Temple University Athletics
Owls Defeat Lafayette, 73-47 in First Round of NCAA Tournament
3.17.00 | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)-- Temple easily won the matchup of
matchup zones with a big assist from Pepe Sanchez.
Sanchez had a career-high 15 assists as the second-seeded Owls beat
15th-seeded Lafayette 73-47 on March 17 in the opening round of the East
Regional of the
NCAA tournament.
Temple (27-5) will play 10th-seeded Seton Hall, which beat
seventh-seeded Oregon 72-71 in overtime, in Sunday's second round.
While Temple and Lafayette (24-7) both play the matchup zone - a 2-3
zone that involves a lot of man-to-man principles such as switching and
helping - the Owls
played it a lot tougher with their superior size and quickness. They
took a 38-20 halftime lead and pulled away throughout the second half.
It was the eighth time this season Temple held an opponent to 20 or
fewer points in the first half. The Owls are second in the nation in
scoring defense at 55.4
points per game and third in field-goal percentage defense at 36.3.
They improved both numbers Friday as Lafayette shot 36 percent
(18-for-50).
Sanchez, whose previous best was 14 assists this season against George
Washington, did not score, going 0-for-3 from the field. He made sure
others scored,
however, coming within one assist of the East Regional record set by
Sam Crawford of New Mexico State in 1993 in the first round against
Nebraska. The NCAA
tournament record is 18 by Mark Wade of UNLV in the 1987 national
semifinal game against Indiana.
Sanchez came out of the game after getting his final assist with 4:09
to play and Temple leading 67-45.
Quincy Wadley led Temple with 17 points, while Mark Karcher had 15,
Lynn Greer 13 and Kevin Lyde 12.
The victory was the 18th in the last 19 games for Temple, the Atlantic
10 regular-season and tournament champion.
This is Temple's 11th straight NCAA appearance and the 16th time it has
made it in coach John Chaney's 18 seasons.
It was Temple's 23rd straight victory over Lafayette, with the
Leopards' last win coming on Feb. 28, 1959.
Tyson Whitfield had 15 points and Brian Ehlers, the two-time conference
player of the year, added 13 for Lafayette.
The Leopards, who won the Patriot League tournament and shared the
regular-season title with Navy, had won nine straight games and 16 of
17. It was the
second straight NCAA appearance for the Leopards, who ended a 42-year
drought last season with a 75-54 first-round loss to Miami.
Temple is the last of the three Atlantic 10 teams remaining in the NCAA
tournament. Dayton and St. Bonaventure lost Thursday.
