Men's Basketball Looks to Clinch Big 5 Title Tuesday Against St. Joe's

Tuesday, December 6

Philadelphia, PA

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

Saint Joseph's

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men's Basketball Looks to Clinch Big 5 Title Tuesday Against St. Joe's

12.6.22 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

PHILADELPHIA - Temple hosts city-rival Saint Joseph's Tuesday night (7 pm/ESPNU/1210 AM WPHT) with a share of the Philadelphia Big 5 title at stake. The Owls (5-4, 2-0 Big 5), winners of three straight games, will be looking to claim a share of their 28th city-series title with a win. That would tie Villanova for most since the Big 5 was formed with the 1955-56 season.

The Temple-St. Joe's game is the most played in Philadelphia Big 5 history as the teams shared conferences for 67 years (Middle Atlantic Conference, 1946-74; East Coast Conference, 1973-74 thru 1981-82; Atlantic 10 Conference, 1982-83 thru 2012-13). The Owls lead the series 93-70 with the 93 wins the most against any city school.

This is also the Owls third straight game against former A-10 schools, having defeated La Salle and VCU last week to extend their season-best win streak to three games.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
> Khalif Battle has been red hot of late, averaging 25 points per game while shooting 19-38 from behind the arc during the last four games as a starter. He leads the American Athletic Conference in scoring (20.0 ppg) and has scored 20 points six games including the last four. He also tops the conference and ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (.964, 27-28). He leads the AAC in threes with 31 (3.44 pg), ranking fourth nationally, while shooting 38.8 percent and 50 percent (19-38) as a starter.
> Damian Dunn ranks second on the team in scoring (16.8 ppg), assists (2.2 apg), field goal percentage (.474) and first in minutes per game (34.0). He tallied a career-high 38 points in the Owls' 89-87 overtime loss to Vanderbilt. That is the most points by a Temple player since 2004. He also leads the AAC (7th NCAA) in free throws made (49).
> Jamille Reynolds also averages double-figure points (11.2 ppg.) on the season while leading the Owls in rebounding (6.3 rpg.) and field goal percentage (.597). He has scored in double figures in six games with a career-high 21 against St. John's.
> Zach Hicks (9.2 ppg) and Hysier Miller (7.2 ppg., 4.8 apg/4th AAC) round out the starting five. Jahlil White, who started the first five games before being sidelined due to injury, scored a season-high 10 points in the team's win over VCU.
> Nick Jourdain (4.1 ppg), who leads the team in blocks (12), had his best offensive game since the opener, scoring seven points off the bench against La Salle. He has made his last nine of his last 10 field goals over the last four games and is shooting 60.9 percent (14-23 FG).

SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S
> St. Joe's enters the game with a 3-4 overall record, but 1-0 in Big 5 play after knocking off Penn at The Palestra, 85-80 in overtime, in the nightcap of the city-series doubleheader on Nov. 30. Temple defeated La Salle in the opener.
> The Hawks are coming off a 97-80 home loss to Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.
> Sophomore guard Erik Reynolds leads SJU in scoring at 20.0 points per game while sophomore guard Lynn Greer III (10.9 ppg.) and senior guard Cameron Brown (10.3 ppg) also top double figures.
> Greer, who is in his first year at SJU after transferring from Dayton, is the son of Temple Hall of Famer Lynn Greer (1996-01), one of four Temple 2,000-point scorers.
> Sophomore forward Kacper Klaczek (8.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and graduate student center Ejike Obinna (7.3 ppg) round out the SJU starters while Rasheer Fleming (7.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Christian Winborne (6.6 ppg) provide depth on the bench.

SERIES HISTORY
> This is the 164th meeting, which is the most meetings between Big 5 teams. The Owls' 93 wins are the most against any opponent.
> Temple holds a 93-70 series advantage and has won 13 of the last 20 games in the series.
> Saint Joseph's is Temple's most frequent overtime foe with the teams playing extra time nine times. The Owls own a 5-4 edge in OT games.
> Temple owns a 13-7 advantage in games played at the Liacouras Center.

LAST MEETING: @SAINT JOSEPH'S 68, TEMPLE 49 (Dec. 1, 2021)
> Temple had its five-game win streak snapped with a 68-49 loss at Saint Joseph's. Shooting woes plagued Temple at Hagan Arena, as the Owls hit just 31.3 percent from the field and just two three-pointers.
> SJU jumped out quickly, taking a 19-6 lead with 14:05 left in the half.
> The Cherry and White tried to chip away at the deficit, but SJU would take its largest lead, 35-16, with 3:11 left in the half.
> Trailing 37-22 at the break, the Owls cut the deficit to seven (46-39) on a Jahlil White layup at 10:26, but SJU scored 12 of the next 14 points and never looked back.

LAST GAME: @TEMPLE 83, VCU 73 (Dec. 3, 2022)
> Khalif Battle scored a season-high 27 points to lead Temple to its third straight win, 83-73 over VCU.
> Battle topped 20 points for the fourth straight game while leading the team in rebounds and making a career-high four steals. Damian Dunn (17), Zach Hicks (12) and Jahlil White (10) also tallied double figures for the Owls. It was a season-high in points for White.
> Ace Baldwin, Jr. and Jalen Deloach led the Rams with 16 points each.
> Temple never trailed in the contest, but VCU closed the deficit to one, 55-54, in the second half on a three from Jamir Watkins.
> The Owls then turned up the defensive intensity while scoring 10 straight points with Battle tallying five, to take a 65-54 lead with 7:30 to play.
> Temple would push the margin to a high of 13, 74-61, with 4:09 to play on a Hicks free throw. VCU was unable to get closer than 10 the remainder of the way.

BIG 5 TALK
> Temple defeated #16 Villanova, 68-64, on Nov. 11 to open Big 5 play and knocked off La Salle at The Palestra, 67-51, on Nov. 30 to improve to 2-0.
> With a win against Saint Joseph's Temple would tie Villanova for the most Big 5 titles with 28. Villanova could still share the title with Temple if the teams finish with 3-1 city-series records.
> Temple has 20 shared Big 5 titles and seven outright championships. Its last outright title came in 2009-10 when the Owls posted a perfect 4-0 Big 5 record.
> Temple ranks second in city-series play with 146 Big 5 wins.
> Hall of Fame coach John Chaney won 15 titles at Temple, the most by any Big 5 coach.
> Temple coach Aaron McKie, who owns a 6-3 Big 5 record as a head coach, was a three-time First Team all-Big 5 selection as well as the 1993 Big 5 Most Valuable Player.
> Temple assistant to the head coach Mark Macon was the 1991 Big 5 MVP and is the all-time leading scorer in Big 5 games (347 points).