Temple University Athletics
Temple To Host Saint Louis Wednesday
1.16.07 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Temple returns home to the Liacouras Center to host Saint Louis Wednesday night (7:00 p.m./WPHT 1210 AM). The Owls (6-9, 0-3) will look to snap a five-game losing streak and post their first Atlantic 10 Conference win against a tough Billiken squad. Saint Louis enters the contest with a 12-5 record (2-2 A-10) and fresh off a 76-65 victory over preseason A-10 favorite Xavier.
Four starters return from last season's 16-win club led by senior center Ian Vouyoukas. A 2006 first team all-conference selection, Vouyoukas (11.6 ppg.) ranks second in the league in blocked shots (2.35 bpg.) and third in rebounding (8.2 rpg.). Sophomore Tommie Liddell, the 2006 A-10 Rookie of the Year, tops fifth-year head coach Brad Soderberg's squad in scoring (15.8 ppg,) while averaging 7.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Kevin Lisch (13.9 ppg.) joins Liddell in the back court with the two combining for 62 three-pointers. Junior swingman Luke Meyer (9.8 ppg.) and junior guard Dwayne Polk (6.6 ppg.) round out the starters.
First-year Temple coach Fran Dunphy's squad is clearly the smallest in the conference. The Owls have utilized a four-guard set since the insertion of 6-5 junior guard Mark Tyndale (14.4 ppg.) into the starting lineup against Saint Joseph's last week. Dion Dacons, at 6-6, is the tallest Owl starter and leads the squad in rebounding with a 7.3 average. Sophomore guard Dionte Christmas continues to the lead the team in scoring (19.3 ppg.) while ranking second in the conference. Senior guard Dustin Salisbery ranks sixth in the A-10 with a 16.6 scoring average. Sophomore point guard Semaj Inge (5.0 ppg.) rounds out the starters while junior guard Chris Clark leads the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.21:1).
This will be just the second meeting between the teams with Saint Louis winning last year's contest, 56-51.
