Chronicowls '12 Temple-Duquesne

A standout shooting performance overcame a slow start to lead the Cherry and White hoopsters to their 10th consecutive victory, and 21st of the season. The Owls took two-and-a-half minutes to score their first basket, and  five minutes into the game the score was tied at 4-4. In the next ten minutes, the Owls scored 30 points, to take a decisive 34-22 lead. Juan Fernandez contributed 14 points during that span, 20 points overall, and logged 6 assists with but one turnover for the game. Temple shot 57% from the field, 52% from beyond the three-point arc, and 80% from the free throw stripe.
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Temple fans must prefer games on Saturday afternoon  over Saturday night. Yesterday's crowd of nearly 10,000 was greater than the crowd last Saturday night for the Xavier game. Hooter's Birthday Party couldn't have been the draw. There's a tradition that should be retired. Along with the "special" Simon Says game during half-time that involves some twenty mascots (they're not just team mascots any longer, now there are appearances by product mascots, like the J&J soft pretzel)
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Khalif Wyatt has perfected a move to the basket that looks awkward to me yet is very effective (Wyatt led all Temple scorers in this game, and is second for the season). Just this past week did a knowledgeable basketball fan inform me that Wyatt's move has a name (the Eurostep), it was introduced to the NBA by Manu Ginobli, and it has been adopted by several NBA stars, among them Dwayne Wade. Let the New York Times describe it:

 "Players in the NBA. now often showcase the Eurostep, a move in which a player drives past a defender by stepping one way and then quickly taking a big lateral step in the other direction. The move is a crafty way to distribute the two steps allocated to a player after he stops dribbling, and it goes right to the edge of being a traveling violation."      

All along I'm thinking that Wyatt's move is awkward, and actually he's being crafty. Keep it up, Khalif.
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There have many keys to Temple's success this season. Unquestionably, one of them has been the Owls' assist-to-turnover ratio. Their ratio of 1.27 places them 22nd in the nation (among 343 schools). Yesterday's game was their sixth of the season in which the Owls had at least 20 assists. Ramone Moore scored just three points, but he had a career-high 8 assists. Fernandez is now 7th in assists on the all-time Temple list.
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Temple is now ranked (for the first time this season) in the Top 25 poll, and stands at #16 in the all-important RPI rankings. And the Owls are 10-3 against top 100 teams.Two huge games on the road this week, against intracity rivals and top 100 teams LaSalle and St. Joe's. I expect both to be sellouts. FINAL home game, leap night, against UMass.
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Maxi's, right in the hear of Temple's campus, was the pre-game meeting spot. One of the few places left where one can find a juke box. And it has among its selections George Thorogood's 1977 recording of the classic "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".
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Temple scarves are everywhere, including the shoulders of Shellie Straub, former nationally ranked squash player, who was a Temple fan Saturday (and we hope from hereon) and joined the gathering at Maxi's.

Letter to Temple

Chronicowls '12 Temple-Duke. I believe that we have won!

Last evening's game left me searching for words. So I'll let others do the talking.

What a great night for Temple, Philly basketball, and Fran Dunphy.  The mayor joined in with this tweet:

@Michael_Nutter: Congratulations #TempleU Owls on a HUGE win tonight! We're all so proud of you.

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Hollis-Jefferson contributed a season high 17 points on seven-of-10 shooting while grabbing six rebounds. Lee, a freshman, had his best game as an Owl, scoring 11 points, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and rejecting a game-high three shots.

The duo led the Cherry and White to an improbable 32-29 rebound advantage.

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For the fourth consecutive season, Temple has defeated a top 10 team. As one tweet put it, #TUMBB=giantkillers.

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Temple fan and Chronicowls contributor Scott Matlack said before the game that the Owls would prevail if they shot well. And that they did, 56% from the field, and 50% from beyond the three-point arc.  Their best shooting performance thus far in the season. It is the highest single-game field goal percentage for Temple in nearly two years. Only an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers (17) kept the Owls from closing out the Blue Devils earlier than they did.

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A Hollis-Jefferson jumper with 10:45 left in the first half gave Temple the lead. Duke never led in the game again.

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The Wells Fargo Center hosted the third-largest crowd for a college basketball game in its history. And while there were plenty of blue shirts in the crowd, the turnout of Temple fans, including the student body, was most impressive. In case you were wondering, the largest college basketball crowd  at Wells Fargo was in 2006 when 20,859 fans saw Villanova knock off #1 ranked Connecticut.

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Here are the Temple students rushing the court:

Here is the lucky Temple scarf, worn by Chronicowls blogger. Their purchase supports the Owls soccer team.Look for us at the Liacouras Center this Saturday - the scarves are available for purchase.

While Temple's win was the evening's highlight, it was quite the night for other Philly schools, as Penn, St. Joe's, LaSalle (impressive win over Xavier) and Drexel all emerged as victors.

And, here, let ESPN recap the Temple win for us.

A Look Back to 2009 Chronicowls

Last regular season home game last night. Last time we'll see Sergio and Semaj at the Liacouras Center. (I'm not going to count a NIT game if Temple should host one). And, of course, the last celebration at the Liacouras Center of Five Months of Christmas.
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Last night's game drew the largest crowd of the season (just a little more than 9300). We figured the crowd would be a large one when at 7pm we came to a traffic standstill FOUR blocks from the Liacouras Center. There was even a line waiting to get IN the parking garage. Can't begin to imagine what the line was like getting OUT. We made sure we wouldn't find out - we parked on the street near 17th and Berks.
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Lines of traffic were hardly the last lines we encountered. The beer lines were exceptionally long. We did convey our best wishes to Peg, who has dutifully staffed the Yuengling kiosk near the lobby for at least two seasons, and perhaps more. She's graduating from Temple this spring with a degree in Nursing. We're confident she'll do well as she ventures out into the world after college (our health care system surely needs more nurses). Lines for the rest rooms were plenty long as well.
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In an evening full of "last times", there were several "first times". One of the regular halftime activities is a contest where a Temple student has 60 seconds to sink a basket from half-court. Of course, most have difficulty hitting the rim. Last night's contestant was sharp. His first six tosses each hit the rim, one going in-and-out. His seventh was an air ball. His eighth went IN! FIRST time I've seen that shot made since the Liacouras Center opened more than a decade ago. For his accomplishment, he won $5000 toward the first year lease of a Toyota. Another halftime contest involved two students rolling across the floor to furl themselves in a shroud, then unfurling themselves by rolling back across the floor, and having completed that inane activity, grabbing a basketball, dribbling down the court, and making a layup. I didn't notice what the student who scored first won for this prodigious feat, nor what company sponsored this event. I do know this was the FIRST time I saw this event, and I expect(and hope) it will be the LAST. I much prefer the halftime entertainment where two students encased in a styrofoam Dunkin' Donuts cup (shaped like a vest so that the contestants can use their arms to dribble and shoot the ball) race down the court to see who'll be first to make a layup and foul shot.
Another FIRST last night - the winning raffle number was announced precisely when we were advised the announcement would be made - at halftime. Took all season but finally somebody got it right.
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The Diamond Gems were in fine form last night,as was the Pep Band, which turned out, ,along with the Wild Cherry student section, in larger-than-usual numbers.
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The seniors stood out last night on Senior Night. Christmas and Olmos were the two leading scorers, and Inge had a solid night, collecting 9 points, 4 steals, 2 blocks, while committing only one turnover. The Owls had a strong 1.6 assist/turnover ratio, committing only ten turnovers for the game. Fernandez had a steady floor game, putting up 5 assists and but 1 turnover. For context, consider that a 1.6 ratio for the season would have the Owls second in the country (as it is, their 1.2 ratio going into last night's game placed them at 34th -out of more than 300). Temple does lead the A-10 conference in assist/turnover ratio. Olmos is the first tall player in many, many years to steadily improve during his career at Temple. I think that speaks to Dunphy's coaching abilities (and that of his staff) . Temple's defense has improved considerably over the season (and it is now the top-ranked defense in the conference), another testament to the coaching staff.
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While any win over St. Joe's is to be savored, this year's Hawk squad is mediocre. "Take away Nivins, and you've got Fordham" is how one of the neighboring fans put it last night. The Hawks went through an 8 minute stretch last night without a basket. What was disappointing was that the Owls built but an 11-point lead during that period, and of course St. Joe's came back to cut the deficit to 2. That was as close as the Hawks were to get.
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It's been a good home season, 9 up, and just 2 down. Those two losses(Miami, Ohio and LaSalle) likely cost the Owls an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. Now, the Owls must repeat last year's A-10 conference tournament championship to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Last night's win earned Temple a bye in next week's tournament in Atlantic City.
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The oddsmakers were right on again last night. Temple was favored by 8. With four and a half minutes left in the game, Temple was
ahead by 8. Sergio Olmos' foul shot with 10 seconds left in the game gave the Owls their final winning margin of 9.
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Likely, this is the final Chronicowls post of the season. I've enjoyed writing, and from your comments, I take it that most of you have enjoyed reading the posts. And in ways small and large, those of you who have joined me at the games have provided spark, inspiration, and insights that have found their way into these posts.

FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT
FOR THE CHERRY AND WHITE