St. Joe's has turned things around

When they trudged out of Hagan Arena on Dec. 7 after suffering a 30-point pasting at the hands of archrival Villanova, the St. Joseph's Hawks stood at 4-4 amid escalating criticism from followers who felt this team with a veteran starting lineup should be playing better.

Since that night, however, the Hawks have played closer to, or perhaps beyond, the public's expectations, winning eight of their last nine games to improve their record to 12-5 and 2-1 in the Atlantic Ten, entering Wednesday's home contest against Rhode Island.

St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli applauds his players - all 15 of them - with turning the season around.

"After losing two Philadelphia games in December, a lot of kids could say, 'That's it, the season's over, woe is us,' " Martelli said. "But these guys looked at each other and decided that if they kept coming every day and kept themselves tight, then good things would happen."

Asked to cite one player as a catalyst, Martelli passed.

"It was all of them," he said. "Every one of them. Not one guy wavered. I would say the strength of the group is the group, and that's what they leaned on."

The Hawks' only loss in the last nine games was a four-pointer at then-No. 19 Massachusetts, when they played much of the second half without Ronald Roberts, their No. 2 scorer and rebounder, who had back spasms. Roberts missed the next two games, but he returned Saturday in the win over Penn.

Langston Galloway, who needs three three-pointers to become St. Joe's all-time leader, has been phenomenal from beyond the arc. He is fifth in the nation in shooting the deep ball (47.9 percent) and 12th in threes made (3.3).

It wasn't the way that Villanova wanted to make its regular-season debut at the Wells Fargo Center, watching Creighton drain a Big East-record 21 three-point baskets in a 28-point defeat.

The Wildcats don't return to South Philadelphia for a month, taking on St. John's on Feb. 22. Until then, coach Jay Wright will work on some flaws he saw Monday, including his team's execution defending the three.

"We'll definitely learn from this," he said. "It's still early in the season. We're going to learn from whatever happens. We have to keep getting better - it's really simple. You could win and learn; you can definitely do that. That's what we wanted to do, but we've got a lot to learn from this game."

Ethan Wragge tied a Creighton record with nine three-pointers, drawing the attention of the man whose record he tied, former 76er Kyle Korver.

"A big road win for [Creighton]," the Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter tweeted Tuesday. "Way to shoot it."

It appears that La Salle senior Tyreek Duren is playing pretty much pain-free after a bout with plantar fasciitis in his right heel.

The 6-foot guard from Neumann-Goretti is on a seven-game stretch in which he has averaged 16.3 points and 4.4 assists. The last five games have been wins for the Explorers, their longest winning streak since capturing six in a row two years ago.

Coach John Giannini credited the team's medical staff with getting "just the right combination of medicine and treatment" for Duren's injury.

"They found an anti-inflammatory that's just really helped with the pain," he said.

With three upperclassmen missing various amounts of time, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint has dipped into his freshman class with promising results. Rodney Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward, pulled down 22 rebounds - including 14 vs. Towson - in two games last week and won CAA rookie-of-the-week honors Monday.

"I think Rodney has a lot of potential," Flint said. "We've been throwing those guys in the fire. He's got to get a little more consistent but he's a freshman, and that's what happens with freshmen. They're inconsistent."

Williams is averaging 5.2 points and 6 rebounds in the Dragons' five CAA games. Another freshman, guard Major Canady, has started three of the five conference games and averages 5 points in 25.4 minutes.

Senior Miles Jackson-Cartwright is working his way up Penn's all-time scoring list. The 6-foot-3 guard moved into 23d place in career scoring for the Quakers, ahead of Dave Wohl (1969-71) with 1,231 points. Jackson-Cartwright is fourth in the Ivy League in three-point percentage (45.5) and tied for fifth in threes made (2.1).

Senior point guard Will Cummings missed Temple's two games before Tuesday's contest at Connecticut, but he's been on hand to guide freshman Aaron Brown, who has played in his place.

Brown played 40 minutes against both Cincinnati and La Salle. For the two games, he totaled seven points, nine assists, six turnovers, and two steals.

"I was like, 'You've got to play 40 minutes,' " Cummings said. "You've got to be poised and make sure you run the team . . . He did a pretty good job his first time in the fire [against Cincinnati]. I was proud of him."

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