Your Friday Morning Atlantic 10 Tournament Primer

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Three of the City Six -- Drexel, Penn and Villanova -- are done (at least for this week). But three more -- Temple, Saint Joseph's and La Salle -- remain.

All of those still alive find themselves in Atlantic City, NJ, preparing to tip-off in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

We'll be making our way to AC later this afternoon to check out the action, blog for your enjoyment and hopefully score a picture with the Dayton Flyer.

In the meantime, we provide this list of each game, its time, where you can watch it,  and a brief overview of the matchup. Join us for the last A-10 tournament to be held at Boardwalk Hall after the jump…

#1 Temple (24-6, 13-3) vs. #8 UMass (21-10, 9-7) / 12 p.m. / CSN / 610 AM
This game is a rematch of Temple's final home game of the year when it blew a 9-point lead with less than three minutes to play and needed overtime to squeak past UMass, 90-88. 

UMass is the only team in the Atlantic 10, besides Temple, to have defeated all four of the #2-#5 seeds this season. Their high-energy attack is spearheaded by 5-9 guard Chaz Williams, who leads the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game. 

They're fast, insanely talented leapers and play a style of basketball predicated on a full-court press and never-ending barrage of fast breaks. Temple can ill-afford to compete in the kind of track meet that was played in the first meeting. Owl senior guard Ramone Moore said after that contest that his Temple team prided itself on being able to play any style. While that may be the case, Temple will benefit from playing the game at its preferred, half-court, deliberate pace rather than trying to beat UMass at its own game.

The Massachusetts Minutemen may be the lowest seed remaining in the tournament, but they're also the most dangerous sleeper to win the title. Temple will do the other six schools in Atlantic City a big favor by bouncing them in the quarterfinals. Otherwise, keep your eyes on UMass.

Moving down the top half of the bracket, the winner of Temple and UMass will take on the winner of…

#4 St. Bonaventure (17-11, 10-6) vs. #5 Saint Joseph's (20-12, 9-7) / 2:30 p.m. / CSN / 610 AM
Like Temple and UMass, these two teams last met last Wednesday evening and needed overtime to declare a winner. Unlike Temple and UMass, St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's went so far as to require double-overtime.

As the game was contested in Olean, NY, it was of little surprise that the Bonnies found a way win, ultimately taking the game 98-93. They went 11-2 at home this season and lost only to Temple and North Carolina State at the Reilly Center.

Unfortunately for the Bonnies, this game will be played on a neutral court, and one that isn't seven-hour bus ride through upstate New York from the Hawks' campus.

Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson will likely get his; really, he has all season, thus taking home the A10's Player of the Year Award. Under the basket, SJU's C.J. Aiken, Ronald Roberts and Halil Kanacevic will need to work together to steal rebounds from Nicholson and to help keep each other out of foul trouble. While those three are occupied underneath -- or, Nicholson occupied by them, depending on how you choose to view it -- Carl Jones and Langston Galloway will overmatch the Bonaventure backcourt.

Frankly, we wouldn't be surprised to see either team moving on to the semifinals on Saturday. Saint Joseph's should pull the (by seed only) upset, but the young team has shown time and again a capacity for erratic play this season. That said, they appear to be peaking at the right time, and a run to Sunday, title or no title, might just earn them a bid to next week's NCAAs. Hawks fans will have to balance expecting the world this weekend with the realization that this group may still be just one more year away. We'll find out soon enough.

#2 St. Louis (24-6, 12-4) vs. #7 La Salle (21-11, 9-7) / 6:30 p.m. / TCN / 990 AM
Dr. John Giannini has a team that legitimately could make a run -- they just happened to draw St. Louis in round two.

The Explorers own the best three-point field goal percentage in the conference at 40.3%. Temple trails just behind at 40.2%. No one else is technically close, but the Billikens are No. 3 on the list at 36.3%.

Here's the point, La Salle has become a good enough jump shooting team that they can put a run together through a tournament -- a tournament like the NIT, CIT or CBI. As you might have guessed, we believe, with good reason, that the Explorers are in over their heads in this particular matchup. No, they won't turn the ball over 20 times, like they did the last time these two teams played, when the Billikens won in St. Louis, 59-51, but that isn't exactly saying much either.

Should they pull the shocker -- and, hey, we're all for it -- they do benefit from drawing (what we consider) the easier of the two roads to the finals when they take on the winner of…

#3 Xavier (19-11, 10-6) vs. #6 Dayton (20-11, 9-7) / 9 p.m. / TCN
It's an Ohio showdown in the late game at Boardwalk Hall. If you're a basketball junkie, you'll likely be tuning into this matchup regardless of the non-Philadelphia involvement. As for those of you who may need some convincing -- no, Dayton-Xavier isn't Cincinnati-Xavier, but it is a great rivalry made all the better at tournament time. Plus, Tu Holloway!

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"And here…we…go." 

It's the Atlantic 10 tournament's last year in AC before moving to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and damn it's good to be back. From our family to yours, the 24-Hour Happy Hour Bar inside the Wild Wild West Casino at Bally's. You're welcome, in advance. We'll see you on the Boardwalk.

Boardwalk Hall photo credit: The Associated Press

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