Big 5 notebook: The three teams in free fall when they should be building March resumés

It’s the second weekend in February, which means most college basketball teams have a sense of whether they’ll need to win their conference tournaments to be dancing in March Madness.

But some are still trying to build their resumé — or keep it — for a potential at-large bid, including some Big 5 teams.

Here’s our weekly Big 5 hoops notebook to get you set for the weekend.

After a somewhat promising nonconference slate that included a run to the Big 5 Classic title game, the Temple men’s basketball team can’t find a win. The Owls are 1-9 in American Athletic Conference play and have lost eight straight.

In last place out of 14 AAC teams, their most recent loss was Thursday at home to a solid Memphis squad, 84-77. It doesn’t get much easier, with Temple’s next two games coming against two of the top three teams in the conference. After that, however, there are four consecutive games against the four teams directly above the Owls in the standings.

According to KenPom.com, the Owls rank 353th out of 362 in effective field-goal percentage at just 44.2%, and their adjusted offense is 273rd in the nation.

Cindy Griffin’s squad doesn’t lose many basketball games. At 22-2 overall, the Hawks are building a resumé for an at-large bid if they cannot win the Atlantic 10 Tournament in March. Talya Brugler (16.6 points per game) leads the Hawks, followed by Laura Ziegler (14.7), Mackenzie Smith (12.5), and Chloe Welch (10.7).

Despite their 11-1 record in conference play, the Hawks only lead Richmond by half a game, with the Spiders handing St. Joe’s its only league loss.

On the men’s side, the Hawks led No. 18 Dayton by four at halftime but gave up 60 second-half points and lost, 94-79, on Tuesday. After all the excitement before the season and in nonconference play, St. Joe’s is just 5-5 in the A-10.

A 7-0 start in Coastal Athletic Association play has quickly turned to 8-3 for the Dragons.

Losing on the road by three to a good Towson team on Jan. 25 isn’t much of a concern, but since then Drexel has lost to Monmouth and by 19 points to UNC Wilmington. Both losses came on the road (and UNCW is a really good CAA team), but losing three of four after such a strong start is something to keep an eye on.

Plus, a matchup at Charleston looms on Saturday. The Dragons are third in the CAA standings, with three teams just a game behind.

On the women’s side, there are four games on Saturday and one on Sunday. On Saturday, La Salle plays at Duquesne (2 p.m., ESPN+), and Penn will host No. 25 Princeton (2 p.m., ESPN+). Temple takes on South Florida at the Liacouras Center (3 p.m., ESPN+), and Villanova plays on the road against Marquette (3 p.m., Fox). Sunday finds Drexel in a matchup against visiting North Carolina A&T (1 p.m., FloHoops).

For the men, the first of four Saturday games start at 12:30 p.m., as St. Joe’s plays St. Louis on the USA Network, followed by La Salle visiting Richmond (2 p.m., ESPN+). Drexel has a tough road matchup against Charleston (3:30 p.m., FloHoops), and Penn plays at Princeton (6 p.m., ESPN+).

On Sunday, Villanova plays Seton Hall (noon, CBS Sports), followed by Temple vs. Charlotte (2 p.m., ESPN+).