Dick Jerardi: Hawks too big for La Salle

AROUND THE CITY

BIG BEATS LITTLE

The week before, Saint Joseph's big frontline was no match for Temple's perimeter power. Playing against La Salle's four guards, SJU's big men, specifically Halil Kanacevic, were a bit too much for the Explorers in their 70-66 win at the Palestra. And, yes, the magic number (8,722) jammed the Big House.

La Salle (17-7, 6-3 Atlantic 10, 1-2 Big 5) had no answer for Kanacevic (18 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals). SJU (15-9, 5-4, 2-1) led for the final 34 minutes, but was holding on at the finish. La Salle got within a point in the final seconds and wasn't done until Earl Pettis missed a very tough three in the final seconds.

THE BIZARRE NUMBERS

You can watch a lot of games without seeing one team outscore the other by 30 points from the three-point line. And lose.

La Salle was 11-for-25 from the arc, but just 11-for-41 inside the arc. The Hawks were 1-for-10 from three.

If you said La Salle's interior shooting was affected by C.J. Aiken and the Hawks' overall height, the proof is in the numbers.

PLAY IT AGAIN

With just about everybody back from both teams next season, get set for more games like this.

By the way, SJU is No. 38 in one of the RPI services, getting the Hawks close to NCAA at-large discussion.

BREAK THEM UP

Temple (17-5, 6-2) has now taken over first place in the A-10 after its wire-to-wire, 73-56 win at Rhode Island (5-19, 2-7). The Owls scored the first eight points and ended it quickly.

The Owls have won six straight and are all the way up to No. 19 in the RPI, making them an NCAA lock. They shot 51.8 percent and had just seven turnovers.

Ramone Moore, making a serious run at A-10 Player of the Year, scored 22 points. Running mate Khalif Wyatt had 16. Aaron Brown came off the bench to get 15 points while missing just one shot.

THE SERIES

When the calendar turned, the four games among Temple, La Salle and St. Joe's looked fascinating. So far, Temple is 2-0, St. Joe's 1-1 and La Salle 0-2. Temple still has to go to SJU and La Salle.

The City Series is down to Temple (2-0) and St. Joe's (2-1). If Temple loses Feb. 22 at La Salle, St. Joe's could win it outright with a win over the Owls on Feb. 25. If Temple wins at La Salle, the best the Hawks can do is a share. If Temple wins both, it's a sweep, which will actually be 6-0 since the Owls have already won four games against Big 5 teams (only two counted officially).

GETTING SERIOUS

Penn did not play well in its Friday loss at Yale, but played plenty well enough in a Saturday never- in-doubt, 65-48 win at Brown.

Rob Belcore, the "other" Penn senior, had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Quakers (12-10, 4-1 Ivy). Brown (7-16, 1-5) never led and Penn won like a contender is supposed to win.

THE IVY STORY

Harvard (20-2, 6-0) can really get separation this weekend if it comes south and sweeps Penn and Princeton. Yale (15-5, 5-1) got killed by Harvard at home, 65-35, but that looks like an aberration as the Bulldogs just swept Penn and Princeton. Penn, with just the one loss, is very much alive because the Quakers have already finished two league weekends. And they get Harvard at the Palestra on Friday. Penn almost has to win that game to have a shot because they still must go to Harvard.

The Crimson is obviously very good, but not without flaws. They did lose at Fordham. Saturday, they held on to beat Columbia at home, 57-52. It was 48-46 with 2 1/2 minutes left. Harvard shot 32 free throws to 8 for Columbia.

DRAGONS WIN AGAIN

Drexel (19-5, 11-2 Colonial) has been better during its 11-game winning streak than in its 65-57 win at Towson (1-24, 1-12). The Dragons did not shoot it very well overall (40.9 percent), but were very good from the arc (7-for-14) and the foul line (22-for-28). Point guard Frantz Massenat (25 points, 6 assists, 1 turnover) was 15-for-15 from the foul line and has made 33 consecutive free throws overall.

IN CONTROL OF CAA

Drexel is tied with VCU and George Mason atop the CAA standings. Old Dominion is a game behind. Drexel is finished with VCU and GMU. And those two still have a home-and-home. Drexel finishes at ODU so the schedule certainly favors the Dragons as the stretch run beckons.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

THE FINISH

Kansas really looked like it had Missouri beaten, leading 71-63 with the ball and just 120 seconds left. The Jayhawks were dominating around the rim. One more basket and it had to be over.

They never got the basket.

Marcus Denmon scored nine points in 68 seconds, an and-one drive and two threes. Mizzou scored the game's final 11 points for a 74-71 victory. And Kansas was left to try to figure out what happened in what is their last scheduled game at Missouri before the Tigers leave for the SEC.

HOW GOOD?

Kentucky is playing silly good. In its rout at South Carolina, UK had 10 blocks, 6 steals and 3 turnovers. Good luck beating that.

UNBEATEN IN CONFERENCE

Even though we are into the second week of February, there are still eight teams with unbeaten conference records - Kentucky (SEC), Harvard (Ivy), Saint Mary's (West Coast). Long Beach State (Big West), Texas-Arlington (Southland), Murray State (Ohio Valley), Bucknell (Patriot) and Mississippi Valley State (Southwest Athletic). It was 10 before Saturday when Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt) lost to Denver and Nevada (WAC) lost to Idaho.

JERARDI'S TOP 15

1. Kentucky (23-1): Anthony Davis (22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks) is in the wrong league. UK had as many points in the first half as South Carolina had in the game in 86-52 road win. UK is an Indiana buzzer-beater from being unbeaten.

2. Syracuse (23-1): Fab Melo was back and the 'Cuse rolled St. John's, 95-70, in front of nearly 20,000 at MSG. Took 70 shots and had just 10 turnovers. Shot 55.7 percent.

3. Missouri (21-2): Marcus Denmon (29 points) went wild at the finish and Mizzou came from nowhere late to beat Kansas, 74-71. Thomas Robinson (25 points, 13 rebounds) was a man for KU.

4. Ohio State (20-3): Jared Sullinger had 24 points and 10 rebounds in 58-52 win at Wisconsin. Buckeyes made just one three, but play the best defense in the country.

5. Murray State (23-0): Not terribly impressive in 65-58 win at UT Martin, which is 3-22 and has lost 13 in a row. Racers shot just 3-for-17 from the arc.

6. Baylor (21-2): Was not pretty in 64-60 win at Oklahoma State.

7. Kansas (18-5): Dubious charge call on Thomas Robinson completely changed the late-game dynamic. Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor combined for 46 points, but also had 11 turnovers.

8. North Carolina (20-3): Came from nine points down in the second half to win, 83-74, at Maryland. Kendall Marshall had 16 assists for UNC.

9. Florida (19-4): Made 11 threes in 73-65 win over Vanderbilt. Gators have won seven straight.

10. Florida State (16-6): Seminoles continued playing great with 58-55 win over Virginia.

11. Michigan State (18-5): Spartans held Michigan to 39.6 percent shooting in 64-54 win yesterday.

12. UNLV (21-4): Lost, 68-66, at overachieving Wyoming. Cowboys' Larry Shyatt should be in the coach of the year conversation.

13. Creighton (21-3): Lost to Northern Iowa, 65-62, when Anthony James hit a buzzer-beater. UNI was 11-for-21 from the arc.

14. Duke (19-4): Reggie Johnson scored 27 points, 5 in OT, with 12 rebounds as Miami knocked off the Blue Devils, 78-74, yesterday at Cameron.

15. Virginia (18-4): Cavs' four losses have been by a combined 10 points. Had 21 baskets and 20 turnovers against Florida State.