Temple University Athletics
Temple Knocks Off #20 Xavier In Decisive Fashion, 78-59
1.16.08 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Temple posted its most decisive victory over a ranked opponent in seven years on Wednesday night with a 78-59 victory over #20 Xavier at the Liacouras Center. Junior Dionte Christmas became the 44th player to reach the 1,000-point milestone with his first basket of the contest, but was far from done on the evening, finishing with a game-high 23 points.
The last time the Owls defeated a ranked opponent by as large a margin was in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, when Temple handed #8 Florida a 75-54 loss to move on to the Sweet Sixteen. It was the first victory over a ranked team in head coach Fran Dunphy's tenure and the first for TU since a 68-53 win over #6 George Washington in the 2006 Atlantic 10 quarterfinals.
While it was Christmas who electrified the crowd with a second half performance that included three off-balance three-pointers and an acrobatic reverse layup, the Cherry and White received a balanced performance up-and-down the lineup.
Senior Mark Tyndale played a fine all-around game, scoring 22 points, grabbing eight boards and dishing a game-high seven assists (against two turnovers). His play often dictates the performance of his team and tonight, both were firing on all cylinders.
"I thought we played as good a basketball game as we can play--on both ends of the court," Dunphy said. "Mark and Dionte have to play like that for us to be a good basketball team."
Sophomore Luis Guzman scored a career-high 13 points, all in the first half, and hit three trifectas in the first five minutes to keep the Owls in the contest. Junior Sergio Olmos was a presence on the defensive end, pulling down a season-high 10 rebounds and blocking four shots.
He was in the lineup along with four guards (senior Chris Clark, sophomore Ryan Brooks, Tyndale and Christmas) when the Owls really broke the game open. Leading 50-48 with 11:56 to play, Temple scored the next 10 points, relying on the supporting cast of Clark, Brooks, and Olmos. The trio combined for all 10 points in the run, which was only a small part of a 21-7 spurt that proved to be the difference in the game.
Christmas, who took just four shots in the first half while admittedly trying to let the game come to him, exploded in the second half. In a six-minute stretch in the second half, the junior scored 14 points on four three-pointers and a reverse lay-up, turning a 34-31 Xavier lead with 18:20 to play into a 50-46 Temple advantage at the 12:17 mark. He shot 7-for-8 in the second half, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
The Owls were crisp on the offensive end of the floor, dishing 21 assists on 28 field goals. The 13 three-pointers and 21 assists were both season-highs.
"We were moving the basketball," Dunphy said. "When we had open looks, we were stepping up and making them."
Maybe more impressive than the offense, which shot 50.9% (28-for-55) from the field and 48.1% (13-for-27) from beyond the arc, was the defense. The Musketeers (14-4, 2-1 A-10) entered the game on a six-game winning streak, averaging 84.5 ppg. and shooting 53.0% from the field. They had outscored their opponents by an average of 25.3 ppg. during the stretch.
The Owls (7-8, 1-1) took Xavier out of their offense and held the visitors to just 38.6% shooting from the field and 30% from long range. XU's leading scorer, BJ Raymond, was held scoreless and shot 0-for-7 from the floor and missed all six of his three-point attempts. Drew Lavender nearly reached his season average with 11 points, but CJ Anderson, who came into the contest with an 11.6 scoring average, was held to two points.
"I thought we ran into a really good basketball team tonight," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "Dionte Christmas doesn't lead our conference in scoring because he can't play. He's a great scorer."
Derrick Brown led the Musketeers with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Coming off a brutal stretch that included losses to two-time defending champion Florida, #7/9 Duke and a nail-biting 60-58 loss at Charlotte on Saturday, the victory could prove to be a confidence builder for the team as it heads into the meat of the conference schedule.
Temple visits Saint Louis on Sunday for a 2 PM (EST) tip-off. The game will be broadcast by CSTV and aired locally on Comcast SportsNet.
