Drexel to take on No. 4 Arizona at Madison Square Garden
In 2005, which was their last trip to MSG, the Dragons put up a fight against then-No. 1 Duke.
DREXEL COACH Bruiser Flint hopes his Dragons can improve upon their last respectable Madison Square Garden appearance. Drexel (3-1) faces unbeaten and No. 4-ranked Arizona (5-0) tonight at 7 o'clock in a NIT Season Tip-Off semifinal.
In 2005, Drexel gave then-No. 1 Duke all it could handle before losing by 10 points. Then the Dragons lost by just one point to UCLA, prompting ESPN analyst Dick Vitale to exclaim, "If Drexel is the [preseason] No. 7 team in the CAA, that must be a heckuva league."
That '05 Drexel team was led by Bashir Mason, Chaz Crawford, Dominick Mejia, and Kenell Sanchez. In his first season as Drexel's basketball operations assistant, Sanchez will speak to the current Dragons about preparing for Arizona on the Garden stage.
Recalling the Duke game, Flint said, "We had great size with Chaz and Frank Elegar, and our guards matched up pretty good. We didn't let them shoot a lot of three-pointers. We tried to make them score the ball inside."
Flint and Duke star J.J. Redick had been together with USA Basketball during the summer. "We were laughing and busting each other's chops during the [morning] shootaround," Flint said.
Flint said junior forward Kazembe Abif is recuperating from a concussion and won't play tonight. Abif is averaging 7.0 points per game and 8.8 rebounds, tied with Dartaye Ruffin for the team lead.
Drexel's top scorers are Chris Fouch (17.3 points per game), Damion Lee (14.8), Tavon Allen (13.3) and Frantz Massenat (12.3). Fouch, from the Bronx, is the only Drexel player who has played in Madison Square Garden. Fouch played at the Garden when he was in high school. The other semifinal is Duke vs. Alabama.