Full day of hoops set for Palestra

A pair of matchups book-ending the Penn-Saint Joseph's tilt will round out Saturday's Big 5 Classic at the Palestra.

Temple will face city rival Drexel at noon, while La Salle meets Villanova at 8 p.m.

Both Temple and Drexel look to rebound from losses that occurred in spite of dominant individual performances.

The Temple Owls fell to Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J, on Wednesday, 77-67. Sophomore guard Mardy Collins notched 20 of his career-high 22 points in the second half as his side tried to rally from a 37-28 halftime deficit.

But Temple could not keep pace with the red-hot Scarlet Knights, who shot 12-for-23 from beyond the arc. Freshman reserve Quincy Douby led the way, shooting 4-for-6 from three-point range and scoring a career-high 21 points.

Flu-stricken David Hawkins added 18 for the Cherry and White.

Temple trailed in the second half by as many as 20, as John Chaney's team fell to 0-3 and 0-1 in the Big 5.

Drexel is coming off a 69-68 loss to Lafayette. The Dragons enjoyed a 10-point lead in the second half, but the Leopards steadily chipped away -- ultimately taking control down the stretch with a 7-0 run.

Pivot man Sean Knitter's field goal with 1:03 left in regulation put Lafayette ahead for good.

Drexel (1-2) had a chance to take the game in the final seconds, but the Leopards sealed the win when Jamie Hughes blocked Jeremiah King's field goal attempt with four seconds remaining.

The setback overshadowed a career night by forward Sean Brooks, whose 23 points and 16 rebounds were both personal bests.

The 16 rebounds were the most by a Drexel player since Mike Kouser grabbed 17 in 2000.

Brooks has been a pleasant surprise for coach James "Bruiser" Flint. The 6'6" junior shot 9-for-11 in Saturday's win at Colgate, tallying 20 points. He currently leads the Dragons in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game.

Temple and Drexel didn't face each other during the regular season last year, but they did meet last March in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at the Liacouras Center. The Owls won, 68-59, behind Alex Wesby's 20 points.

In the nightcap of the Big 5 Classic, La Salle (1-4) meets Villanova (3-2, 1-0) in a city series matchup that will be broadcasted on CN8.

Coach Billy Hahn's Explorers captured their elusive first victory of the season in their home opener Wednesday night. La Salle sprinted out to a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes and held on for a 79-71 victory over James Madison.

Sophomore Steven Smith, a Philadelphia native, poured in a career-high 27 points for the Explorers. Guard Gary Neal, recovering from a bruised knee, chipped in with 19 points off the bench.

La Salle entered the season with prohibitively high expectations, coming off last year's modest success. But the Explorers dropped their first four contests, including a 20-point loss at Lafayette.

Villanova is finally enjoying some downtime following a frenetic start to their season. The suspension-hindered Wildcats played five games inside of 140 hours across six time zones against teams from Divisions I, II and III.

The Wildcats, beleaguered by suspensions stemming from last season's misuse of a university telephone access code, finished sixth in the Maui Invitational. Villanova used only six players in two of its tournament games.

Following a shocking 52-49 loss in the first round to Division II Chaminade, the Wildcats beat Santa Clara in overtime, 53-51. They then lost to Ohio State in the fifth-place game, 67-66.

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