Dick Jerardi: College Basketball Wrap: Bad day for Philly hoops

**AROUND THE CITY**

WHAT HAPPENED?:

Remember the perfect 5-0 Wednesday? This was the imperfect Saturday. Can't imagine the price on the exacta of Temple and Saint Joseph's each losing at home. The Owls never lose at home and the Hawks had been playing so well at Hagan that I was thinking they might not lose there this season.

TOO MANY POINTS:

Temple's defensive vulnerabilities did not show in its upset of Duke because the Owls shot so well and got surprise play up front. Well, they got crushed on the boards by Dayton, 39-27, did not get much up front, and lost, 87-77, in their Atlantic 10 opener. Temple (10-4, 0-1 A-10) gave up leads in each half and allowed 56 second-half points.

ENOUGH FROM THE GUARDS:

Temple's terrific guards (Ramone Moore, Juan Fernandez and Khalif Wyatt) combined for 60 points. That is going to work on most nights. Wyatt (28) was especially effective on offense, but the Flyers (12-4, 2-0) kept scoring and were 19-for-21 from the foul line.

WHERE DID THEY ALL GO?:

I understand that many in the giant crowd at Wells Fargo on Wednesday were there to see Duke, but, given how good this program has been for so long, I do wonder why just 5,172 appeared at Liacouras (where the Owls had won 25 straight) to see a team that has done nothing but win for five seasons now.

NOT ENOUGH POINTS:

Saint Joseph's played a perfect first half the previous Saturday at Harvard, but faded down the stretch. Suddenly, everything became difficult. The Hawks were very fortunate to win Wednesday at Duquesne but not so fortunate against Charlotte at home.

Playing from behind the whole game after trailing, 29-16, late in the first half, SJU finally caught up, had a five-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes left, promptly went 4 minutes without scoring and lost, 57-52.

The Hawks (11-5, 1-1 A-10) were 22 points below their average. If you had said before the game that Charlotte would score just 57, you would have thought it would have been a rout.

THE UGLY NUMBERS:

Charlotte (9-5, 2-0) is improved, but this is a game St. Joe's really figured to win. Charlotte shot just 33.9 percent from the field. But the Hawks only got to the foul line seven times opposed to 22 attempts for the 49ers. SJU had been shooting nearly 40 percent from the arc. They were 2-for-21 in this game. Langston Galloway was shooting 52.1 percent from the arc; he was 0-for-4. Bizarre.

CLOSE LOSERS:

SJU has proved to be an excellent frontrunner. Its five losses have been by a combined 29 points. They have actually had a chance to win every game. What does it all mean? This is a good, still young (no seniors, one junior) team that is not all the way there yet. Time will tell if it gets there.

**ACROSS THE COUNTRY**

HOW GOOD IS 'CUSE?:

Everybody will get to see Wednesday in South Philly. Dion Waiters especially is having a terrific season. He had 12 points, seven assists, three steals and a key block as the Orange (17-0) beat Marquette, 73-66.

BY THE NUMBERS:

-- Midway through the season, Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis still looks like the No. 1 pick in the draft. He is far from finished offensively, but the NBA loves numbers like his 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks against South Carolina.

-- Notre Dame was 0-6 away from home and shot just 31.7 percent at Louisville. But Mike Brey's team was tough when it had to be and found a way to win, 67-65.

-- West Virginia stopped Georgetown's 11-game winning streak. Kevin Jones had 22 points and 16 rebounds for WVU. In his last seven games, Jones has 81 rebounds.

DUKE'S DEFENSE:

Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dick_jerardi/20120109_Dick_Jerardi_.html

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