Temple University Athletics
Temple University
Saint Louis
Temple Heads To Saint Louis For Wednesday Showdown
1.9.12 | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
ST. LOUIS - After seeing its record 25-game home win streak come to an end Saturday in a loss to Dayton, the Temple men's basketball team travels to one of the Atlantic 10 Conference's toughest venues, Chaifetz Arena, to take one of the league's best teams this season, the Saint Louis Billikens Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET). The game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network and can be heard on the radio at 1210 AM WPHT.
The Owls (10-4, 0-1 A10), under the direction of sixth-year head coach Fran Dunphy, will be trying to avoid starting the conference season with consecutive losses since the 2005-06 campaign. Temple also will be looking to keep alive a streak of not losing in back-to-back games. That last time the Owls fell in two straight contests was Feb. 26 & 28, 2009, 89 games ago.
Senior guard Ramone Moore continues to lead the Owls and ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with a 16.9 scoring average. The Philadelphia native also tops the league in minutes per game (37.1 mpg.) while dishing 3.6 assists per game.
Junior guard Khalif Wyatt, who earned his first A10 Player of the Week honor Monday, tops the Owls in steals (2.0 spg., 5th A10) while ranking second in scoring (15.8 ppg., 7th A10). Senior guard Juan Fernandez, one of the A10's top three-point shooters (35-86, .407), rounds out Temple's three double figure scorers with a 12.6 average. He also tops TU in assists with 59.
Junior forwards Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (9.6 ppg., 6.7 rpg.) and redshirt freshman Anthony Lee (5.8 ppg., 6.6 rpg.) have done a remarkable job in the front court while graduate center Micheal Eric (10.5 ppg., 11.3 rpg.) recovers from a patella injury. Hollis-Jefferson leads the Owls and ranks fifth in the A10 in field goal percentage (.609) while Lee lead the squad in blocked shots (21).
Sophomore Aaron Brown, who has scored in double figures in five of the last nine games, continues to be an offensive spark off the bench (7.9 ppg.) while redshirt junior T.J. DiLeo (2.9 ppg.) and freshman Will Cummings (2.5 ppg.) round out the eight-man rotation.
Saint Louis (13-3, 1-1 A10), under the direction of fifth-year coach Rick Majerus, sports a balanced offensive attack and the nation's fifth-ranked scoring defense (54.8 ppg.). Senior forward Brian Conklin leads the team in scoring with 14.7 average and is making 60.4 percent of his field goal attempts. Junior forward Cody Ellis (11.8 ppg.) and junior guard Kwamain Mitchell (11.4 ppg.) also average double figures for the Billikens.
Temple has won the last five meetings and leads the series, 5-1.
