MEN'S BASKETBALL HOPES TO MAKE HAWKINS' SENIOR DAY A SPECIAL ONE WITH WIN OVER XAVIER

PHILADELPHIA - It will be an emotional afternoon at the Liacouras Center when the Temple Owls play their final game of the 2003-04 regular season Saturday against Xavier (3:00 p.m./ESPN/ WPHT 1210 AM). One of the all-time Owl greats, David Hawkins, will be taking the floor for the final time. One of head coach John Chaney's favorite sons, Hawkins leaves the Temple program as one of only three 2000-point scorers in the school's history. He joined the elite club in the team's last game, a 98-92 double overtime victory over Massachusetts Wednesday. The 6-5 guard tallied a career-high 41 points in that contest, including 17 in the second overtime period.

Besides Hawkins, who leads the A-10 with a 24.3 scoring average, sophomore Mardy Collins also had a career night against UMass. The 6-6 guard scored a career-high 30 points in the contest, his 15th straight double-figure scoring game. Sophomore Keith Butler also came up big for Temple, scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds.

Xavier enters the game looking to bolster its case for an NCAA at-large bid. Led by senior guards Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers, both sporting identical 15.9 scoring averages, the Musketeers have won eight of their last nine outings. XU, currently tied with Richmond for third in the A-10 West Division, could finish the season as the number three seed in the conference tournament with a win and a Richmond loss to UMass. If there is a three-way tie between George Washington, Richmond and Xavier, the order would be Richmond (#2), Xavier (#3) and George Washington (#4).

Temple leads the series, 7-6. The teams split two meetings last year, XU winning at home and TU taking the game in the A-10 Tournament.

Temple University Athletics

MEN'S BASKETBALL HOPES TO MAKE HAWKINS' SENIOR DAY A SPECIAL ONE WITH WIN OVER XAVIER

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