Chronicowls '12 Temple-Maryland

Twice as many assists as turnovers. That’ll win most basketball games. As it did, yesterday MORNING, for the Cherry and White.  Temple’s starting three guards,  Juan Fernandez, Ramone Moore, and Khalif Wyatt,  produced 54 points, 13 assists, and but 5 giveaways.  And substitute guard Aaron brown contributed 12 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds in 26 minutes of play. An impressive Parliament of Owls.  Graduate student Michael Eric  returned to action after a 13-game absence due to a fractured right patella.

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A packed but not quite full Palestra, although the attendance was announced as a sellout of 8722. Doubtless, more than a few couldn’t make the game because of “wintry mix” driving conditions. Nonetheless, plenty of spirit and energy in the hoops cathedral, as the Maryland faithful “travel well”, and brought at least several thousand supporters to the Penn campus venue. So it seemed more like a Big Five contest, as each cheering section tried to outdo the other. Only rollouts were absent.

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A little more than 5 minutes remain in the game.  In the five minutes just elapsed, the Terrapins had cut a 10-point Temple lead to one. In the next 90 SECONDS, first Wyatt, then Moore, and then Fernandez each make unlikely three point shots.  I Believe We Have Won broke out with about one minute remaining.

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It was an extraordinary day for Philadelphia college basketball, and its fans. For starters, one could have begun  at 11am with the Temple-Maryland tipoff, enjoyed lunch following the game (Slainte, at 30^th and Market, was a good choice yesterday), walked several blocks to the Daskalakis Athletic Center to join 2500 other fans to watch Drexel play Northeastern (the Dragons won), then return to the Palestra to join another sellout crowd to watch Penn edge St. Joe’s in a Big Five classic.  If an Explorers fan, one could have gone to the Gola Arena (instead of the Daskalakis Center)  to see LaSalle play Rhode Island. All in all, five city teams won (Villanova played at Madison Square Garden where they defeated St. John’s) and more than 20,000 fans were in attendance at college basketball games across the city and throughout the day .  Reuben Frank, CSNPhilly columnist,  has an interesting recap of the day (read here ).

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Amazing series of ramps now connect part of the Penn campus. It is now possible to walk from the River Field athletic complex to the Palestra without setting foot on a Philadelphia street.

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Oddsmakers had the Owls favored by NINE over their ACC opponent.  Surprised me (after all, Maryland entered the game with a record (12-5) identical to Temple’s), but the forecasters had obviously done their research, as the Owls beat the spread. While the game was tight throughout, Temple trailed for less than a minute, and led the entire second half.

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The Diamond Gems were in fine form yesterday. The halftime entertainment featured a young man in a Temple teeshirt performing one  balancing act after another (using his chin) , starting with a chair and concluding with a 10-foot stepladder. You had to be there!

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Temple now stands at #19 in the RPI rankings.  St. Joe’s, their next opponent at the Liacouras Center, this Saturday at 4pm, holds the 60^th place in the RPI.  Before then, a difficult game on the road, against Charlotte, this Wednesday evening.  Only radio coverage(1210 AM WPHT) of the game.

Chronicowls '12 Temple-LaSalle

Entertaining game between the Owls and Explorers. Most accounts of the game offered a similar assessment, adding that it was a typical Big Five game. Which, actually, it wasn’t. A Big Five game, that is.  The next time Temple and LaSalle match up, then at the Gola Arena, will count in the Big Five standings.  While on the subject of the Big Five, it’s time for the group to evolve. It’s now time for the City Six.

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More than 8000 fans watched the evening’s proceedings.  More than respectable.  LaSalle fans filled two sections of the Liacouras Center. Not a bad turnout for a LaSalle road game, yet considering that the game was but a 10-minute subway ride for students on the LaSalle campus, I expected more fans. After all, LaSalle came into the game with a  record of 13 up, and just 5 down, the best start to a season in many a year.

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Balanced scoring, and better than 50% shooting, were key to Temple’s win.  Four Owls scored in double figures, led by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson’s career high of 19 points.  Temple has shot better than 50% from the field in six games this year. Unsurprisingly, the Owls have won five of them.

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The oddsmakers had Temple favored by 5. During the last 11 minutes of the game, Temple owlways led, but never by more than 5, until Khalif Wyatt made two foul shots to give Temple its final six-point margin, and give rise to the “I Believe We Have Won” chant.   While there were no lead changes in the second half, on four occasions in the final ten minutes a LaSalle score cut their deficit to one.  Nail-biter.

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LaSalle played a solid game. Only 8 turnovers. But , like Temple, they field a short team, and the Cherry and White won the boards, outrebounding the Explorers by 38-27.

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PubWebb was the venue for a pre-game gathering of Temple fans (many in soccer scarves, see below).

The purchase of these  scarves support the Temple soccer program.

Here is Temple Sports Hall of Fame member Edna Brown-Hecht (far-right) with President Ann Hart, after President Hart was presented with the scarf during the game. (Chronicowls commenter Nelson Dunham is at left).

Email Joe Stulz at jstulz@verizon.net to purchase a scarf to support Temple soccer. 

Chronicowls '12, Temple-Villianova

This is our ciTy.  So read the final rollout yesterday at the Liacouras Center during Temple’s  BigFive matchup with Villanova. Fans attending the game yesterday were reminded throughout of Villanova’s unwillingness to support Temple’s bid for membership in the Big East. The Cherry Crusade, Temple's  student section, came out in strong numbers (as did the Pep band) and were clever in their rollouts (below are some of the better ones).

You're scared to make this a conference game

VILLAINova
Nova Law can't add points to This score
Villanova: Latin for Liar
Nova says jump, Big East asks how high?

The best from the student section came with just under a minute remaining in the game (I thought a bit premature but others thought it timely), when the Cherry Crusade broke out in the customary victory chant of “I believe we have won…”. And so we had. Over local rival Villanova.

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The charged atmosphere inside the Liacouras Center was sparked by a stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Temple student (and former Diamond Gem) Chelsea Wargo.

Chelsea has sung the National Anthem at least three times before a Temple hoops game – we certainly hope it wasn’t her last. Catch the ending here.

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A solid performance from the Owls. Ramone Moore had a career-high 32 points, including 14 of 15 from the foul line. Only 10 turnovers. And holding their own on the boards against a taller Villanova team, led by Hollis-Jefferson’s 14 rebounds.  Both sides were cold-shooting, especially in the first half. During an eight-minute stretch, Villanova scored but one field goal, and Temple could open only a four-point lead.

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A sellout crowd was announced. Saw a bunch of unfilled seats, but I guess I’m nit-picking. Those with tickets who didn’t attend missed an entertaining Philly BigFive college basketball game. Attractive home schedule this season, with Xavier and a much-improved St. Joe’s squad coming in to the Liacouras Center for Saturday games. I expect a few more sellouts. The Liacouras Center is a fabulous place to take in a basketball game. You don't have to take just my word on it. The ESPN broadcaster said so during the game telecast. And let’s not forget Duke at the Wells Fargo Center  and Maryland at the Palestra.

For the most part, a classy display from the Temple faithful.  On the lesser side, The Pep Band drowned out the Villanova cheerleaders performance (it was their only one) during a timeout, and the student section disregarded their instruction sheet and shouted “Sucks” after the introduction of the Villanova starters.  Instructions for the Cherry Crusade are to turn their back to the court during the introduction of the opposing team’s lineup, and to stand in complete silence (silence=unnerving). Let’s see how long it takes for this to become standard practice.

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I’m certain the sellout crowd was a contributing factor, but walking through the concourse during intermission was a particular challenge. I heard one fan say it brought to mind the narrow concourses at the Spectrum.  At one point, what I thought was one  long beer  line snaking through the concourse turned out to be TWO long lines, one for the rest room and another for the beer kiosk. I’m a regular at the Liacouras Center and even I was confused.

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The Diamond Gems were not in mid-season form last night. Here they are in full form, at the 2011 national championships.

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The spread had Temple favored by 8.5 points. During the last seven minutes of the game, Temple’s  lead was between 7 and 11. Those oddsmakers were right on the mark, again!

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Last night’s post-game wrap-up took place at Bar Ferdinand. In Northern Liberties, less than 10 minutes from the Liacouras Center. Recommended for its conviviality, food, and Spanish wines. Fine selection of tapas. So much fun you could easily run up the tab.

Chronicowls '11, Post 9 (Temple-St. Joe's)

Walked up to the box office at the Palestra this morning and bought tickets at the going price. Those ducats entitled us to seats in the 12th row just off midcourt. Others must have been intrigued, or enticed,  by the pre-noon tip-off. Decent turnout from both schools, including pep bands and cheerleading squads. More than 7300 fans in attendance. And for the day and evening, more than 30,000 fans in Philadelphia will have watched one of three college basketball games. Removes any doubt over whether this city is still a college basketball town.  Other than Syracuse, I'm hard-pressed to name any other city in the US where 30,000 people will watch college basketball over the course of a day.
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Turnover free game, only 14 combined   20 assists for the Owls, and only 8 turnovers. Ramone Moore had an extraordinary floor game, recording 8 assists without a single turnover. Lavoy Allen has now recorded back-to-back double-doubles. The Owls never trailed in the game.
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Spread was 16. Final margin was 18. Oddsmakers right on it again.
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From comments overheard during the game, the St. Joe's faithful are losing patience with Coach Martelli. A talented group of freshmen were on the floor for the Hawks, but they're likely two seasons away from having a large impact.
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Couple of interesting ways to follow Temple basketball. On Twitter, @Owlified and @OwlScoop_com often will provide a running commentary during the game. And  there are several live bloggers. Look at the right-hand side of this blog for other blogs you might like to follow. There's a larger community of Temple hoops fans than I realized.

No D for X

The tweet from OwlScoop following yesterday's nationally televised game best recapped the preceding two hours:  "Good shooting, awful transition D, mental lapses, and Allen is still MIA."
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If you were unaware of the outcome of yesterday's Temple-Xavier matchup, and were told that the Owls  recorded 20 assists against 9 turnovers, and made 11 three-point shots (a season high), surely you would have expected a Temple victory. Yet the Owls lost by 11.  In the last 15 minutes of the game, Lavoy Allen, Juan Fernandez, and Ramone Moore did NOT score a basket. And Xavier was the first opponent this season to make more than half of its shots. 'Nuff said.  Scootie Randall had a breakout game (career high 28 points) and Khalif Wyatt posted another solid  performance.
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Not sure what this says, but Temple has lost 80% of the time this season (1-4) when recording 10 or less free throws made.  This stat is courtesy of  templefight.com , a web site worth visiting if you appreciate rich detail about all things Owl basketball.
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I had a good feeling going into yesterday's game. Earlier in the day, Villanova was impressive in a win over #3 ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, and my beloved Liverpool Football Club won its first game under its new coach. The trifecta wasn't meant to be, I guess. And congratulations to Penn, who broke their four-year winless streak against Big Five opponents.
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Onto Wednesday night, when the Owls return home to face Charlotte, in search of their 17th consecutive home victory.

Penn's First Visit to Liacouras Center without Dunphy as Coach

January 23,2008
Not a whole lot to comment on last night's game - the Penn Quakers were just plain overmatched. They're weak, which perhaps speaks volumes about Fran Dunphy's coaching and recruiting capabilities - Penn's squad has fallen mightily since Dunphy left for North Broad St. To keep last night's result in perspective, St. Joe's (the Owls' next opponent) trounced Penn by 40 points. Nonetheless, the Owls now have (for the first time this season) more wins than losses.

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Returning to the TPC basketball key indicator for a moment - the Owls had almost twice as many assists (19) as turnovers (11) last night. Enough said (for now)on key indicators.

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On to some historical items (last night's game was pretty much in hand from the beginning, with the Owls jumping off to a 14-1 lead, so we occupied ourselves with some reminiscing about the good ole days for Temple Basketball). Those days were long ago - Temple has not been in the NCAA tournament since 2001, and that year was also the last time Temple won at least 20 games in a season, and the last time an Owl squad was ranked in the top 25.

And, has it really been nearly 8 years since Pepe Sanchez graduated? His senior year the Owls went 27-6, including a win over the then #1 ranked team Cincinnati, only to lose in the second round of the NCAA tournament to a mediocre Seton Hall team, a game that will be remembered most notably as the last time Scott Matlack hosted a party at his home to watch the Owls. Not that any of us are superstitious. As for Nick Scull, he became an Owl loyalist way back on March 26, 2002, when he and I took a train up to Madison Square Garden to watch the Owls in a semifinal NIT game. Temple lost to 78-77 to Memphis, in a game so exciting that Nick has now become a regular-season ticket holder. Speaking of Pepe, the last time any of us recall a celebration on Broad Street was November 20, 1998, when Pepe made three foul shots in the final seconds of the game to beat then #5 Michigan St.60-59. The Liacouras Center (some of you may recall that it was named the Apollo at Temple at that time) was full (10,000 plus) of fans for that game, many of whom ran onto the court at the end of the game, and many others carried the celebration onto Broad Street, blocking traffic in BOTH directions, and causing a scene which hasn't been seen since.

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By the way, last night's crowd (announced as 5233 but it sure seemed smaller) was the second-largest of this season  at the Liacouras Center.  At least there haven't been any lines at the beer concession, where Peggy has dutifully, and cheerfully, served us regularly.

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Last night, prior to tip-off,  Dionte Christmas was given a ball to commemorate his scoring the 1000th point of his career. Christmas is a junior, prompting a discussion of who is the leading scorer in Temple's history, and how many points did he have?  And, what is the single-season scoring record at Temple?  Mark Macon (no surprise here) had 2,609 points in his career. Dionte Christmas is not yet in the top 25, but surely will be in his senior year. Hal Lear holds the single-season record (745 in 1955-56) - just for the record, Dionte Christmas had exactly 600 points last season. Eddie Jones, a 10 plus year veteran of the NBA and surely one of the best Owl players in history (Scott mentioned last night that Jones was the best Temple player of the last 20 years), never scored 600 points in a season at Temple.

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Chronicowls '11, Post 6 (Temple-St. Bonaventure)

Lots of positives. First half may have been the finest Temple has played this season. Made better than 60% of shots from the field. Made 7 three-pointers, out of 12 attempted. And made every foul shot. Twice as many assists (18) as turnovers (9). Ramone Moore scored 13 points in the closing five minutes of the first half. -----------------------
St. Bonaventure never had the lead. At one point around the middle of the first half, Temple's lead had been cut to one, 20-19. Temple's defense limited the Bonnies to one basket over the next six minutes, the Bonnies, The Owls then went one of their characteristic runs, outscoring the Bonnies 29-9 to take a 21-point lead at intermission.Khalif Wyatt had an outstanding game. 15 points, six assists, and but one turnover. We've become familiar with his love for shooting, last night he showed the small gathering at the Liacouras Center that he has playmaking skills as well. Five players scored in double figures. Balanced scoring once again. It's a team strength.
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When the Owls score 72 points, every ticket-holder wins a taco from Qdoba. This game was the fourth this season that the fans had earned a taco. The milestone was reached earliest in last night's game, as with 12 minutes remaining, the Owls scored their 72nd point of the evening. Those who left early because the outcome had been determined didn't miss much.The reserves had playing time, and made much of it (at least on defense). St. Bonaventure did not record a basket over the final 7 minutes of the game. Not that the Owls were doing much better, registering just one field goal in that span.
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3213 fans in attendance last night. Is there another top 25 team that draws as poorly? I just don't understand the apathy. Philadelphia, after all, is supposed to be a college basketball town. Last night was a busy night for the Big Five schools. All were in action, with St. Joe's the only school playing out of town. The Penn-LaSalle matchup at Gola Arena attracted fewer than 2000 fans. Villanova drew more than 13,000 to its game at the Wells Fargo Center.
The small crowd meant short or no lines. At the concession stands, rest rooms, and exiting the parking garage.Some consolation.
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Halfway through the season. 12-3 mark. Losses to a #9 ranked team (at Villanova) , to Texas A&M (that loss doesn't look so bad now, as Texas A&M has won 12 in a row and is ranked in the top 20) and California (that remains a bad loss). One game remaining against a ranked team (Duke). And wins against two currently ranked teams - Georgetown and Georgia. Defense has been key to Temple's success. Opponents have averaged fewer than 60 points per game, ranking Temple among the top 25 among the nation's 300 plus Division 1 schools in that category. After averaging a double-double last year (first Temple player in 40 years to do so), Lavoy Allen has had but two games thus far in which he has recorded a double-double. Fans expected more. And the Owls three-point shooting has been erratic. Last night's nine three-pointers was their second highest of the season, and it was only the fourth game they made more than five. But to keep proper perspective, 12 wins out of 15, against a difficult schedule, is more than respectable. It's impressive.
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The Comcast network will be televising next Temple game, noon on Saturday, from Pittsburgh, where the Owls will be headed for a game against Duquesne. Temple has a single game scheduled at the Palestra this season. It's January 29, against St. Joe's. The Hawks are the home team. What's unusual is morning tip-off (11am). Don't recall one of those before. Temple did have a midnight game several years back, against Villanova, at the Liacouras Center.
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The A-10 is weak this year. In the RPI rankings, Xavier is the only school besides Temple in the top 50. Temple sits today at number 20. In fact, Temple has but 6 games left against schools that are presently in the top 100 of the RPI rankings.