Temple University Athletics
Temple To Open Atlantic 10 Play At Xavier
1.4.07 | Men's Basketball
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Jan. 4, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Temple opens its Atlantic 10 Conference season in one of the league's toughest venues - The Cintas Center - when the Owls travel to Cincinnati to take on Xavier Saturday (7:00 p.m. /Comcast SportsNet). Xavier owns an 82-15 (84.5%) record in the building's seven-season history, including a 6-1 mark in 2006-07. The Owls are 1-2 in the arena, winning the last meeting there, 69-54, on January 22, 2005.
Xavier (10-4) falls in the middle of a killer five-game stretch for Temple (6-6). The Owls began the grind with road losses to Villanova (83-65, 12/30) and #5 Duke (73-55, 1/2) and will conclude it with a home game against rival Saint Joseph's (1/10) and at UMass (1/13). Temple is 17-7 in Atlantic 10 Conference openers and 9-3 when opening conference play on the road.
Sophomore guard Dionte Christmas continues to lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring with a 20.3 average. The Philadelphia native has scored in double figures in all 12 games, including a Conference-best nine 20-point outings. Christmas is joined in double-figure scoring by fellow Owl guards Mark Tyndale (13.8 ppg.) and Dustin Salisbery (16.8 ppg.). Senior forward Dion Dacons, who suffered a sprained right foot at Villanova, leads the Owls and ranks ninth in the A-10 in rebounding with a 7.4 average. Dacons played 37 minutes at Duke, pulling down a team-high nine boards.
Xavier, under the direction of third-year coach Sean Miller, boasts a balanced scoring attack led by junior guard Stanley Burrell (12.0 ppg.). Junior forward Josh Duncan (11.6 ppg.) and senior forward Justin Doellman (10.6 ppg./6.4 rpg..) also average double figures while senior forward Justin Cage (9.6 ppg.) and junior guard Drew Lavender (7.5 ppg., 3.7 apg.) round out the starting five.
Temple leads the series, 9-7, and has won the last two meetings.
