Dunphy's 1st Win at Temple Against Top 20 Team (Xavier)

January 16, 2008

Maybe, just maybe, last night we saw the start of a program turnaround. I do know that we saw a spectacular performance last night against a top 20 team that Temple made look ordinary.As if to underscore my comments last week after the Duke game, the Owls last night had TWICE as many assists to turnovers, 21-11. That, coupled with strong defense with which  even coach Chaney would have been pleased, accounted for the strong performance and resounding victory.

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Too bad there were only 4000 fans to witness it (we did our part, we gathered a larger than usual contingent  for the evening that included a pre-game meal and adult beverages at McCrossan Tavern in Fairmount) but to be totally fair about the size of the crowd  the Temple students are still on holiday break.

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The Owls also had balanced scoring, four players scoring in double figures. While Sergio did not score double figures, he had TEN rebounds and FOUR blocked shots in his most impressive performance of his Temple career. I don't know what he did differently last night (he stayed out of foul trouble as well)  but I hope that Dunphy does, and coaches him to many repeat performances.

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The Owls next home game is a Big Five matchup next Wednesday against Penn. In between, the Owls travel to the Gateway to the West to meet the St. Louis University Billikens(should be a win, but the Owls don't play well on the road).   By the way, who knows what a Billiken is?   Hint, it's not  a dog, it is one of the truly unique mascots in college athletics, and it's  a symbol of good luck.