La Salle looking for a Big 5 sweep

Just to prove how difficult it is to go 4-0 in the Big 5, La Salle's great 1989-90 team, the last Explorers group to go 4-0, had to make significant plays down the stretch to win every one of those games.

This La Salle team had no issues with undermanned Penn at Gola Arena, winning, 74-57, in a game that really was not that close.

La Salle (10-3, 2-0 Big 5) got 49 points from its trifecta of scoring guards - Tyreek Duren (17), Ramon Galloway (17) and Tyrone Garland (15). La Salle also had 11 steals and eight blocks.

The Explorers still have Temple and Saint Joseph's to get to 4-0. Those games and every game from here to the finish line will count in the Atlantic 10 standings. This is a talented team with a real chance to do some damage, but there will be few nights off in the league. La Salle has put itself in nice position. Now, they just have to win games, starting Wednesday at Charlotte.

Penn (2-11, 0-2) is just not all that competitive at the moment. The good news is that freshman Tony Hicks (14 points) appears to be getting better. And leading scorer and rebounder Fran Dougherty, still out with mono, eventually will feel better. Right now, the Quakers are just trying to survive and somehow get ready for the Ivy League.

Is there any school that would play two road games against MEAC teams other than Saint Joseph's? Not likely, but any road win counts extra in the RPI so, after going to Coppin State last month, the Hawks went back to Baltimore to play Morgan State.

SJU (8-4) beat the Bears, 70-60. It was not beautiful, but, with a few exceptions, this team has not looked all that smooth so far. Still, without those late losses to Villanova and Fairfield, this would look a lot better. But the losses happened and they have to do something about it.

The biggest concern, as it was last season, is that even though they have some very good individual players with intriguing skills, it is just a strange mix, definitely not traditional. Can it win in a very good A-10? We shall soon find out, starting Wednesday at home with Butler.

The good Hawks had nine blocks against Morgan (3-8) while holding the Bears to 30.4 percent shooting. The bad Hawks had 16 turnovers. The good Hawks got 17 points from Tay Jones and a double-double from Ron Roberts. The bad Hawks only beat a bad team by 10.

Any hope that getting back to the familiarity of the CAA was going to be the answer for Drexel was gone by early in the second half at the DAC against Towson.

The Dragons, who had won 17 consecutive conference regular-season games going back to last season, trailed by 19 points. They made a late charge, but it was not enough and lost, 69-66.

The Dragons (5-9, 1-1 CAA) were just 19-for-56 (33.9 percent) from the field. And they could do nothing with Georgetown transfer Jerrelle Benimon who had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Tigers (7-8, 2-0). A week before, Benimon had 20 points and 21 rebounds in Towson's upset win at Oregon State.

So what is wrong with Drexel? Really, everything. One constant under Bruiser Flint has been defense and this is just not a good defensive team, but that isn't the only problem. The record is no fluke.

The good news is that Towson and UNC-Wilmington are not eligible for the CAA Tournament because of academics. Neither are Old Dominion or Georgia State because they are leaving to play football. VCU is in the Atlantic 10.

So, the CAA Tournament is down to seven teams. However, there appears to be a few good teams in that seven. At the moment, Drexel is not one of them.

The nation's leading scorer, Lehigh senior C.J. McCollum left the game at VCU in the first half with a fractured left foot. He will miss 8 to 10 weeks. VCU, which had 16 steals, won, 59-55, but it was not remotely the game fans had hoped to see once McCollum got hurt.

Missouri's bigs could do nothing with Bucknell's Mike Muscala (25 points, 14 rebounds). Good luck to the Patriot League trying to guard the Bison big man.

John Gallagher's Hartford Hawks shot 14-for-30 from the arc, 17-for-17 from the foul line and had 19 assists on 23 field goals in 77-74 win at Boston University.

Duke point guard Quinn Cook shot 0-for-11, but had 14 assists and just one turnover.