La Salle holds off Drexel in clash of John Beilein disciples
PHILADELPHIA – John Beilein was somewhere smiling watching Drexel and La Salle play in the Big 5 Classic’s Fifth-Place game.
20 plus years ago, Drexel head coach Zach Spiker was on Beilein’s staff at West Virginia, working as an administrative assistant, when Darris Nichols took his official visit. Nichols committed to the Mountaineers, scored 997 points in his career and finished as a top-five winningest player in West Virginia history when his college career was over.
Fast forward two-plus decades
to Saturday afternoon, and Spiker and Nichols are head coaches on opposite sidelines of each other, with Nichols’s La Salle Explorers holding on to a 69-64 win in the third edition of the Big 5’s new format.
The victory was Nichols’ first Big 5 win in one of college basketball’s most storied traditions, in his first season as the head coach of the Explorers. After spending four seasons as the head coach at Radford, Nichols’ hometown, he appreciated having someone like Spiker just across town to help him navigate his new job in a big city.
“Since I’ve been in Philadelphia he’s been really good for me,” Nichols said. “Helping me out, getting me to understand the city. He’s a guy that was a big reason why I went to West Virginia.”
La Salle’s win was a much needed one for the Explorers, who hadn’t beaten a Division-I opponent in nearly a month after a 73-60 victory against Monmouth back on Nov. 8.
Injuries, turnovers, and the overall newness of a team with 16 new players has made for a difficult start, but that’s to be expected in today’s landscape of college basketball. With game reps and continuity, they’ll begin to gel. Saturday’s win was evidence of that.
Josiah Harris, who spent two seasons at Radford before following Nichols to La Salle, scored a career high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
Harris had struggled the last handful of games prior to the last two. He was held scoreless in two of them, and saw his minutes dip. However, the Wilmington, Del., native put in a ton of extra work. Nichols refers to the extra time Harris puts in as “rewards points” like a frequent shopper gets at their favorite store. However, there’s a caveat. Harris is a graduate student who goes to class at night, so he gets his work done early in the morning. Nichols is at the point where he can sense when Harris will reach out to him, cutting into his morning slumber to get to the gym early.
“Josiah texts me every night,” Nichols said. “Sometimes I’m like alright, here comes Jo, wanting to get some work in at 8 a.m. He’s a grad student so he goes to class at night and can’t go later. I tell him yes, but I want to sleep a little.”
La Salle got some crucial contributions from lineup mainstay Jaedan Marshall and Truth Harris, who made his return to play after a month-long absence due to injury.
Marshall, a Niagara transfer who is the lone scorer on this Explorers roster averaging double digits (11.2 ppg), scored 15 points and made two of his four 3-pointers. Marshall has been a reliable scoring option for the Explorers, who are still without some projected key contributors at the guard spots, even with Harris’ return.
Harris started the Explorers opening game and played just five minutes before getting put on the shelf for the Explorers’ next eight contests. He dished out six assists to just one turnover, a major contribution for a team that is missing ballhandlers and had turnover issues. Harris followed Nichols from Radford, and it was a welcomed sight for his head coach to have him back.
“You see the stuff on the court, but the stuff he provides behind the scenes is important,” Nichols said. “He provides another ball handler that puts pressure on the rim, draws fouls, gets out in transition and finds his teammates. That’s something that we’ve missed.”
La Salle went on to score 41 points in the first half, its second highest clip all season.
Defensively, the Explorers stifled Drexel all game, holding the Dragons to just 34% shooting from the field and 22% (6-of-27) from three. Drexel finished the opening 20 minutes ice cold shooting the ball, making one of its last 22 field goal attempts and missing its last 18. The Dragons have had a few games this year where their games are a tale of two halves. Spiker knows that for his Dragons to win and play their best, a full 40 minutes is required, not just 20.
“Clearly one half was better than the other,” he said. “That’s something that has been a bit of an issue for our group right now is putting 40 minutes together. We’ve been close but we haven’t done it. Incredibly proud of our comeback, incredibly disappointed in our start.”
Although he wasn’t happy with the result, Spiker is glad to see a long-time friend now coach in the same city as him. They’ve both come a long way from their days together in Morgantown, W. Va.
“Darris does a good job,” Spiker said. “We’ve known each other, have a lot of mutual friends. I’m happy that he got the opportunity at La Salle, and to be close by.”
Nichols said that when the game starts, he doesn’t think about his long time friend in Spiker on the other sideline when they’re in the heat of competition, but they shared a moment pregame before the focus became on the game itself.
“I know Coach Beilein is watching,” Spiker said.
Late heroics lifts St. Joe’s over Temple in 166th all-time meeting
PHILADELPHIA – In an era filled with the transfer portal, NIL and conference realignment, historic and local rivalries are often thrown by the wayside. But on Saturday, Saint Joseph’s and Temple met for the 166th time ever during the Third-Place game of the 2025 Big 5 Classic.
It’s each program’s most scheduled opponent from over 113 years of history between the two and the importance of that tradition isn’t lost on St. Joe’s head coach Steve Donahue.
“I think all of us in Philadelphia want these two programs to be what they’ve been,” Donahue said. “You think about the runs both of these programs have been on, I grew up on it. I was privileged to be a part of that today. Never thought I would be part of a St. Joe’s-Temple game, in this building and meaning so much to both programs.”
From the 2003-04 season on Hawk Hill to Temple’s 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, Saturday was a back-and-forth bout that encapsulated the lengthy rivalry between these two.
Much like the history of Temple and St. Joe’s, neither side ever really had a significant edge. And as the smoke finally cleared from Xfinity Mobile Arena after nine lead changes, it all came down to a last second heave to separate the Owls and Hawks.
It started with St. Joe’s building out an early double-digit advantage (22-12), which the Hawks maintained for most of the first half. Temple was relentless though, and the Owls battled back early in the second by cutting the lead to just a point with 15:23 on the clock.
Both St. Joe’s and Temple traded runs from there with three of those nine lead changes coming in the last 12 minutes of regulation. Owls’ senior guard Derrian Ford caught fire to try and will his team back and finished with a game-high 27 points, including 20 in the second half.
However, with the Hawks down 65-60 at just under two minutes remaining, sophomore guard Deuce Jones II took over. He had managed only seven points through the first 38 minutes before scoring 10 straight for St. Joe’s, including the last-second buzzer-beating three, to head home with a 70-69 win.
Coming off back-to-back Big 5 Classic titles, St. Joe’s was eager to make a statement to the city. Though it wasn’t for the championship and this program is led by a new head coach in Donahue, opportunities like this mean everything to local players like Jones, Derek Simpson and Anthony Finkley.
“We were two-time champions here at St. Joe’s and [our guys] see the banner hanging,” Donahue said. “The Big 5 means a lot to these guys. We have players from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and they’ve all heard of the Big 5 and the recent history here. So, we’re disappointed we didn’t play in the championship game. That’ll be our goal for next year.”
Meanwhile, Temple head coach Adam Fisher couldn’t help but mention the way his team battled back in the second half after facing early adversity. With an almost completely new roster he rebuilt this offseason, it was a learning opportunity for a group that’s still figuring out how to play together.
“It’s not fun being in the locker room when you’re on this side,” he said. “We have to learn that you need to play a consistent 40 minute game. If we play like that in both halves, it’d be a different outcome. But this group is resilient and with guys out tonight, others have got to step up, and I was really proud of our second half.”
We might be just be a month into the 2025-26 college basketball season, but the physicality and intensity of this game made it feel like a must win for both St. Joe’s and Temple.
Each has faced early struggles. St. Joe’s arrived at the Big 5 Classic with just one Division-I win from its last five games, a tightly contested battle with Princeton. Temple hadn’t fared much better with a 4-4 record prior to today and the 312th-worst defense in the nation by KenPom’s metrics.
But in a tightly contested rivalry bout, every little detail can make the smallest difference and last night, that was the case. The Hawks and Owls practically matched each other with their shooting metrics, in the rebounding and turnover margins, and on the scoreboard.
So, what will the 166th all-time meeting between these two historic programs be remembered for? The small differences… and the last minute heroics of Jones II.
McCaffery, Willard reflect on relationship in Big 5 Classic title bout
PHILADELPHIA – It was nearly 17 years to the day from the first time Fran McCaffery and Kevin Willard went against each other as head coaches. In Willard’s first-ever season as a head coach, his Iona Gaels went up to Albany to play McCaffery’s Siena Saints, and it was an 81-76 win for McCaffery’s team. In the three years that the two coaches faced off in the MAAC, Willard never beat McCaffery, losing all six of their meetings.
McCaffery’s Saints were one of the best mid-major teams in the country during Willard’s three year tenure at Iona. Siena made the NCAA Tournament all three seasons, and made the Round of 32 twice. McCaffery’s teams weren’t just focused on just making the Tournament as a team in the MAAC. They were intent on getting to the Big Dance and winning games.
Willard recalls just how good those teams were, giving him fits in the early stages of his coaching career.
“I have nightmares about Fran,” Willard said. “In my three years at Iona, his Siena teams were ridiculous. As good as any mid-major in the entire country.”
Saturday’s Big 5 Championship game was the 12th meeting between the two coaches, and the fourth different school in which Willard has coached against McCaffery. McCaffery still owns the lead in their all-time series, now holding a 7-5 record. But Willard has beaten him four straight times dating back to his last year three years at Maryland going up against him in Big Ten play.
Willard was happy to get the win, but more importantly, he is glad he gets to be so close to an old friend at rival Big 5 schools and not having to travel halfway across the country to Iowa.
“I was hoping to get away from Fran to be honest with you,” Willard said in jest. “I love him. I like the fact that I don’t have to travel to Iowa to see Fran, and now I can go right down the street. I have so much respect for him.”
McCaffery too feels the same way. He’s seen Willard really grow up as a coach since his first three years at Iona. When they faced each other for the first time, McCaffery had already been the head coach for three different programs (Lehigh, UNC-Greensboro and Siena), and had over a decade of head coaching experience. He sees the constants in a Willard-run team and how the work has transcended coaching in a tiny gym in New Rochelle, N.Y., or even the Big East.
“[Willard’s] teams are very consistent with his philosophy, and obviously he’s had great success everywhere he’s been,” McCaffery said. “They’re going to extend their defense. They’re going to mix defenses. They’ve got willing passers. They move the ball well and shot it well from three tonight. Willard’s teams always rebound. Last year, it was Julian Reese and Derik Queen, but he’s got new guys this year to do it… I have tremendous respect for him and consider him a great friend in the profession.”
You could sense that familiarly between McCaffery and Willard from the opening tip as Penn hung tough with Villanova despite the talent and size disparity. Every early punch that Willard’s Wildcats threw was met by a staunch effort from McCaffery’s Quakers and a barrage of shots.
Even as Penn’s two leading scorers in Ethan Roberts and TJ Power struggled, others like Michael Zanoni and Cam Thrower were there to pick up the slack. Thrower was 3-for-3 from behind the arc with nine points by halftime, while Zanoni had chipped in seven points and three rebounds.
But the physically eventually became too much for the Quakers to overcome. As Roberts went down with a devastating injury early into the second half, Villanova raced out to a 20-point lead before fans could even blink.
Despite 11 points each from Zanoni and Thrower while Power came on strong late to finish with 11 points of his own, it was the Wildcats winning 90-63. It’s the program’s first Big 5 Classic title since the format’s induction and its first city championship since 2022.
However, the biggest storyline from the day will unfortunately be the injury to Roberts. It’s a difficult loss for a program that was starting to find some early season momentum, and the Quakers will desperately need others to fill the massive void.
“It’s still a work in progress,” McCaffery said. “We’re still working on lineups, substitution patterns, and now we’ll have to play without Ethan. That would be an opportunity for somebody else but it’s a game changer because he’s one of our best players.”
There’s no replacing Roberts’ production but McCaffery obviously pointed to Power as a player he’s relying on to step up. There’s talent in the wings on this roster too with Thrower and Zanoni, while freshman Dalton Scantlebury, sophomore AJ Levine, and starting center Augustus Gerhart have all put up solid performances.
No matter what happens, Penn is already exceeding early expectations for a team that was selected seventh in the Ivy League’s 2025-26 preseason poll. Willard is never one to stamp his approval but the respect and admiration he holds for McCaffery’s work with this Quakers program was evident.
“He’s going to turn Penn into a sleeping giant in my opinion,” Willard said.
That’s high praise from a longtime competitor and a close friend.
