE MAIN LINE..."

and part two: "5 STRAIGHT LOSSES"

0:57 2nd, 75-48 St. Joe's: Phil Martelli points to the Hawks fans and pumps his fist. A few seconds later, a rollout comes down from the top of the St. Joe's student section that says "REDRUM." Explain that one?

FINAL, 77-55 St. Joe's: It's over, finally. Some St. Joe's fans rush the court and mug for the TV cameras. I have a hunch that they didn't have to, but they did stop Villanova's record Big 5 win streak.

Now to get through the throng and down to the press room, and who knows how long that will take.

Back with stats and more later.

... a bit from George Washington-Temple.

Postgame audio:

-- George Washington: Karl Hobbs and Maureece Rice
-- Temple: Fran Dunphy, Lavoy Allen and Chris Clark

I went to the Liacouras Center yesterday for two reasons, both of which really had to do with the visiting team. The first was that while the Owls have been on a hot streak of late, the Colonials have also stunned Atlantic 10 observers with what is now a 1-6 record in conference play. And the one win was that 49-20 record-setter against Saint Louis, which in that context doesn't look so special.

We knew the defending champions' loss of Carl Elliot and Regis Koundjia would be big, but not that big.

I also wanted to see Colonials guard Maureece Rice, who I've written about on the blog before. Now a senior, the Philadelphia native visited his hometown for the last time in his college career yesterday and got a nice reception during pregame introductions.

But what everyone really came to see was his scoring; after all, his 2,681 career points at Strawberry Mansion broke Wilt Chamberlain's famed city high school scoring record.

While Rice struggled early on yesterday, he came alive in the second half and was the driving force behind GW's rally from 17 points down to take a 70-69 lead with 7:49 left in the game.

Temple regained control of things after that, but Rice ended the day with game highs of 22 points and six rebounds. Talking to Rice after the game, he wasn't at all happy about having lost, but he did acknowledge that the day did hold a bit of extra importance for him.

As for a line of the game, it would be easy to give it to Mark Tyndale or Lavoy Allen because they were the guys who took things over at the end. But since it was Chris Clark's birthday and he was on fire in the first half, I think he deserves it:

I'll be back later tonight from the Palestra.

Postgame audio

-- Syracuse: Jim Boeheim
-- Villanova: Jay Wright, Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher

I'm not to the point of firing Jay Wright yet, but the comments are clearly flying in about another bad home loss for Villanova.

The final score was 87-73. Villanova trailed 76-68 with 2:21 left, but Syracuse ran off eight straight to put the thing out of reach and leave the Wachovia Center sounding very much like a southern annex of the Carrier Done.

Before getting to the final stats, let's take a look at the second half by itself.

Syracuse shot 12-for-18 from the field (66.7%), including 1-for-3 from three-point range (33.3%) and 11-for-15 from two-point range (73.3%), and a whopping 18-for-25 (72.0%) from the free throw line. Four offensive rebounds, 16 defensive rebounds, eight assists, seven turnovers, one block, two steals and 12 fouls committed.

That adds up to 30 possessions and 1.439 points per possession, as well as a free throw rate (free throws made / field goal attempts) of 65.1%.

Villanova shot 10-for-29 from the field (34.5%), including 5-for-12 from three-point range (41.7%) and 5-for-17 from two-point range, and 9-for-12 from the line (75.0%). Five offensive rebounds, seven defensive rebounds, seven assists, three turnovers, no blocks, three steals and 20 fouls committed.

That adds up to 33 possessions, 1.040 points per possession and a free throw rate of 31.0%.

Again, for emphasis: Syracuse in the second half shot 11-for-15 from 2-point range and Villanova shot 5-for-17, with the Orange pulling down 16 defensive rebounds. That would be your key stat for this game.

So now for the full-game stats.

First for Syracuse: 27-for-43 from the field (62.8%), including 10-for-14 from 3-point range (71.4%) and 17-for-29 from 2-point range (58.6%), and 28-for-39 from the free throw line (71.8%). Seven offensive rebounds, 27 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 18 turnovers, four blocks, 10 steals and 19 fouls committed.

That adds up to 73 possessions and 1.20 points per possession.

And for Villanova: 26-for-58 from the field (44.8%), including 7-for-19 from three-point range (36.8%) and 19-for-39 from 2-point range (48.7%), and 14-for-18 from the line (77.8%). Seven offensive rebounds, 15 defensive rebounds, 20 assists, 13 turnovers, two blocks, 12 steals and 32 fouls committed.

That adds up to 73 possessions and 1.006 points per possession.

Line of the game goes to a guy who was pretty well unstoppable all game for Syracuse: Paul Harris.

And so to wrap the day up, I ask you this: For which team is the Holy War more important, Villanova or St. Joe's?

I created a poll for you to vote in. I'll post the results here tomorrow night, but between now and then, you can leave a comment here in addition to casting your vote.

Serves me right.

As I was putting together the previous post, Villanova got out to a 28-18 lead midway through the first half. But after a Casiem Drummond putback with 7:34 left made it 31-24, the Wildcats froze and the Orange roared to life.

Syracuse made three threes in a row at the same time as Villanova missed a trio from beyond the arc, surging into the lead for the first time all game. The run rolled on, and by the time Paul Harris hit two free throws with 4:28 left it was 15 straight for the Orange and a 39-33 lead.

Naturally, Syracuse went cold right then. The Orange only made one field goal between that point and Casiem Drummond's putback slam with 35.6 seconds left that made it 42-39 Orange.

But all that momentum disappeared in a hurry when a nifty layup by Scoop Jackson with just over a second left made it 44-39 at the half.

The full numbers went like this:

Syracuse shot 15-for-25 from the field (60.0%), including 4-for-8 from three-point range (50.0%) and 11-for-17 from two-point range (64.7%), and 10-for-14 from the free throw line (71.4%). Three offensive rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds, six assists, 11 turnovers, three blocks, eight steals and seven fouls committed.

That adds up to 40 possessions and 1.110 points per possession.

Villanova shot 16-for-29 from the field, including 2-for-7 from outside the arc (28.6%) and 14-for-22 from inside it (63.6%), and 5-for-6 from the line (83.3%). Two offensive rebounds, eight defensive rebounds, 13 assists, 10 turnovers, two blocks, nine steals and 12 fouls committed.

That also adds up to 40 possessions, and 0.979 points per possession. Quite efficient for both teams considering the high tempo.

The half's high scorer was Syracuse's Jonny Flynn with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 1-for-2 from the arc. Casiem Drummond led Villanova with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, all from two-point range.

As if we needed any further proof of how much the Wildcats missed him.

Even with everything else I've been working on this week, I've had the Syracuse-Villanova clash down as a must-see affair -- and a game the Wildcats simply have to win.

So here we are at the Wachovia Center, and unsurprisingly, the big crowd has plenty of orange in it. Some of those folks are in the fancy seats, but across the floor from me in the upper deck are a few big groups of road-trippers who've put aside their Dinosaur Barbeque and come down here for the day. They know this is a pretty big game for their team as well.

(As an aside, when looking for a good place to eat after visiting the Carrier Done, Dinosaur definitely has my endorsement. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks that.)

Said crowd has been on its feet a lot so far, because the Wildcats have come out with an aggression and hustle that we haven't seen in a while. Lots of pounding it inside, some big dunks, and even a few dives to the floor for loose balls. They need to keep it up, but it's been a good start.

Villanova started Antonio Peña, Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Reggie Redding and Dante Cunningham. Just as importantly, though, Casiem Drummond came into the game at 16:30 and has already had a significant impact on offense and defense.

Syracuse started Donte' Green, Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kristof Ongenaet and Arinze Onuaku. Antonio "Scoop" Jardine, the Philadelphia native and Neumann-Goretti graduate, has had his suspension lifted and is expected to play today.

Speaking of dressing, both coaching staffs are wearing sneaker in honor of the Coaches vs. Cancer awareness weekend across college basketball. Jay Wright and his staff have taken it another step by wearing Villanova tracksuits, while Jim Boeheim is in the usual sportjacket and tie.

It might be the only time we'll ever see Boeheim better dressed than Wright, and yet I can't help thinking that Wright wears the tracksuit pretty well...

I really don't care for Wing Bowl at all, but given what's sitting atop Philly.com right now, I might as well play along...

And I don't mean El Wingador at 3-to-1. But given that it is Wing Bowl Day, and that we could see a Philly.com record for single-day pageviews today (I have to keep an eye on this stuff as part of my real job), I figured I'd add to the tally with a cheap headline.

Fran Dunphy walked into Rose Hill Gym last night carrying a two-game losing streak in the Bronx. Last year, Temple lost at Fordham on the last day of the season, 80-73, after being tied at halftime. A year before that, Dunphy's final Penn team won the first half by three points but lost the second half by 18.

So maybe it was good karma that Temple trailed at the half yesterday, 26-23. And maybe it was another sign of how far the Owls have come over the last few weeks that they rallied to beat the Rams, 58-50, even though Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas combined to shoot 9-for-25 from the field.

A Line of the Day, then, to the guy who stepped up to hit the big shots: Chris Clark.