Temple University Athletics
Miami (OH) Spoils Owls' Home Opener With 68-52 Win
12.3.08 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Miami's Michael Bramos scored a season-high 26 points as the RedHawks spoiled Temple's home opener in a 68-52 victory on Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center. The visitors stifled senior All-America candidate Dionte Christmas, holding him to a season-low 11 points, and handed the Cherry and White its second straight-loss by a Mid-American Conference opponent. Senior Sergio Olmos led Temple with 12 points.
With sophomore Lavoy Allen limited to 16 minutes thanks to a thumb injury and Christmas having trouble finding his shot, the Owls struggled offensively, posting their lowest scoring total in head coach Fran Dunphy's tenure on North Broad Street. Similar to the defense employed by Michigan State in last year's NCAA Tournament, Christmas was played physically and was unable to break free of several disciplined RedHawk defenders. He scored nine of TU's first 11 points in the first 10 minutes, but was held to just two points the rest of the way.
"They obviously concentrated their efforts on him," Dunphy said. "They are a terrific defensive basketball team."
Allen received medical clearance to play right before the game, but appeared to be affected by his wrapped thumb. He scored five points and grabbed four rebounds in limited action.
"We wanted to give him a little bit of a look," Dunphy said. "I think 16 minutes might have been a few too many, but he gave us as good an effort as he could of."
While the Owls worked hard for open shots on offense, it was the defensive end that Dunphy was most disappointed about. Bramos connected on six threes, including several big shots to quell Temple rallies. Miami leading scorer and reigning MAC East Player of the Week Kenny Hayes added 17 and six assists.
Playing their sixth straight game to open the season, the RedHawks (3-3) were hardly impacted by a vocal TU student section, which enjoyed its first chance to cheer on the Cherry and White since last March. Miami's battle-tested road schedule proved worthwhile after close losses at #4 UCLA (64-59) and at #16 Xavier (60-53) gave the senior-laden squad plenty of experience in front of visiting crowds.
Temple, which last led at the 14:10 mark of the first half with an 8-6 advantage, drew as close as two points (36-34) on an Olmos lay-up five minutes into the second half. But Bramos and Hayes combined for nine points in an 11-3 run that gave Miami its first double-digit lead of the game at 47-37 with 10:16 to play.
TU would cut the deficit to four on a senior Semaj Inge three-point play and an Allen three, but would get no closer. MU scored 13 of the game's final 16 points to account for the final score.
Junior Ryan Brooks and Inge added nine points each for the Cherry and White (3-3).
Temple begins its toughest stretch of the season beginning on Saturday with a trip to Penn State at 6 PM. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and WPHT 1210 AM. The Owls then host #10 Tennessee on December 13, visit defending national champion Kansas (December 20) and Long Beach State (December 22), and take a trip to #16 Villanova on December 29.
"We're in the soup right now, and we need to figure out a way to get out of it," Dunphy said.
