Temple University Athletics
Men's Basketball To Play Defending NCAA Champion Kansas
4.24.08 | Men's Basketball
April 24, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - For the second consecutive season the Temple men's basketball team will play the defending NCAA Champion as the Owls have reached an agreement on a home-and-home series with the University of Kansas. Temple will travel to historic Allen Fieldhouse for a December 20, 2008 game to open the series with the Jayhawks playing the Owls in the 2009-10 season at the Wachovia Center.
"This is a great opportunity to play a series against one of the top programs in the nation," said second-year head coach Fran Dunphy. "It also allows us to bring a quality team to Philadelphia the following season."
Temple does bring one of the nation's premier teams to Philadelphia this season when the University of Tennessee, who earned its first #1 ranking in program history in 2007-08, plays at the Liacouras Center in 2008-09.
Kansas leads the series with Temple, 5-3, with the teams' last meeting on December 22, 1995. The Owls upset then #1-ranked Jayhawks with a 74-66 overtime win in the Jimmy V Classic played at the Meadowlands.
The Owls, who posted a 21-13 record this past season, return nine letterwinners from their 2008 Atlantic 10 Champion squad. Junior guard Dionte Christmas, the Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship, will look to become the first person to lead the conference in scoring in three straight seasons.
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