Very entertaining, and tight, game yesterday. More than 20 lead changes. The student section, which was depleted because spring break had emptied the campus, didn't break into their "I believe we have won" chant until the final 30 seconds of the game (if you're unfamiliar with the chant, see video above). 14 times the Owls played at home this season, and 13 times we heard the chant ( the Owls won all fourteen home games, but the Georgetown game went down to the final shot, see video below). Temple leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (allowing 61 points per game) but defense was decidedly absent from yesterday's game. First time this season the Owls reached 90 points. Temple had earned fans a taco at Qdoba midway through the second half , and LaSalle had 61 points with 11 minutes remaining in the game. The game's key stat: 19 assists and only 7 turnovers for Temple. The Owls rank third in the A-10 and 39th nationally with 11.5 turnovers per game this season.
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A 24-win regular season is surely impressive. So why not a higher ranking? Quite simply because the Owls had a soft schedule - only one team in the top 30 has had an easier schedule - and the Owls have beaten only two schools in the top 50 RPI rankings (Georgia and Georgetown). And only six games against teams in the top 50 (by comparison, Villanova has had 14 games against top 50 teams). And the Owls played six games against teams that weren't even among the top 250.
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22 wins in a row at home. Very impressive. Last loss at home was in December 2009, to Kansas, ranked #1 at the time.
Coach Dunphy's fourth consecutive season with at least 20 wins.
To receive a #5 seed like last year, Temple undoubtedly will need to win the A-10 tournament. If the tournament holds to form (highly unlikely), Temple and Xavier will meet in the final next Sunday, in Atlantic City.
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The Diamond Gems brought back alumni Gems to celebrate their 20 years of dancing. I didn't realize the Gems were organized before the Liacouras Center opened, they surely were one of the first college dance squads performing at basketball and football games. Dance teams have evolved into more than a spirit squad to entertain, energize and inspire - just like basketball and football, there are national competitions, clinics and camps. You should know that the nationally ranked Temple University Diamond Gems will be hosting a College Dance Team Prep Clinic on Sunday, March 27, 2011 for high school and college dancers who strive to be a part of a college dance team in their future or who wish to work on their technique and style.
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Crowd of 8154. Respectable. Attendance continues to be disappointing, in light of the entertaining product on the floor. For 14 home games, crowds averaged fewer than 6000 per game. One sellout (St. Joe's) and five crowds that would not have filled the capacity of McGonigle Hall (3900). At halftime the 1969 Temple NIT Championship team was introduced as the newest members of the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame. That team was responsible for my becoming a Temple basketball loyalist, as I was in my freshman year on north Broad Street.
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Saturday was Senior day. Lavoy Allen played his final game at Liacouras Center. He was one of coach Dunphy's first recruits, and had a distinguished basketball career. And unlike many of today's college players, he played all four years of his eligibility. Lavoy Allen scored a career high 24 points, and recorded his fifth straight double-double. And while technically not a senior, Dutch Gaitley played his final regular-season game at Temple. Dutch's story is not the usual one - I commented that he's not a senior - Dutch has already graduated from college (cum laude from Monmouth) where he played for three years, and is now attending graduate school at Temple where he decided to join the team for his fourth and final year of playing eligibility. Dutch started yesterday's game (classy move by Coach Dunphy). It was not , by the way, Dutch's first time in the starting lineup in his college career - he was on the floor at tip-off 42 times during his three-year playing career at Monmouth.
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Graduate student Dutch Gaitley,along with junior Jake Godino and freshman Jimmy McDonnell make up "The Parliament". The trio are the vocal bench supporters of the Cherry and White, and have coined themselves The Parliament. They arrived at the name due to its meaning - the literary collective noun for a group of owls (you know, like a school of fish). They also write a blog (see The Parliament in My Blog List along the sidebar).
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In a welcome change, purchasers of 50-50 tickets (yesterday supporting the track and field team) were publicly thanked by the PA announcer after the winning number was announced. In an unwelcome continuing development, the PA announcer gave his play-by-play of the Dunkin Donuts time-out contest. Far from entertaining, it's annoying and insulting to the crowd (all of whom can follow the action of the two students dribbling down the floor and trying tobe the first to make a layup and foul shot.
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Closing banquet for Chronicowls followers, commenters, and bloggers was held at WineO, at 5th and Poplar in Northern Liberties. Owner-chef Giovanni was accommodating to our larger-than-normal group. Give it a try - good food, reasonable prices, excellent wine selection, and generous cocktails. And less than 10 minutes from the Temple campus.
