Temple University Athletics
Temple Falls to No. 15 Villanova
12.29.08 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2008
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Corey Fisher scored eight straight points in the decisive run and finished with 23 to rally No. 15 Villanova (12-1) to its 23rd straight home win, 62-45 over Temple on Monday night.
The Owls (5-6) led at halftime and stretched it to 32-24 until completely falling apart from the floor. They went 11 1/2 minutes without a field goal and have lost three straight since beating then-No. 8 Tennessee.
Fisher and Scottie Reynolds put an end to Temple's lead, combining for four 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that helped Villanova match its longest winning streak at the Pavilion.
Villanova went 9-for-22 from the floor and the Owls were 9-for-28. If not for Dante Cunningham's 10 points in the first half for the Wildcats, the Owls might have been able to build a bigger lead.
Once the Wildcats got going from 3-point range, the gap quickly widened.
Reynolds hit a 3 - only the third in 12 attempts for Villanova - and Fisher hit one on each of the next possessions for a 33-32 lead. A pair of free throws gave Fisher eight straight points and Reynolds capped the shutout spurt with another 3-pointer that made it 38-32.
Two-time Atlantic 10 scoring champion Dionte Christmas was limited to 13 points, well off his season average of 20.8. Christmas sank his first two shots, then missed 15 of his next 16 from the floor.
Lavoy Allen's layup with 14:34 gave the Owls a 32-24 lead, but they did not score another basket until Luis Guzman made a layup at the 3:15 mark with Temple trailing by nine.
The Owls routed the Volunteers only two weeks ago, followed by a respectable showing in an 11-point loss at defending national champion Kansas and a loss at Long Beach State.
