Temple University Athletics
TEMPLE USES 14-0 LATE RUN TO KNOCK OFF #18 MARYLAND, 91-85
1.28.06 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA--It is not often that a John Chaney coached team allows 85 points and comes away with a victory. But Saturday at the Liacouras Center, the Owls matched #18 Maryland shot for shot and used a 14-0 run late in the second half to upset the Terrapins, 91-85, before a raucous near sellout crowd of 10,025. Senior Mardy Collins had his second straight All-American type performance, scoring 25 points and dishing a career-high 12 assists to give Temple its second win over a ranked opponent this season.
"I think it's the biggest win we've had since I've been here," Collins said. "We did everything I think Coach wanted us to do."
The Cherry and White (11-7) offense was the big story for the second straight contest. Junior Dustin Salisbery scored 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting and continued to score in bunches in Owl victories. Coupled with an 81-79 win over Xavier on Wednesday, it is the first time that TU scored 80+ points in consecutive games since late in 2002-03. That season, Temple defeated Fordham (99-77) and Massachusetts (88-46) on February 23 and 26.
"We gave up a lot of points to a Temple team that hasn't been scoring that much," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. Williams remains tied with Lefty Driesell for the most wins in program history (348).
Maryland (14-5) took its final lead on a layup by Nik Caner-Medley to go ahead 67-64 with 6:22 to play. Junior Wayne Marshall, who scored nine points in just 14 minutes due to foul trouble, connected on two straight buckets in the paint, including a soft hook from the baseline. A three from Salisbery and two foul shots from sophomore Mark Tyndale (14 points, 10 rebounds) put the hosts up 73-67 with 4:25 remaining.
Senior Antywane Robinson (11 points) then deposited a three-pointer right in front of the Temple bench that even Chaney gave a fist-pump to. The three-pointer extended the lead to nine points and brought an already excited crowd to its feet. A Collins' jumper finished the run seconds later, giving the Owls a 78-67 lead with just under three minutes to play.
The Terps fouled and hoisted threes late, cutting the deficit to seven on three separate occasions in the final 1:06 but Temple, which struggled from the charity stripe for most of the game, made 9-for-12 down the stretch to secure the victory. Maryland shot 53% for the contest but was plagued by 20 turnovers.
Last season, Maryland used offensive explosions from Caner-Medley and Mike Jones to hold off the Owls in College Park, 80-69. The two again were hot, as Caner-Medley scored 30 and Jones added 23, and combined to stroke 11 of the team's 12 three-point baskets. Jones was the main threat early on, scoring 15 of Maryland's 19 points over the first 6:40 of the game.
"We just didn't cover Caner-Medley and Jones," Chaney said. "They're two pros."
Temple, though, was too much of a force on the offensive end. Just seven days removed from one of their worst showings under Chaney, the Owls were patient on the offensive end and according to their Hall of Fame head coach, Collins was the reason why.
"Mardy did a tremendous job of being calm and poised in handling the pressure," Chaney said. "He made sure the guys were doing the things they were supposed to do."
The senior, who struggled early on in the season, has averaged 18.5 ppg. and 5.0 apg. in the past six games. It is no coincidence that Temple has been victorious in five of those contests.
Temple wraps up a season-long three-game home stand by hosting Massachusetts on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CN8. The Cherry and White are now 7-1 at the Liacouras Center, including a perfect 6-0 when students are in session.
