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Jerardi: Villanova can win with offense, or defense

MY NO. 1 seeds if the NCAA Tournament was starting now: East: Villanova South: Kansas Midwest: UCLA West: Gonzaga

MY NO. 1 seeds if the NCAA Tournament was starting now:

East: Villanova

South: Kansas

Midwest: UCLA

West: Gonzaga

The standard of play has been so high for so long that everybody at Villanova is now disappointed with 13-point road wins as 13-point favorites. 'Nova beat St. John's, 70-57, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. It was never pretty with 20 turnovers in 70 possessions, but here is the more important number to consider: Over the last 3 1/2 seasons, the Wildcats (17-1, 5-1 Big East) are exactly 100 games over .500. Think about that for a moment, 100 games, a cool 114-14.

Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins have been there for all of it. So the seniors can be forgiven for games when they combine to shoot just 5-for-23. The 'Cats won this one with defense, holding the Red Storm (8-11, 2-4) to just 0.81 points per possession. They crushed St. John's on the glass, 41-23, and got a career game from Donte DiVincenzo (19 points).

On a day when they were just 7-for-21 on threes, Villanova was 17-for-32 on twos. Just like last season, they are one of the nation's best on shots inside the arc, shooting 60.4 percent, third nationally. They also shoot 78.1 percent from the foul line, eighth best.

Owls fade down the stretch

Temple led Tulsa, 63-55, with 6 1/2 minutes left at the Liacouras Center. But the Owls' endgame was 2-for-7 shooting, five turnovers and a defensive lapse that allowed Tulsa's Sterling Taplin to make a game-winning layup with 4 seconds left as Tulsa won, 70-68.

Tulsa (9-7, 3-1 American) shot 24-for-46 (52.2 percent), but the Owls (10-9, 1-5) still would have won had their offense not abandoned them late.

Temple managed two top-10 nonconference wins over West Virginia and Florida State, but playing without their expected starting backcourt of Josh Brown and Trey Lowe is really catching up with the Owls in conference play. They have been in most games, just not quite good enough or experienced enough to win them.

Hawks rally, lose late

Saint Joseph's trailed Richmond, 46-28, with 19 minutes left at Hagan Arena. In the final 90 seconds, the Hawks had two threes to take the lead and one to tie. They missed the three shots and had a turnover on another possession when down by two. They lost, 70-66.

Richmond (11-6, 5-0 Atlantic 10) got a near triple-double from T.J. Cline (15 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, seven turnovers). The teams combined for 36 turnovers. St. Joe's (8-8, 2-3) got its second frustrating home loss of the week.

The Hawks shot just 4-for-17 from the arc and 20-for-29 from the foul line. On the season, they shoot just 31.6 percent from the arc, 295th nationally and 64.5 percent from the foul line, 309th. It's hard to win that way, especially when they are without Shavar Newkirk, one of the city's best players.

Penn's lost weekend

Penn seemed to be playing its best basketball of the season when Ivy League play commenced on Jan. 7. The Quakers never led in their first two Ivy games and trailed for the final 32 minutes against Brown on Saturday in losing, 82-70, at the Palestra, a night after losing to Yale.

Brown (10-8, 1-1 Ivy) got 20 points on near-perfect shooting, 7-for-9 overall, 6-for-6 from the foul line) from Steven Spieth, Jordan's brother. The Bears, coached by former Penn assistant Mike Martin, also shot 24-for-26 from the foul line.

The goal for Penn (6-8, 0-3) this season was to finish in the Ivy's top four and make the first league tournament at the Palestra. That has become problematic after such a difficult start.

The Quakers, again, had trouble from the arc, shooting just 4-for-19. They did get 20 points from Matt Howard and 19 from Darnell Foreman, but playing from behind all the time is hard for any team, much less a team with Penn's small margin for error.

Drexel gets first CAA win

Drexel now has more wins than last season after beating Delaware, 76-60, at the DAC on Saturday. The Dragons (7-11, 1-4 CAA) had 20 assists on their 26 field goals and held the Blue Hens (7-12, 0-6) to just 0.85 ppp.

Sammy Mojica had one of the better 2-for-11 games you will ever see. He finished with nine points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, nearly Drexel's first triple-double in 15 years. The Williamses, Rodney and Austin, combined to score 29 points and 12-for-17 shooting.

@DickJerardi