Temple University Athletics
OWLS EARN FIRST WIN AT XAVIER, 69-54
1.22.05 | Men's Basketball
CINCINNATI, OHIO -- Hall of Fame coach John Chaney's birthday was on Friday. He did not want anything special; in fact, he tried his best to keep it a secret. His Owls, however, surprised him with a very nice present, an impressive 69-54 win over Xavier at the Cintas Center in front of a national television audience. The win, the first by a Temple team over Xavier (8-7, 2-3) in Cincinnati, keeps Temple (8-7, 4-0) perfect in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Junior Mardy Collins paced the Owls with 22 points and freshman Mark Tyndale added 21 points. Sophomore Dustin Salisbery scored all 13 of his points in the first half as the Cherry and White's three guard attack accounted for 56 of the team's 69 points.
"It is significant in itself that we can come in and play a team in their own house and win," said Chaney. "The only thing we are asking our kids is when we come into these hotbeds that they show a lot of poise, a lot of patience and don't get riled up."
Temple also connected on 24 of its 44 shots from the field, topping the 50 percent mark (54.4%) in a game for the first time in nearly two years (2/1/03 vs. St. Bonaventure). All three guards hit 50 percent or better with Salisbery (3-5) and Collins (3-6) accomplishing that from behind the arc as well.
The Owls were able to get to the free throw line (14-21) against the Musketeers, which employed a man-to-man pressure defense. Tyndale (9-12 from line) was the biggest beneficiary there, getting fouled on three three-point attempts.
It was Temple's defense, however, that gave first-year Xavier coach Sean Miller and his charges fits all afternoon. The Owls kept the Musketeers at bay, forcing them into long range three-point attempts. Xavier hit only nine of 36 from behind the arc (25%), and just 20 of 63 overall (31.7%).
Xavier's top two scorers entering the game, junior Brian Thornton and sophomore Justin Doellman, were held to just eight combined points. Doellman, the team's top three-point shooter (27-71, 38%), connected on just 1-of-10 from the floor (1-6 3PT) for a season-low three points. Thornton, who attempted just four shots as the Owls' zone shut down the inside game, tied his season-low with five points.
Temple led for all but two minutes and 45 seconds of the contest, and took the lead for good on a Collins lay-up at the 7:04 mark of the first half. That was started a six-point run that gave Temple a 21-16 advantage with 5:27 to play. A three-pointer by Justin Cage (16 points) cut the margin to two points, but then Salisbery drained two long range threes to jumpstart an 11-2 run, making the score 32-23. The Owls would close out the half up 35-27.
The Owls came out of the gates quickly in the second half scoring the first six points, the final two on an emphatic tomahawk slam by Collins off an assist from Antywane Robinson. Xavier scored the next seven points to cut the deficit to seven (41-34) with 14:39 to play, but the Owls answered with seven straight themselves, six by Tyndale, to bring the lead back to 14 points (48-34, 12:02).
Xavier, now 60-10 all-time at the Cintas Center (29-6 in A-10 games), never cut the lead under nine points the remainder of the game.
Besides leading the team in scoring, Collins topped the Owls with eight rebounds and now leads the squad with a 5.3 average.
Wayne Marshall, who saw his three-game double-figure streak end (3 points), received three stitches after the game above his right eye due to a Thornton elbow. He had received four stitches to close a cut above his left eye at Maryland.
The Owls next play at Fordham on Wednesday (7:00 p.m./WPHT 1210 AM) before completing their three-game road trip at St. Bonaventure on January 29.
