Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL PREPARES FOR NEW YEARS EVE CITY SERIES SHOWDOWN AT VILLANOVA
12.30.02 | Men's Basketball
Tuesday's game will be televised on CN8. It is one of at least 21 Temple men's basketball games this season to be televised.
Although Temple won the most recent meeting with a 63-57 National Invitation Tournament victory at the Liacouras Center last season, the Wildcats have captured the last two Big Five contests - a 70-66 victory at the Palestra on Dec. 8 2001 and a 69-62 win at the Pavilion on Dec. 5, 2000. The last Temple city series victory came in a 69-66 decision at The Apollo on Dec. 15, 1999. Temple's last Big 5 title came during the 1999-00 season when the Owls shared honors with the Wildcats after posting 3-1 records in city series play. Villanova won the 2000-01 Big 5 title with a perfect 4-0 record.
Temple is coming off a 71-64 win against then No. 10 (AP) Indiana in a nationally televised game at the Liacouras Center last Saturday. The victory marked TU's first win over a top 10 opponent since a 75-54 victory over No. 8 Florida in a second round 2001 NCAA tournament contest. Alex Wesby scored 26 points and Antywane Robinson grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Owls in their first game following a two-week lay off. Temple attempted 14 more field goals than the Hoosiers while forcing 15 UI turnovers and making 13 steals. Hall of Fame head coach John Chaney was back to direct the Owls to victory after a two game hiatus. Chaney did not travel to Penn State (Dec.11) or Illinois (Dec. 14) due to a mild case of pneumonia which hospitalized him for three nights after a three-game road swing over four days in the Carolinas.
Wesby was named the Big 5 Player of the Week on Monday for his performance against Indiana.
Villanova is coming off a 68-53 win over America East member Binghamton last Friday at The Pavilion. Senior Gary Buchanan leads the Wildcats in the scoring column, averaging 14.4 ppg.
