Big 5 Classic Central: St. Joe's claim back-to-back Big 5 title; Villanova trounces Temple and Drexel tops Penn for fifth

St. Joe’s defended its Big 5 title for their second consecutive win under the new format with an 82-68 win over La Salle as chants of “The Hawk Will Never Die” echoed throughout the Wells Fargo Center.

Senior Erik Reynolds II led St. Joe’s with 23 points, and sophomore Xzayvier Brown added 21 points and six assists. Junior Rasheer Fleming finished with nine points but ended the game with 10 rebounds.

Explorers were led by freshman Deuce Jones who scored 18 points off the bench. Fifth-year Corey McKeithan followed with 15 points while putting up seven rebounds for La Salle, second to junior Mac Etienne, who grabbed eight.

The Big 5 Hall of Fame inducted six new members at halftime of the championship game.

The 2024 honorees include former La Salle’s John Giannini, Penn’s Ira Bowman, Temple’s LaKeisha Eaddy, Saint Joseph's Amy Facer, Villanova's Courtney Mix, and former Inquirer college sports writer Mike Jensen.

Bowman played guard at Penn from 1994-1996 under current La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. He also served as a Penn assistant from 2012-2018 before taking on the assistant role he currently holds at Auburn.

Villanova won third place in the Big 5 Classic with a 94-65 victory over Temple.

The Wildcats had strong shooting, finishing 58.5% from the field and 63.3% in three pointers. Graduate forward Eric Dixon led the team with 24 points.

The Owls couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up, even with numerous opportunities from the foul line. Villanova committed 25 personal fouls in contrast to Temple’s 17, but the Owls made 18 of 29 free throws.

Villanova guard Wooga Poplar has been all over the stat sheet in the first half, slamming home his 11th point as the first half expired.

The Wildcats went into the break up 45-29. Villanova forward Eric Dixon led all scorers with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 2 of 3 from three. Temple's Jamal Mashburn Jr. has 12 points on 40% shooting, and forward Steve Settle III added nine and two assists.

Villanova shot nearly 60% from the field as a team, including going 8-14 from three. The Owls made just nine of their 30 attempts in the first half. Temple forced seven turnovers compared to Villanova's three, but the Owls couldn't capitalize on their opportunities.

Penn and Drexel are battling it out through the first half as the game stands 30-30.

The Quakers are leaning on their only returning starters from last season, senior center Nick Spinoso and sophomore guard Sam Brown. Both have recorded 8 points through the first.

Notably, Spinoso appeared to have rolled his ankle in the beginning minutes of the match, jogging gingerly down the court. He has since checked back into the game.

There was a time in this millennium, even though that's become a while now, when a Penn-Drexel game could draw a good 5-6,000 to the Palestra.

Alas, when the Quakers and Dragons tipped off at just after 2 p.m., it looked like you could fit the crowd at the 21,000-seat Wells Fargo Center into Drexel's 2,500-seat Daskalasis Athletic Center at the Palestra.

They're throwing streamers after each team's first basket like the old days, a nice touch. But when Penn scored the game's first points, maybe two dozen streamers flew out of the sparse Quakers student section.

The reigning Big 5 champs have, at times, looked like a force to be reckoned with as the trio of Erik Reynolds (14.4 ppg., 3.3 rpg.), and Xzayvier Brown (15.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg.) pose a handful for even top teams to stop.

However, few would have predicted La Salle, who will take on the Hawks in the championship game on Saturday (8 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia) to be in this position.

However, head coach Fran Dunphy’s team has been impressive so far this season, led by transfer graduate guard Corey McKeithan, who is playing the best basketball of his career averaging nearly 20 points (19.2 points per game).

While Billy Lange hopes to experience the euphoria of winning the Big 5 Classic again, St. Joseph's head coach knows it won't be easy.

With six first-year players and four sophomores, St. Joe’s (5-3) is the youngest team in the Atlantic 10 and might be the youngest team in this year's tournament. The Hawks have two juniors, one senior, Erik Reynolds II, and a fifth-year player.

Of those four upperclassmen, two transferred into the program this year and have entered the starting five alongside Reynolds, sophomore Xzayvier Brown, and junior Rasheer Fleming.