Coming into the 2011-12 college basketball season, Drexels Frantz Massenat knew all about Philadelphias spectacular group of point guards.
There was the do-it-all Maalik Wayns at Villanova, the clutch-shooting Zack Rosen at Penn, the high-scoring Carl Jones at St. Joes, the crafty veteran Juan Fernandez at Temple and the playmaking Tyreek Duren at La Salle.
And then there was Massenat, who just wrapped up a solid, yet unspectacular, freshman season for the Dragons.
I knew a lot of people werent talking about me before the season, the Drexel point guard said. I kind of wanted that to happen.
Basically, Massenat just wanted to be in the conversation. But hes done a lot more than that; hes created a new conversation.
With a 17-game winning streakthe second longest in Division IDrexel (25-5 overall, 16-2 Colonial) is fast becoming one of the most talked-about teams in the nation, and Massenat is one of the main reasons why.
Not only is Massenat the teams leading scorer (13.5 ppg), he also tops the Colonial Athletic Association (in conference games) in three-point field goal percentage (.483) and assistturnover ratio (3.0).
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Hes been the best player in the leagueby far I think, Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint said. Ive said all the time about him that if he learns to shoot, everything else will open up. Hes a good point guard, and he was that way as a freshman. There were just certain things he didnt do. He didnt shoot the ball. I said to him, Once you learn to shoot the ball, forget about it. The skys the limit. And he did it.
The difference in Massenats shooting numbers from last year to this one are certainly stark. As a freshman, the point guard started every game and shot relatively well from the field (41.8 percent). But he connected on just 25 percent of his three-point attempts and averaged only 5.5 points per game, preferring to distribute rather than shoot.
This year, the point guard has continued to be a quality passer and playmaker but hes also been takingand makinga lot more shots, which has really helped the Dragons offense rise to a new level.
Every school in Philly has a good point guard, Massenat said. Hopefully now people are starting to say, Oh, Drexel has a good point guard too and now Drexel has a good team.
At this point, its doubtful anyone is saying otherwise, especially after Drexel secured the CAA regular season championship and automatic NIT berth. The Dragons will now look to capture the CAA tournament championshipwhich begins for them in the quarterfinals Saturday in Richmondand lock up the programs first NCAA tourney bid since 1996.
And as the Dragons continue on that quest, Massenat is enjoying all of the eyes on Drexeland the teams ever-improving point guard.
Last year I wasnt in the conversation, Massenat said. This year I am. Its like an accomplishment.
The charge that stalled Harvards charge to an Ivy title
It was a poetic ending to Saturdays wild game in Boston.
With Penn clinging to a one-point lead over Harvard in an Ivy League showdown, fifth-year senior Tyler Bernardini slid into position, set his feet and stood firm as Harvards Kyle Casey crashed into him.
Casey made what appeared to be the go-ahead basket with three seconds left but was called for a chargewhich allowed the Quakers (17-11 overall, 9-2 Ivy League) to escape from New England with a thrilling 55-54 upset victory and move into a first-place tie in the loss column with Harvard (24-4, 10-2) with three games left on the slate.
It shows how bad he wants it, sophomore guard Miles Cartwright said of Bernardini. Hes been here for five yearsit feels like 10and he really does want it. We follow him, Zack Rosen, Rob Belcore and Mike Howlett. Theyre our senior leaders and we really rely on them. I know Tylers not 100 percent. But it really showed how much heart he has on that play.
Therein lies the poetry of that final play. Because of a badly hurt left foot, Bernardini is a shell of his former self. One of the all-time top scorers in program history, the senior swingman has averaged just four points and 17 minutes per game in the Quakers last four contests.
But with only a few games left in his college career, hes willing to do whatever it takes to help Penn get to its first NCAA tournament since 2007hurt foot or not.
Ive got to do whatever I can to help us win, Bernardini said. Earlier in the season, when Im more healthy, its scoring a lot of points and getting a lot of rebounds. Right now, I think its just doing all of the little thingsthe intangibles.
Jockeying for position in the A-10
Despite its loss to St. Joes on Saturday, Temple remained in the Top 25 this week at No. 23 (see story). The Owls (22-6, 11-3)who wrap up the regular season with games against UMass and Fordham this weekare also the only team in the league to have already secured a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
St. Joes (19-11, 9-6) and La Salle (18-11, 7-7), meanwhile, are still jockeying for position leading up to next weeks conference tourney.
The Hawks have only one game left, traveling to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday for a tough road game. A win would put them in good shape to finish in the top four in the league and earn a direct ticket to the A-10 quarterfinals in Atlantic Citybut St. Joes coach Phil Martelli said he hasnt really been stressing the advantages of the first-round bye to his players.
I think you can look at it both ways, Martelli said on the A-10 coaches teleconference Monday. Is it better to not take that chance of losing before Atlantic City or do you want to keep your rhythm and play?
Like Martelli, La Salle coach John Giannini is not paying too much attention to potential A-10 tourney seeds. But he hopes his team is able to snap out of its recent funk and finish strongwhich, in turn, would likely give the Explorers a first-round home game next Tuesday and a far better chance of getting to Atlantic City.
The Explorers close out the regular season with games against George Washington on Wednesday and St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
As well as we played for a long time, it would be disappointing not to accomplish 20 wins and a winning Atlantic 10 record, Giannini said. Hopefully we can do that.
Injuries continue to mount for Nova
A season of bad breaks continued for Villanova on Saturday when emerging star JayVaughn Pinkston stepped on a ball in pre-game warmups and played just two minutes in a 67-47 loss to Georgetown.
Starter James Bell also missed his third consecutive game for the Wildcats (11-17 overall, 4-12 Big East) with a sprained ankle, while Maalik Wayns (sprained MCL) played his first game since Feb. 7 but struggled mightily, scoring three points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Perhaps the only bright spot for the hard-luck Cats was the performance of junior Dominic Cheek, who continued his strong play of late with a game-high 19 points and four steals.
Villanovas final two games of the regular season are at Rutgers on Thursday and at home vs. Cincinnati on Saturday.
Six in the City is a weekly notebook on the citys six Division I college basketball teams written by CSNPhilly.com contributor Dave Zeitlin. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @DaveZeitlin.