Eric Dixon jumps center in a game against Georgetown last season. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
November 25, 2024
It was another exciting week of basketball in the Big 5, with some outstanding performances both individually and as a team. There also were some disappointments and setbacks, as we detail below. Let’s take a look back at the games played between November 18–24.
5 Big 5 Stars from Last Week
1) Eric Dixon, Villanova: The fifth-year forward continued his season-long dominance by scoring 61 points in a pair of games, Tuesday’s 93-49 win over Penn and Sunday’s 76-75 loss to Maryland in Newark. Against the Terps, Dixon shot 51.7 percent (15 of 29) from the field, 45.5 percent (5 of 11) from the arc and made all three free throw attempts.
2) Jamal Mashburn Jr., Temple: Masburn continued his red-hot offensive start, netting at least 20 points in all six Owls contests after scoring 20 in Friday’s 78-69 loss to Florida State and 26 to lead Temple to an 87-80 victory over UMass on Saturday, a game in which he topped 2,000 points for his career. Mashburn is averaging 23.3 points this season.
3) Rasheer Fleming, Saint Joseph’s: Fleming continued to flash his NBA potential in two games in Brooklyn, accumulating 30 points and 27 rebounds combined in Thursday’s 78-77 win over Texas Tech and Friday’s 67-58 loss to Texas.
4) Shane Blakeney, Drexel: Blakeney helped the Dragons to road wins at Fairfield, 67-61 on Monday, and at Fordham, 73-71 on Friday, with 29 points and 14 rebounds in the two contests.
5) Xzayvier Brown, Saint Joseph’s: Brown, the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, had 25 points and seven assists against Texas Tech and Texas.
5 Big Takeaways from Last Week
1) Saint Joseph’s showed it can compete with the Big Boys and is a worthy candidate for at-large consideration into the NCAA tournament.
2) Villanova is in trouble. The Wildcats have dug a deep hole in which to climb out of in order to avoid a third straight miss in the NCAA tournament.
3) Jamal Mashburn Jr. is a bucket. At least 20 points in every game this season? Wow. He’ll keep the Owls in every contest with his scoring ability.
4) Don’t look past Drexel. The Dragons lost 80.9 percent of their scoring to transfer and graduation and were picked 11th of 14 teams in the Coastal Athletic Conference but could be 6-0 right now if the ball bounced a little differently in Big 5 losses to Temple and La Salle.
5) Corey McKeithan is a find. The La Salle transfer by way of Rider had another strong week and is averaging 17.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists for the Explorers.
Last Week’s Story Links
-11/19/24: Bracy Column on Villanova taking a step in the right direction
-11/23/24: Recap of La Salle’s 1-2 trip to Florida
-11/23/24: Recap of Temple’s win over UMass
Book Update
As I announced on social media on Saturday, I finally put the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s book to bed by signing off of the final proofs for the cover and manuscript. The next stop is the printing press!
This came two days after the back cover reveal, which includes reviews from Dan Baker, Michael Barkann, Dei Lynam, and Brendan Quinn.
Preorder Now
The book is available NOW for preorder by clicking HERE. It will be available wherever books are sold on March 1, 2025.
Good Seeing You, Owen!
It was great seeing Owen up in Brooklyn. As I say in the post below, Owen is not only a big supporter of my work, but he also is one of the 90 people I interviewed for my book and helped paint a picture of the Hawks’ season-opening win over Gonzaga.
Press Row to Myself
While in Brooklyn for Thursday’s 9:30 p.m., I had press row all to myself.
Big East Columnist
Also this week, I was excited to announce that I am joining Seth Davis’s start-up college basketball website, HoopsHQ, as the Big East columnist.
Spaces Rewind
-Drexel coach Zach Spiker joined me and the guys from Big 5 Pod, Jake Copestick and Kyle Morello, for Sunday night’s Big 5 Hoops X Spaces Show. A recording is below.
Click HERE with your X account open to watch the recording.
Postgame Press Conference Video
-Penn coach Steve Donahue after Tuesday’s 93-49 loss to Villanova.
-Villanova coach Kyle Neptune after the Wildcats’ 93-49 win over Penn on Tuesday.
-Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange after the Hawks’ 78-77 win over Texas Tech on Thursday.
-More Lange after Texas Tech.
-Saint Joseph’s Xzayvier Brown after the Texas Tech win.
-Saint Joseph’s Erik Reynolds II after the Texas Tech win.
Big 5 Records
(Through 11/24/25)
La Salle 5-2
Drexel 4-2
Saint Joseph’s 4-2
Temple 4-2
Penn 2-3
Villanova 3-4
Big 5 Scoring Leaders
(Through 11/24/24)
1. Eric Dixon, Villanova, 26.7
2. Jamal Mashburn, Jr., Temple: 23.3
3. Corey McKeithan, La Salle, 17.7
4. Xzayvier Brown, 17.0
5. Kobe MaGee, Drexel 15.7
6. Erik Reynolds III, St. Joe’s, 15.0
7. Rasheer Fleming, St. Joe’s, 14.2
8. Ethan Roberts, Penn 13.6
9. Steve Settle III, Temple, 13.2 ppg
10. Wooga Poplar, Miami, 13.1 ppg
Big 5 Rebounding Leaders
(Through 11/24/24)
1. Rasheer Fleming, St. Joe’s 9.7
2. Cole Hargrove, Drexel, 9.2
3. Demetrius Lilley La Salle, 7.9
T4. Eric Dixon, Villanova, 7.2
T4. Steve Settle, Temple, 7.2
6. Babatunde Durodola, Temple, 6.8
7. Wooga Poplar, Villanova, 6.4
8. Jahlil White, La Salle, 6.1
9. Enoch Boakye, Villanova, 6.0
10. Nick Spinoso, Penn, 5.6
Last Week’s Results
Tuesday, Nov. 19
Drexel 67, Fairfield 61
Villanova 93, Penn 49
Thursday, Nov. 21
UC San Diego 72, La Salle 67
Saint Joseph’s 78, Texas Tech 77
Friday, Nov. 22
Illinois Chicago 96, La Salle 83
Florida State 78, Temple 69
Drexel 73, Fordham 71
Texas 67, Saint Joseph’s 58
Saturday, Nov. 23
La Salle 92, Stetson 77
Temple 87, UMass 80
Sunday, Nov. 24
Maryland 76, Villanova 75
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, Nov. 25
Drexel vs. Purdue Fort Wayne, 12:30 pm, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Tuesday, Nov. 26
Coppin State at Saint Joseph’s, 7 pm
Drexel vs. Chicago State/Radford, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Wednesday, Nov. 27
Rider at Villanova, 7 pm, FS2
Friday, Nov. 29
Navy at Penn, 4:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 30
Temple at La Salle, 4 pm
Maine at Penn, 4:30 pm
Sunday, Dec. 1
Elon at Penn, 230 pm
FULL season schedule/results
Click HERE for a 2024-25 composite schedule and results. Bonus: 2023-24 schedule/results are also at the same link.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.