Temple University Athletics
Streak Goes To A Dozen As Owls Sweep Past St. Bonaventure, 75-58
2.24.00 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA (AP) (February 24) -- Temple coach John Chaney watched his eighth-ranked
Owls win their 12th straight game Thursday, but he was not too
happy about it.
Chaney was upset with the way his team played defense. He thought three
turnovers on offense were three too many. Mostly, Chaney was furious
with
Pepe Sanchez.
The senior point guard had a career-high 13 assists for the Owls (21-4,
12-1 Atlantic 10) in a 75-58 victory over St. Bonaventure. But Sanchez
received a technical foul for taunting Eric Siegrist after his 13th
assist on a no-look, behind-the-back pass from the top of the key to
Lynn Greer, who
buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give Temple its biggest lead,
64-43 with 6:41 to play.
Chaney removed Sanchez from the game after the play. Sanchez, seemingly
upset, sat next to Chaney for a few minutes and then went to the end of
the bench.
``No player has the right to pick up a technical foul,'' the irate
Chaney said. ``He's done it every year. For some reason, a screw goes
off in his head.
I'm not going to try to figure it out because I'm not a psychiatrist.
I'm going to take him out every time and punish him.''
Sanchez and the rest of the Owls did not speak to reporters after the
game because Chaney closed the locker room.
``I don't think a team I've been emotionally charged with should have
to explain my attack on them,'' Chaney said.
Temple, which beat then-No. 1 Cincinnati 77-69 last Sunday, trailed
only once in the game and led by 15 at halftime. Quincy Wadley scored 17
points
and Lynn Greer added 14 to lead the Owls.
St. Bonaventure (16-8, 8-5) tried to confuse Temple by alternating
between zone and man-to-man defenses, but the Owls managed to hit
17-of-32
shots (53 percent) in the first half, including 5-of-12 3-pointers.
``They came out shooting the basketball, same as in Cincinnati,'' St.
Bonaventure coach Jim Baron said. ``They started from the perimeter
early then
they went inside. They have great, great balance.''
It was the 20th straight home victory for Temple. But Chaney wouldn't
say anything more than call it ``fair.''
``I wasn't too pleased with our perimeter defense,'' Chaney said.
The Bonnies nailed four consecutive 3-pointers in the second half to
close within 14 points after trailing by 21.
Chaney did have a few kind words about Sanchez's play despite blasting
his conduct.
``When a kid has 13 assists, that's the equivalent of 26 points,''
Chaney said. ``We can't worry about him scoring baskets. We worry about
him
distributing the ball. A point guard at Temple is different than other
places where point guards are supposed to score points.''
Sanchez, who is nursing a sore ankle, scored seven points.
Mark Karcher, coming off a 28-point performance against the Bearcats,
scored 11 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Lamont Barnes led the Owls with
seven rebounds as Temple won the battle on the boards 40-33.
Patricio Prato and David Messiah-Capers each scored 12 points for the
Bonnies, who shot 20-for-54 (37 percent). Temple finished 28-for-62 (45
percent), including 8-for-24 from 3-point-range.
The Owls, who improved to 36-5 against St. Bonaventure, fell out of the
top 25 after losing to the Bonnies 57-56 on Jan. 15.
``They had a lot more focus and energy, and Pepe is healthy,'' Baron
said. ``We tried to sag off Pepe. It helped sometimes and not other
times.
They're a top 10 basketball team and playing with a lot of
confidence.''
