This Land is Owl Land, This Land Ain’t Maryland

Before a loud and raucous crowd at the storied Palestra, the Temple Owls beat the Maryland Terrapins 73-60 on Saturday afternoon. Combining balanced scoring and good outside shooting, Temple fashioned a hard fought victory in the matinee game which tipped just after 11am.

Temple got double figure scoring from Khalif Wyatt and Ramon Moore, both with 20 points, Juan Fernandez with 14 points, and Aaron Brown with 12 points. The only other Temple player to score was Anthony Lee who added 7 points. Wyatt led Temple in assists with 7, and Brown was the Owls leading rebounder with 8.

The Owls hit 9 of 22 three-point attempts (40.9%) including two triples after Maryland had closed the lead to 1 point, late in the second half. Fernandez was perfect from behind the arc, connecting on all three of his attempts.

Temple outscored Maryland by 3 points in the first half, taking a 32-29 lead into intermission. The Owls opened the second half with an 8 point run to build their lead to 40-29 on a bucket by Fernandez.

Temple expanded their lead to 12 on several occasions and it looked like they had taken control of the game. However, Maryland rallied and cut the margin to 1 point on a Terrell Stoglin bucket. The Terrapins had a chance to take the lead on the next possession but missed their shot and Moore scored for Temple who never relinquished the lead.

Temple scored the last 7 points of the game to give them the 13 point margin of victory, their largest lead of the day.

Michael Eric played for Temple for the first time since November 25th, after he missed thirteen games due to injury. He was greeted with a standing ovation from the Temple fans, played seven minutes, and missed his only field-goal attempt.

Maryland was led in scoring by Stoglin who dropped 20 points. Pe’Shon Howard added 15 points, and James Padgett chipped in 10. Sean Mosley pulled down 10 boards for Maryland and Nick Faust handed out 4 assists.

Maryland barely edged out Temple on the glass by a 28-27 margin. The Terrapins had twice as many turnovers (16) as assists (8). Temple, was the polar opposite, dishing out 20 assists to just 10 turnovers.

Temple was also stronger from the charity stripe, sinking 10 of 13 (76.9%). Maryland hit just 12 of 21 free-throws (57.1%).

Temple improved to 13-5 with the victory and 2-0 vs. the ACC this season (after an upset victory of Duke earlier this season). The Owls managed the double-digit win without a single point from Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson who was saddled with foul trouble in the first half and attempted just one field-goal for the game. The Owls next play at Charlotte on Wednesday evening.

With the loss, the shell-shocked Terrapins drop to 12-6. Their next game also comes on Wednesday when they host the #4 ranked Duke Blue Devils.

To view an additional photo gallery from today’s game,

CLICK HERE!

 

Temple vs. Duke: Owls Exorcise Devils in Upset Victory

The Temple Owls played the nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. Duke, coached by legendary Hall-of-Famer Mike Krzyzewski, came to town ranked third & fifth in the country (in the two major polls), sporting a 12-1 record. Temple, coached by Fran Dunphy, entered the game with a 9-3 record.

When the final buzzer sounded on Wednesday night, the Temple Owls (still without injured players Michael Eric & Scootie Randall) had a signature win for their program, with a capital “S”, and their fans had reason to rush the court in celebration.

The victory, 78-73, came in front of a sold-out crowd at the Wells-Fargo Center. It was the first win for the Owls in the building (in three tries) and the crowd was the third largest to ever watch a college basketball game in the arena (the two largest crowds took place during Villanova games). It was Temple’s first win over Duke since 1996 as The Blue Devils had won the previous nine match-ups.

No team polarizes college basketball fans quite like Duke. The Blue Devils are the college basketball version of the New York Yankees, people either love or hate them.

Duke jumped out to a 9-6 lead over the Temple Owls before the capacity crowd of 20,000+ shortly after the game tipped moments past 7pm. Temple went ahead for the first time a few minutes later 10-9 on a dunk by Anthony Lee. After several lead changes, Temple forged ahead 18-17 on a bucket by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson. Temple, paced by Jefferson and Aaron Brown, maintained the lead for much of the first half. Duke tied the game at 31-31 on a basket by Mason Plumlee but the Owls regained the lead on a basket by Jefferson. The half ended with the Owls in the lead 35-33. The only player for either team to score in double figures for the first half was Miles Plumlee with 12.

Temple started the second half on a 4-0 run to push their lead to 39-33, forcing the Blue Devils to call a timeout. Duke closed the margin to 41-39 on two made foul shots by Mason Plumlee. The Owls then soared to a 47-40 lead on a steal by T.J. DiLeo and a dunk by Aaron Brown. After the Blue Devils cut the lead to 49-45 , the Owls took a 10 point  lead, 55-45, on consecutive triples by Ramon Moore and Khalif Wyatt.

The Owls never relinquished their lead in the second half and held off Duke for the upset win.

Temple’s upset victory was built on a foundation of balanced scoring. Five Owls scored in double figures, led by Khalif Wyatt with 22 points (5 steals, 4 rebounds, 3 assists). Hollis-Jefferson added 17 points, and Brown, Moore, and Lee each chipped in 11 (with Lee also leading the team in rebounding with 7). Juan Fernandez led the Owls in assists with 6, although he also committed 7 turnovers (to go along with just 4 points).

For Duke, it was was Miles Plumlee leading the way with 17 points. His brother, Mason Plumlee added 16 points and led the team in rebounds (13) and assists (4). Freshman Austin Rivers (son of NBA coach Doc Rivers) was the only other Blue Devil in double figures, adding 12 points.

Temple won the battle of the boards 30-29 and was +1 in assist-to-turnover ratio (Duke was -3). For the game, Temple shot an impressive .564% from the field including 50% from three-point range.

Next up for the Owls is an A-10 conference game on Saturday afternoon (4pm) as Temple hosts Dayton. Duke will also see action again on Saturday as they look to rebound from their loss in a game at Georgia Tech (12pm).

Temple’s win highlighted a great night for Philadelphia college basketball. LaSalle beat Xavier, St. Joe’s completed a big comeback win on the road against Duquesne, Drexel drubbed Towson, and Penn beat Lafayette.

To view post-game press conferences from Mike Krzyzewski, Fran Dunphy, and Ramon Moore & Khalif Wyatt,

CLICK HERE!

To view an expanded photo gallery from Temple vs. Duke,

CLICK HERE!