A HOME OFFICE IN HORSHAM — The Villanova Wildcats continued to chew their way through Philly hoops last night, beating Temple 83-67 in what was being billed, by some misguided souls, as some sort of intense rivalary game, this depite the fact that the Cats have now won 14 straight against Big 5 opponents and have claimed victory in the season series for the third consecutive season.

Villanova’s defense led the way, stifling an overmatched Temple team in the paint, behind the arc, and basically all over the court. They were aided offensively by freshman and former high school All-American Jalen Brunson, whose dad went to Temple but decided that his son’s NBA aspirations would be better gestated on the Main Line.

With the win, Villanova’s overall record improved to 23-3, which is good enough to have them ranked as the number one team in the country in both major polls. The Big 5 continues to be a mere bug on the windshield.

Few other things:

How does Temple build a beautiful basketball arena (really, it’s a great place) and not put a camera well at mid-court? I mean, this is the plane of the camera:

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It was built to be a basketball arena. It’s not some multi-purpose facility repurposed to host the sport. Hell, even Villanova’s awful ski lodge has an appropriately placed camera. This is embarrassing on TV. Other games on ESPN last night, in Lousville and North Carolina, looked like they were being played in genuine basketball environments, and then you turn on the Nova-Temple game and it looks like some pre-season tournament on an island somewhere with the main camera on a cherry picker overhanging papaya trees. Come on, get it together.

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Fran Fraschilla takes a lot of heat, but he’s outstanding. He knows more about the game than most announcers, travels the world to scout internationally, and has a passion for the game. He’s one of the best color guys in the country.

Also, St. Joe’s beat number 15 Dayton, meaning they will, at the very least, get some votes to be in the top 25 next week. The Villanova-Temple game, which aired on ESPN as part of its Rivalry Week, used to involve St. Joe’s. But it seems they were unable to drive ratings despite their coach’s unabashed shilling for his team himself:

Two fingers, one seed.