Local college basketball fans had a feast of games to choose from on Saturday, with four of the six Division I teams in the area playing home games.
Okay, so one of them was in Atlantic City, but that's not too far a drive from Philadelphia,
A day later, La Salle headed for the Blue Ridge Mountains while most people were watching the NFL.
Here's a recap of the weekend's Big 5 action.
An A-10 doubleheader
You probably could have gotten the most bang for your buck by checking out Saint Joseph's and Temple as they welcomed two of the nation's better teams to Philadelphia. The Hawks hosted Ohio State at the Palestra, while the Owls played Alabama -- ranked No. 17 at the time -- at the Liacouras Center an hour later.
The Buckeyes challenged St. Joe's to a three-point shooting contest. That might not have been the best idea, considering how Hawks guard Chet Stachitas dropped 18 points on Kansas from beyond the arc in his last game.
But Stachitas and his teammates couldn't buy a bucket early against Ohio State, falling behind 19-6 in the first 6:23 of play. Fifteen of the Buckeyes' points came from long range, part of a 9-of-13 performance in the first half. The Hawks, by contrast, only made four of 13 from downtown in the first half.
It seemed like Ohio State was in control, but the Hawks rallied twice in the second half to make things interesting. They cut an 18-point deficit to five with 9:17 to go, and then a 15-point Buckeyes lead with 4:02 left in the game to four leading up to the final minute.
The roaring Palestra crowd of 7,241 couldn't do anything to close the gap, though. Neither could St. Joe's, as Ohio State made 9 of 11 free throw attempts in the final minute to ice the 81-74 win.
Cherry over Crimson
If you left the Palestra right at the final buzzer, you would have made it to North Philadelphia just in time to see the tipoff of Temple-Alabama. The Owls were trying to both beat a ranked opponent for the first time since knocking off Indiana in 2002 and make a statement about their potential this season.
The Crimson Tide had something to prove, too -- that they deserved their spot in the top 25 after falling at unranked Notre Dame last Wednesday.
It was Temple that played like the ranked team, though, scoring an impressive -- by Temple's standards, at least -- 35 points in the first half, including nine threes.
The second half was just as impressive, although for different reasons. Temple did score 33 points, but made only one field goal after Mardy Collins' breakaway slam just over five minutes in. Thirteen made free throws on 16 attempts were enough to keep Alabama a safe distance away as the Owls won 68-58.
Drexel dominates
Old Dominion began the season as not only the favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association, but as a trendy upset pick in the NCAA Tournament as well.
If Drexel's impressive showing at the Preseason NIT where they challenged Duke and nearly upset UCLA wasn't enough, Saturday's clash between the two teams at the Daskalakis Athletic Center left no doubt about the Dragons.
Drexel raced out to a 31-10 halftime lead and never looked back. Junior guard Dominick Mejia led all scorers with a career-high 27 points and Drexel cruised to a 61-42 win.
Mejia's backcourt teammate, junior Bashir Mason, told reporters after the game that "it felt like February or March already" for his team.
If Drexel keeps playing this well, it might stay that way for a while.
Holy rollers
If you're going to play one of Division I's worst teams, you might as well give your fans a trip to Atlantic City along the way.
That's what Villanova did, as it faced Longwood at Boardwalk Hall. The Wildcats fans had an easy night, as they watched their team record a 90-77 win before heading out for a late dinner and -- if they were old enough, of course -- some gambling.
Blue Ridge high
The first priority when playing La Salle is dealing with senior forward Steven Smith, right?
Maybe not.
James Madison held Smith to only 10 points Sunday in Harrisonburg, Va., but three other Explorers scored in double figures in a 70-58 win.
Senior forward Lewis Fadipe also scored 10 points, while sophomore guards Darnell Harris and Tabby Cunningham dropped in 11 and 13, respectively.
La Salle is now 5-0 for the first time since 1994.
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