Temple University Athletics
Temple To Face Arizona State In NCAA First Round On Friday
3.15.09 | Men's Basketball
March 15, 2009
NCAA March Madness On Demand - Watch Arizona State vs Temple Live Online!
PHILADELPHIA - Temple, seeded 11th in the South Region, will face sixth-seeded Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL on Friday. The Owls, who won their second straight and eighth Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday with a 69-64 win over Duquesne, will be making their 27th NCAA Tournament appearance. Game time is 2:45 p.m. ET
The Cherry and White (22-11) enters the tournament riding a five-game winning streak and is led by senior Dionte Christmas. The Philadelphia native was named the A-10 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second straight season, becoming just the second player in conference history to do so, and leads the conference in scoring (19.2 ppg.)
Third-year head coach Fran Dunphy, who is making his 11th NCAA Tournament appearance, also received strong contributions from senior Sergio Olmos (8.4 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) and junior Ryan Brooks (10.7 ppg.) in the A-10 Tournament. Both players were named to the all-tournament team after each scored 14 points in the win over Duquesne in the finals.
Sophomore Lavoy Allen leads the team in rebounding (8.9 rpg.) and is second in scoring (10.9 ppg.). He is joined in the starting lineup by senior Semaj Inge (7.1 ppg., team-high 118 assists).
Arizona State (24-9) lost in the Pac-10 finals to USC, 66-63, and is making its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2003. Conference player of the year James Harden, named a first-team All-American by Sporting News, CBSSports.com and FOXSports.com, leads the Sun Devils. He is averaging 20.8 ppg., 5.5 rpg. and 4.2 apg. for third-year head coach Herb Sendek.
Jeff Pendergraph is averaging 14.5 ppg. and shooting 66.5% from the field, while Rihards Kuksiks added 10.0 ppg.
ASU leads the all-time series with the Owls, 4-1. The teams last met on November 30, 2005 at the Liacouras Center with the Sun Devils winning, 65-62.
Third-seeded Syracuse will meet 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the other South Region matchup on Friday.
