Temple University Athletics
Temple University
21-5, (10-2A10)
Duquesne
15-11, (6-6A10)
Owls Cruise to 10th Straight Victory With Win Over Duquesne, 78-59
2.18.12 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA - Senior guard Juan Fernandez scored 20 points and dished six assists, including his 400th of his career, and junior guard Khalif Wyatt contributed a game-high 24 points to lead Temple to its 10th straight win, a 78-59 decision over Duquesne in front of 9,832 fans celebrating Hooter The Owl's Birthday at the Liacouras Center Saturday afternoon. The Owls improve to 21-5 overall and remain in first place in the Atlantic 10 with a 10-2 record. The Dukes fall to 15-11 and 6-6 in conference play.
Fernandez, who scored 20 points for the third time this season, became the seventh Temple player to reach 400 assists, and the sixth to also have tallied 1,000 points. The Argentine sharpshooter connected on a season-high six three-pointers in seven attempts and combined with Wyatt to ignite an Owl offense.
Senior guard Ramone Moore, who had scored in double-figures in an A10 best 18 straight games, was limited to three points. The A10's leading scorer (18.2 ppg,), Moore, who tied his career-high with eight assists, also had his streak of seven games as the game-high scorer come to an end.
Temple, which shot a blistering 57.7 percent (30-52) from the field, made only two of its first 10 shots to start the contest. The Owls trailed 11-6 with 12:33 remaining before they started to find their stroke.
The Owls made their next 11 field goals during a 26-11 run that catapulted them to a 34-22 advantage. Fernandez had 14 points in that run, including four three-pointers. Redshirt freshman forward Anthony Lee, who had a solid performance off the bench, added six of his nine points in the stretch.
Wyatt, who started the run with a three-point play, had 15 of his points in the opening half, including six of TU's final eight as the Owls took a 42-31 lead at the break.
Duquesne cut the lead to nine points on four occasions in the second half, but each time the Owls had an answer.
The last time the Dukes were within double figures came on a B.J. Monteiro (20 pts) slam with 8:27 remaining that made the score, 61-52. Moore then assisted on a Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (9 pts) slam and another Fernandez trey to make it 66-52. That ended any threat as Temple rolled to its 35th win in its last 37 games at the Liacouras Center.
The Owls now have arguably its toughest week ahead on the schedule, travelling to La Salle Wednesday and Saint Joseph's Saturday in critical A10 games that also count in the Philadelphia Big 5 standings.
