Temple University Athletics
Wednesday, March 14
University Park, Pa.
8:00 p.m.
Temple University
at
Penn State (NIT First Round)
Men's Basketball Travels to Penn State for NIT First Round on Wednesday
3.12.18 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA - The season is continuing for Temple men's basketball in the NIT, as the fifth-seeded Owls (17-15) travel to fourth-seeded Penn State (21-13) for an 8 p.m. contest on Wednesday, March 14 (ESPNU / 1210 AM WPHT). It will be the first meeting between the two teams in seven years, but the series history is a long one with Temple leading it 60-32.
Temple's NIT History
> Overall Record: 23-16 (19th appearance)
> Record vs. Field: Temple has not played any of the 31 other NIT teams in the 2018 bracket.
> Titles won: Two (1938 and 1969)
> Third place: Twice (1957 and 2002)
> Fran Dunphy will be making his second NIT coaching appearance after guiding the Owls to an NIT Semifinal appearance in 2015. This will be Dunphy's 18th time taking a team to the postseason. He made nine NCAA?Tournament appearances in his 17 years at Penn, and has taken Temple to the NCAA Tournament seven times in his 12 years as head coach.
> Temple's last NIT appearance was in 2014-15. The Owls defeated Bucknell, George Washington and Louisiana Tech at home before heading to Madison Square Garden and losing to Miami (Fla.)
> Prior to 2015, the Owls had not made an NIT appearance since 2005-06 when they lost to Akron in overtime in the opening round.
> The Owls made five consecutive NIT appearances from 2002-2006. They won the third-place game in 2002 (4-1 overall), went 3-1 in 2003 and lost in the opening round in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Scouting Temple
> After holding off Tulane for an 82-77 win in the Aaron's American Athletic Conference Championships first round, the Owls advanced to the quarterfinals where they lost 89-81 in a hard-fought game against #11/14 Wichita State.
> Sophomore guard Quinton Rose, who leads Temple and ranks sixth in the AAC with 15.1 points per game, came close to his career high with a game-high 25 points vs. Wichita State. He has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the last 12 games.
> Senior Obi Enechionyia hit 5-of-7 three-pointers in leading the Owls with 19 points in the first-round win vs. Tulane. He needs just one more three-pointer to become the eighth Temple player all-time to make 200 career threes.
> The Owls had three players recognized with American Athletic Conference postseason awards, as freshman Nate Pierre-Louis was named to the All-Rookie Team, Rose earned Honorable Mention selection and Enechionyia was named the AAC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
> With three assists vs. Tulane in the AAC First Round, senior Josh Brown moved into the Top 10 all-time at Temple in career assists, now standing in 10th place with 385. By playing in the Owls' most recent game vs. Wichita State, Brown surpassed Hall of Famer Lynn Greer for most games played in a Temple uniform with 138.
> Enechionyia became the 52nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points with his 16-point effort at La Salle on Nov. 26. Enechionyia has now scored 1,290 career points (33rd all-time), and with his team-high eight rebounds at UConn (Feb. 28) he became the 24th player in program history with 600 career rebounds (now with 610 - 24th all-time).
Scouting Penn State
> Penn State is 21-13 overall and went 9-9 in the Big Ten.Â
> The Nittany Lions have not earned an NCAA Tournament berth under seventh-year head coach Pat Chambers, and last appeared in the NIT in 2009, going 5-0 to win the tournament.
> Penn State's last postseason appearance was in the CBI in 2014, when they went 1-1, losing in the quarterfinals.
> Penn State advanced to the 2018 Big Ten Tournament semifinals, and beat #17/16 Ohio State three times this season.Â
> Sophomore Tony Carr leads the Lions with 19.9 points per game and also averages a team-best 4.7 assists per game.
> Redshirt sophomore Mike Watkins, likely unavailable for the NIT due to injury, pulls down a team-leading 8.9 rebounds per game while averaging 12.1 ppg.Â
> Sophomore Lamar Stevens and senior Shep Garner also average in double figures in scoring for Penn State.
All-Time Series
> Temple and Penn State will be meeting for the 93rd time in the history of the two programs. The Owls hold a 60-32 advantage all-time and have won seven straight in the series.
> The two teams last met in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, with the Owls winning 66-64 in a thriller to advance to the third round.
> Prior to 2011, the squads had last squared off on Dec. 5, 2009 at the Liacouras Center, with the Owls coming out on top of a defensive struggle with a 45-42 win. Â
> Last time the teams met at the Bryce Jordan Center, Temple won 65-59 on Dec. 6, 2008. All-time, Penn State has a slight, 22-21 edge in games played in State College.
> Temple and Penn State have never played in the NIT against each other, but have two NCAA match-ups, the other coming in 2001 when the Owls won 84-72 against the Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16.
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Temple's NIT History
> Overall Record: 23-16 (19th appearance)
> Record vs. Field: Temple has not played any of the 31 other NIT teams in the 2018 bracket.
> Titles won: Two (1938 and 1969)
> Third place: Twice (1957 and 2002)
> Fran Dunphy will be making his second NIT coaching appearance after guiding the Owls to an NIT Semifinal appearance in 2015. This will be Dunphy's 18th time taking a team to the postseason. He made nine NCAA?Tournament appearances in his 17 years at Penn, and has taken Temple to the NCAA Tournament seven times in his 12 years as head coach.
> Temple's last NIT appearance was in 2014-15. The Owls defeated Bucknell, George Washington and Louisiana Tech at home before heading to Madison Square Garden and losing to Miami (Fla.)
> Prior to 2015, the Owls had not made an NIT appearance since 2005-06 when they lost to Akron in overtime in the opening round.
> The Owls made five consecutive NIT appearances from 2002-2006. They won the third-place game in 2002 (4-1 overall), went 3-1 in 2003 and lost in the opening round in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Scouting Temple
> After holding off Tulane for an 82-77 win in the Aaron's American Athletic Conference Championships first round, the Owls advanced to the quarterfinals where they lost 89-81 in a hard-fought game against #11/14 Wichita State.
> Sophomore guard Quinton Rose, who leads Temple and ranks sixth in the AAC with 15.1 points per game, came close to his career high with a game-high 25 points vs. Wichita State. He has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the last 12 games.
> Senior Obi Enechionyia hit 5-of-7 three-pointers in leading the Owls with 19 points in the first-round win vs. Tulane. He needs just one more three-pointer to become the eighth Temple player all-time to make 200 career threes.
> The Owls had three players recognized with American Athletic Conference postseason awards, as freshman Nate Pierre-Louis was named to the All-Rookie Team, Rose earned Honorable Mention selection and Enechionyia was named the AAC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
> With three assists vs. Tulane in the AAC First Round, senior Josh Brown moved into the Top 10 all-time at Temple in career assists, now standing in 10th place with 385. By playing in the Owls' most recent game vs. Wichita State, Brown surpassed Hall of Famer Lynn Greer for most games played in a Temple uniform with 138.
> Enechionyia became the 52nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points with his 16-point effort at La Salle on Nov. 26. Enechionyia has now scored 1,290 career points (33rd all-time), and with his team-high eight rebounds at UConn (Feb. 28) he became the 24th player in program history with 600 career rebounds (now with 610 - 24th all-time).
Scouting Penn State
> Penn State is 21-13 overall and went 9-9 in the Big Ten.Â
> The Nittany Lions have not earned an NCAA Tournament berth under seventh-year head coach Pat Chambers, and last appeared in the NIT in 2009, going 5-0 to win the tournament.
> Penn State's last postseason appearance was in the CBI in 2014, when they went 1-1, losing in the quarterfinals.
> Penn State advanced to the 2018 Big Ten Tournament semifinals, and beat #17/16 Ohio State three times this season.Â
> Sophomore Tony Carr leads the Lions with 19.9 points per game and also averages a team-best 4.7 assists per game.
> Redshirt sophomore Mike Watkins, likely unavailable for the NIT due to injury, pulls down a team-leading 8.9 rebounds per game while averaging 12.1 ppg.Â
> Sophomore Lamar Stevens and senior Shep Garner also average in double figures in scoring for Penn State.
All-Time Series
> Temple and Penn State will be meeting for the 93rd time in the history of the two programs. The Owls hold a 60-32 advantage all-time and have won seven straight in the series.
> The two teams last met in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, with the Owls winning 66-64 in a thriller to advance to the third round.
> Prior to 2011, the squads had last squared off on Dec. 5, 2009 at the Liacouras Center, with the Owls coming out on top of a defensive struggle with a 45-42 win. Â
> Last time the teams met at the Bryce Jordan Center, Temple won 65-59 on Dec. 6, 2008. All-time, Penn State has a slight, 22-21 edge in games played in State College.
> Temple and Penn State have never played in the NIT against each other, but have two NCAA match-ups, the other coming in 2001 when the Owls won 84-72 against the Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16.
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