Reflections after Ending the Regular Season with a Crisp 75-63 Bang
Posted by Blog Contributor Phil "Tall" Wagner
If you like silent auctions, this was your day—you could bid on all from kumquats to Sherman tanks.
If you like free TEMPLE MADE tee shirts, this was your moment—you couldn’t not be given one.
If you’d never seen the Liacouras full—10,206 bodies full—they were all there. Yet sadly, only 8 tubas.
If you’d wondered which avian ilk would show up, these were surely cherry and white birds of prey…
playing, if you love somewhat compromised drama, the defending NATIONAL champion (17-12, 10-7) Huskies.
For UConn, Boatwright (torrid in 1st half with 21) and Purvis combined for 43 pts. and 73 mins.
For Temple, Cummings and Morgan paired for 40 pts. and 67 mins., DeCosey chipping in 15 over 32.
Temple’s 8 steals were twice their turnovers while, woefully, UConn’s comparables were 3-14.
For Dunphy, this was win #499 (310-163 at Penn, 189-106 on North Broad). Who’s ready for #500?
Things look swell vs. Memphis (minus top gun Nichols) on Fri., but may be hell vs. SMU (AP #20) on Sat.
Of course, looking beyond a team you beat by a single point five weeks back is seldom advised.
But the good news is Temple can’t play UConn till the finals—beating anybody thrice a season is tough.
So who’s the sleeper in the AAC mix? Who’s ready to play 3-4 days running? And we do mean running.
And how early and often must Temple win this week, if they’re truly on the bubble, to go dancing?
On the subject of RPIs, interesting to note that the Owls’re a most pedestrian 2-7 vs. top 50 RPI teams.
RPI look for AAC tourney’s 5 byes: SMU 15 (ooohh!), Temple 34, Cincy 35, Tulsa 47, Memphis 82.
Brace yourself. There’s dribbling and high-fiving ahead, with luck, much of it for those Temple Owls!
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