Temple University Athletics
Temple To Face Michigan State In NCAA First Round Game In Denver On Thursday
3.16.08 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Temple will meet Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on Thursday. The Owls, who won the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday with a 69-64 victory over Saint Joseph's, received the #12 seed in the South Region and take on the fifth-seeded Spartans (25-8). The two teams last met in the 2001 Elite Eight in Temple's last NCAA appearance seven years ago. Game time is 12:30 PM (EDT).
The Cherry and White (21-12) enters its 26th NCAA Tournament riding a seven-game winning streak and is led by the one-two punch of junior Dionte Christmas and senior Mark Tyndale. Christmas, the Atlantic 10 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, leads the conference in scoring (20.2 ppg.), while Tyndale (15.9 ppg.) leads the team in assists (141), rebounding (7.2 rpg.), and steals (52).
Second-year head coach Fran Dunphy, who is making his 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, also received strong contributions down the stretch from senior Chris Clark, junior Sergio Olmos and sophomore Ryan Brooks.
Clark averaged 11.7 ppg. in three A-10 Tournament games, while Brooks' 15 points in the conference championship game helped TU to its record seventh A-10 Championship. Olmos stepped up his game down the stretch and is averaging 5.8 ppg. and 3.7 rpg. Freshman Lavoy Allen chips in with 8.0 ppg. and 5.5 rpg.
Michigan State, ranked #19 by the Associated Press, fell in the Big Ten semifinals to Wisconsin, 65-63, on Saturday. The Spartans, coached by 13th-year head coach Tom Izzo, are led by first team all-league point guard Drew Neitzel (14.2 ppg.). Raymar Morgan leads the team in scoring at 14.5 ppg.
The matchup with MSU is just one of a few similarities between this season and the 2000-01 Temple campaign. The Spartans ended the Owls' season in the South Region Final with a 69-62 victory at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. That Temple team also won seven straight games to capture the Atlantic 10 Championship and entered the NCAA Tournament with an identical 21-12 record.
Big East Champion Pittsburgh (26-9) received a four-seed in the South Region and will meet Summit League Champion Oral Roberts (24-8), the #13 seed in Denver.
