Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL TO TAKE ON RUTGERS WEDNESDAY
11.29.05 | Men's Basketball
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Temple travels up the Jersey Turnpike to take on Big East rival Rutgers at the Louis Brown Athletic Complex Wednesday night (7:30 p.m.). The Owls are fresh off a 73-56 win over visiting Miami (FL) Sunday and will look to open the season at 3-1 for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. Rutgers boasts a 3-1 record, falling to #14/15 Illinois, 77-57, in the championship of the South Padre Island Invitational Saturday.
Hall of Fame coach John Chaney's Owls are led by senior All-America Candidate Mardy Collins. The 6-6 guard leads the team in scoring (17.3 ppg.), rebounding 5.3 rpg.), assist (12) and steals (8). Sophomore guard Mark Tyndale (10.3 ppg.), senior forward Antywane Robinson (9.7 ppg.) and junior guard Dustin Salisbery (9.7 ppg.) provide the Owls with a balanced attack.
Temple has committed a mere 13 turnovers over its first three contests for an average of 4.3 per game. On the flipside, the Owls defense has made 30 steals while forcing 45 opponent miscues. The team's three-point shooting has also seen marked improvement. Temple has connected on 25 of 59 three-pointers (42.4%) compared with 183 of 666 (27.5%) from 2004-05.
Rutgers head coach Gary Waters owns a perfect 3-0 mark against Temple in his four seasons at the helm of the Scarlet Knights. The two teams last met on March 17, 2004 in a first round NIT game at Rutgers with the Scarlet Knight advancing on the strength of a 76-71 win. It was the second home win of that season versus the Owls.
Junior guard Quincy Douby leads RU with a 17.3 scoring average. Freshman forward J.R. Inman has made an immediate impact, tallying 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per outing. Rutgers is out-rebounding its opponents by a +7.8 average which may present a problem for a Temple team that has been out-rebounded by 9.7 rebounds per game over its first three games.
