Ed Barkowitz’s game story in the Daily News says the Explorers were “sometimes sloppy” on offense and “lazy” on defense in the first half of yesterday’s 78-75 loss to Cornell at the Gola. And here was coach John Giannini’s take:

“We are not playing well right now. We haven’t felt right in practice or in games. I have some things I need to solve. We don’t sustain effort. We’re not consistent. We’re up and down and that’s the way we practice. I don’t think we can beat good teams until we become more consistent [for] 40 minutes.”

La Salle, which turned it over 16 times, was again without Ruben Guillandeaux, and Terrell Williams was also out with an ankle injury. But 10-2 Cornell, which has wins against Alabama, UMass and St. John’s, was without two starters because of injuries. Ryan Wittman, the son of former Indiana standout Randy Wittman, scored 34 points for Cornell and became the school’s all-time leading scorer in the process. Rodney Green led La Salle with 19 points — but he also turned it over seven times as he continues to play the point out of necessity. La Salle, now 7-5 and losers of three of four — all against quality opponents — is at Binghamton on Saturday.

Link: La Salle at a loss in loss [Daily News]

The Hawks were within one after a high-scoring first half, but Siena used a 21-3 run to blow it open and win, 92-75, last night in Albany, N.Y. The Saints (8-4) had three different players score 20 points, while Philly-area native Ronald Moore had 12 assists and just three turnovers. Saint Joe’s, meanwhile, was forced into 19 turnovers, and despite 50 percent shooting (30-for-60), the Hawks’ Darrin Govens was just 2-for-7 for five points. Idris Hilliard led Saint Joe’s with 14 points, but the Hawks were outrebounded, 40-29. Saint Joe’s (4-7) hosts Princeton on Saturday at the Hagan.

Even on a night when Drexel shot 51.6 percent, even against against a team from the Atlantic 10 that came to the DAC with a 9-1 record, even when they had the ball with the lead in the closing seconds, the Dragons couldn’t get it done. They lost to Rhode Island, 80-79, after Lamont Ulmer tipped in a ball at the buzzer that had actually been rebounded three times, according to The Inquirer. What’s worse, though, is that, with 13.1 seconds left, the Dragons threw the ball away under their own basket. Drexel did force URI into 20 turnovers, but the Rams (10-1) made 21 of 24 free throws. Chris Fouch had 23 for Drexel, while Jamie Harris had 17 and Samme Givens had 10 points to go with seven rebounds. Drexel (6-7, 1-0 CAA) returns to Colonial play on Saturday at Delaware.

Link: Buzzer-beater beats Drexel [The Inquirer]

On the same day Temple learned it had moved up to No. 18/19 in the national polls, the Owls took another step toward winning the Mid-American Conference title with last night’s 63-39 drubbing of Bowling Green at McGonigle Hall. Wait. What? Oh, right: Temple plays in the Atlantic 10 in basketball, but it’s obligated to play five MAC schools in hoops because its football team — which is about to kick off against UCLA in its first bowl game in 30 years — now competes in that league.

Anyway, the Owls wore retro jerseys for Turn Back the Clock Night up the street at McGonigle, and their defense looked a lot like the John Chaney-coached teams of yore. Bowling Green (5-5) scored just 13 first-half points and was limited to 27.8 percent shooting (15-for-54) for the game. Temple got 19 points from Ryan Brooks, 17 from Ramone Moore and 11 from Juan Fernandez, while Lavoy Allen hauled in 13 rebounds to go with his four blocks. Just another night at the office.

How well are the Owls defending? Consider: Siena and Western Michigan are the only to teams to score more than 65 points against them — and they’ve also played Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s and Seton Hall. The Owls have held eight of their 12 opponents to 56 points or fewer. And teams are shooting just 36.5 percent against them. The NCAA last compiled statistical rankings through Dec. 20, and at that time the Owls were allowing 55.1 points per game, which ranked third nationally. Throw in last night’s 39er by Bowling Green, and it’s certainly possible the Owls could find themselves moving up in that category, too.

At 10-2, Temple can clinch an undefeated run through the MAC by beating Northern Illinois on the road tomorrow night.

Penn’s first game last night under interim coach Jerome Allen looked an awful lot like a bunch of games the Quakers played under the fired Glen Miller. The Quakers shot poorly, didn’t defend well at all, got crushed on the glass and were out of it from the start in their 79-50 loss at Davidson. Penn trailed 8-0 out of the gate and made just 2 of 11 3-pointers (18.2 percent) in the first half, during which time the Wildcats (5-8) were 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from downtown. Game over. Davidson wound up making 13 of 30 from the arc on the night, and Zack Rosen was the lone Quaker to score in double figures. And guess what? It doesn’t get any better: On Thursday, Penn (0-8) plays at No. 7 Duke. Yikes.

It’s now been nearly two weeks since Penn decided to rid itself of coach Glen Miller in favor of Jerome Allen, and tonight the 0-7 Quakers play their first game for their interim guy in charge when they play at Davidson. It’s become obvious that Allen’s task will be to restore the Penn-ness to the Penn program, a quality that clearly was lacking under Miller. According to Dan Gelston, the Associated Press’ Philly hoops writer and an all-around good guy, Allen’s approach to instituting that Penn-ness involves a renewed sense of discipline that includes getting after loose balls and even wearing suits and ties on the road. And today’s Inquirer takes a look at the Quakers’ game tonight down at Davidson, though it does incorrectly say the Wildcats (4-8) had beaten Cornell at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20, when Cornell actually won that game. Tonight’s game tips at 7.

Links: Our thoughts on Miller’s dismissal [BIG FIVE POST]
It’s Allen’s time at Penn [Associated Press/yahoo.com]
Allen, Penn prepare for Davidson [The Inquirer]
Photo credit: [The Inquirer]

With Your No. 21/25 Temple Owls playing Bowling Green tonight back at McGonigle Hall in a Turn Back the Clock event, we’ve been reminded of our one and only opportunity to catch a game at the old gym back in the day. It was Feb. 23, 1995, and the Owls were playing UMass, which at the time was ranked No. 5 in the country. But we never made it inside, and the memory honestly still stings a little. The complete story is after the jump.
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The disdain ‘Nova fans have for referees — especially Big East zebra Tim Higgins — is notorious. And during Sunday’s romp over Fordham, this little guy had to be thinking Higgins was pointing the camera at him, right?

Link: Tim Higgins’ record as a ref [statsheet.org]
Video credit: [Awful Announcing]

The one and only John Chaney appeared on Comcast SportsNet’s Daily News Live on Christmas Eve, and, as usual, the legendary former Temple coach still had lots to say on lots of topics. Among other things, it’s obvious Chaney doesn’t like Republicans very much, according to the blog Crossing Broad. After the jump, we’ll pass along a few rather hilariously enlightening excerpts.
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The inestimable ZAGSBLOG, which is based in Noo Yawk, recently took a look forward at what we might expect out of the Big East as the league gears up for conference play beginning with No. 6 West Virginia’s game today at Seton Hall. While Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgetown and Your Villanova Wildcats look like the league’s best teams, Zag projects Syracuse — and superstar Wesley Johnson — as the team to beat. He also offers some love for Scottie Reynolds as a potential player of the year and says Maalik Wayns could be rookie of the year.

Link: Big East projections [ZAGSBLOG]