In a word, we’ve been swamped. Which is actually three words — four, even, if you count the contraction. But whatever. Just haven’t had a lot of time to keep up with things this week. We hope to begin rectifying the situation this weekend. Anyway, in case you missed it, there were four games this week we hadn’t talked about. One of them — the tremendous Holy Way game between Villanova and Saint Joe’s on Wednesday — we’ll get to in our next post. But after the jump, a quick look at Temple’s win over Miami (Ohio), Penn’s loss to Albany and La Salle’s victory at Rider. Thanks for visiting.

* The Owls (7-2) won easily out at Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday, 64-42. And there was little they did wrong: The Owls made 11 3s, they limited the RedHawks (2-6) to six first-half field goals, and they had a 25-0 run at one point in the first half. Remarkably, Temple is off to its best start since 1994-95. And No. 3 Villanova comes to North Broad Street on Sunday afternoon.

* Things are certainly getting “frustrating” over in University City, where Your Penn Quakers are now 0-6 after Tuesday’s 78-60 loss to Albany at the P. There are many concerns, but defense seems to be the biggest: The Daily News says the Great Danes shot 54.1 percent for the game, and 57.1 for the second half. Ouch. Not only that, but Albany (4-6) had a 37-24 rebounding edge. Ouch again. Penn plays at Monmouth on Saturday.

* La Salle (6-2) won in a tough environment over in Lawrenceville, N.J., at Rider on Wednesday, where the Broncs had won nine in a row and 26 of 30, according to the Daily News. Rider also had a win at then-No. 18 Mississippi State in addition to beating Saint Joe’s on Nov. 30. Rodney Green scored 25, and Yves Mekongo made eight free throws, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots even though he was 0-for-7 from the field. Aaric Murray had 12 points, eight boards and five blocks. Things are looking up. But La Salle’s next game is way up: The Explorers play No. 1 Kansas in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday afternoon.

Links: Penn loses again [Daily News]
Explorers ride past Rider [Daily News]