Temple University Athletics
Saturday, December 16
Richmond, Va.
2:00 P.M.
Temple University
at
VCU
Photo by: Jesse Garber
Owls Travel South to Face VCU
12.15.23 | Men's Basketball
Game Info:Â Saturday, December 16, 2023 -Â 2:00 p.m.
Location: Siegel Center - Richmond, Va.
Watch:Â ESPN+Â | Listen: 1210 WPHT | Live Stats: Owlsports.com
Social Media
Twitter/X: @TUMBBHoops | Instagram: @tumbbhoops
Tweet #Team128
Opening Tip
The Temple University men's basketball team plays its last true road game before AAC competition begins as it travels to Richmond, Va. to take on the VCU Rams on Saturday, December 16. Tipoff from the Siegel Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Last Time Out - Miller Scores 28 in Win Against UAlbany
Hysier Miller scored a game-high 28 as the Owls held off a late rally by the UAlbany Great Danes, 78-73 in the NABC Brooklyn Showcase on Sunday night.
BY THE NUMBERS
Run It Back
For a second consecutive week, TU saw Zion Stanford and Jordan Riley honored by the AAC and Big 5. Stanford was the AAC Freshman of the Week and on the BIg 5 honor roll. Riley was named to the AAC weekly honor roll. Stanford averaged 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, shooting 75 percent from the floor in a 2-0 week for the Owls. Riley posted 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while connecting on 16-of-20 from the line.
A Rare Feat
With his back-to-back AAC Freshman of the Week honors, Stanford becomes just the second player in program history to win consecutive weekly awards from the American Athletic Conference. Jahlil White was the Freshman of the Week two weeks in a row on January 10 and 17, 2022.
Dynamic Duo
In the last five games, Jordan Riley and Zion Stanford have taken on more of the offensive output. The two have combined to score 31.8 points and pull down 12.2Â rebounds per game, while shooting 58.5 percent from the floor. The pair are Temple's second and third leading scorers in the span.Â
20/20/20/20 Vision
Sunday against UAlbany was the fourth 20-point game of Hysier Miller's career. He had two combined coming into the season. Miller enters Saturday second in the AAC at 18.4 points per game and is fifth in The American with 4.3 assists a contest.Â
Scouting Report
VCU is 5-5 on the season and is coming off an 86-58 win against Alcorn State on Sunday. The Rams were picked second in the A10 preseason poll, earning three first place votes, and are the defending conference champions.Â
Leading the offense for VCU is the tandem of Max Shulga and Zeb Jackson, who are netting 15.5 and 14.8 points per game, respectively. Jason Nelson and Toibu Lawal provide some punch off the bench with both tallying more than nine a contest. Lowal tops the team at 6.1 rebounds a contest. Jackson has 43 assists with Shulga dishing 39.Â
The Rams have done a good job of protecting the rim this season, ranking in the top-35 in the NCAA and third in the A10 in blocks per game at 5.2 an outing. 20 of their 52 rejections this season come from Christian Fermin, whose 20 are also in the top-35 nationally. They have shot well at the line at 77.9 percent, currently sitting in the top-15 in NCAA Division I.Â
VCU has also not been afraid to challenge itself this season with games against Power 5 opponents Iowa State and Penn State, as well as battling Memphis down to the final whistle.Â
One area of concern for the Rams has been both the amount of turnovers they have committed and the lack of forcing opponent miscues. They are below 300th nationally at 14.4 turnovers a game and are in the bottom 25 with a turnover margin of -3.3.Â
Ryan Odom is in his first season as the head coach of VCU. The well traveled mentor has made stops at Charlotte, Lenoir-Rhyne, UMBC and Utah State. He has guided his teams to four seasons of 21 wins or more in eight years as a D1 head coach, including a 26-9 mark last season and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament at USU and led the 2018 UMBC team to the first victory by a 16-seed against a No. 1 in NCAA tournament history.
All-Time Series
Saturday is the fourth meeting between Temple and VCU in men's basketball with the Owls holding a 2-1 series edge.Â
Last Time Against VCU
Jahlil White had 10 points and four rebounds and Hysier Miller delivered a team-high four assists as Temple downed the Rams 83-73 on December 3, 2022 at the Liacouras Center.
Not The Only Ones
White and Miller aren't the only Temple players with experience versus VCU. Shane Dezonie played in the game last year and also for Vanderbilt against the Rams in 2021. Steve Settle III scored 18 points with nine rebounds and three steals for Howard at VCU on December 11, 2022.Â
Half A Dozen
December 6 against Bloomsburg was the second time this season the Owls placed six players in double figure scoring. TU also accomplished the feat against La Salle. They are the first such games since February 7, 2018 when Quinton Rose (23), Josh Brown (17), Shizz Alston, Jr. (14), J.P. Moorman II (11), Ernest Aflakpui (10) and Nate Pierre-Louis (10) all tallied 10 or more in a 90-73 win against East Carolina.Â
Putting In Extra Work
By going to triple overtime, the game against La Salle on November 29 entered some rare territory. It was the first 3OT game for the Owls since an 83-82 win at Massachusetts on February 11, 1990. The game was also just the fifth triple overtime game in Big 5 history and the first since La Salle downed Villanova, 84-83 on December 20, 1980.Â
Holiday Travel
Temple will not play at the Liacouras Center between December 6 through January 7, a span of 32 days, when it faces Wichita State in a nationally televised matchup. In that time, the Owls will play six games with four neutral site and two true road contests.
Up Next
Temple embarks on its holiday trip to Hawai'i where it will take on Nevada on Thursday, December 21. Tipoff from the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.Â
Location: Siegel Center - Richmond, Va.
Watch:Â ESPN+Â | Listen: 1210 WPHT | Live Stats: Owlsports.com
Social Media
Twitter/X: @TUMBBHoops | Instagram: @tumbbhoops
Tweet #Team128
Opening Tip
The Temple University men's basketball team plays its last true road game before AAC competition begins as it travels to Richmond, Va. to take on the VCU Rams on Saturday, December 16. Tipoff from the Siegel Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Last Time Out - Miller Scores 28 in Win Against UAlbany
Hysier Miller scored a game-high 28 as the Owls held off a late rally by the UAlbany Great Danes, 78-73 in the NABC Brooklyn Showcase on Sunday night.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Miller further contributed with four assists and four steals.
- Jordan Riley netted 19, 13 of them coming in the second half.
- Sam Hofman topped the team in rebounds with a season-high 12, also coming away with three steals and five points.
- Zion Stanford scored 16 in the contest with seven boards.
- As a team, Temple held a 22-14 advantage in free throws.
Run It Back
For a second consecutive week, TU saw Zion Stanford and Jordan Riley honored by the AAC and Big 5. Stanford was the AAC Freshman of the Week and on the BIg 5 honor roll. Riley was named to the AAC weekly honor roll. Stanford averaged 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, shooting 75 percent from the floor in a 2-0 week for the Owls. Riley posted 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while connecting on 16-of-20 from the line.
A Rare Feat
With his back-to-back AAC Freshman of the Week honors, Stanford becomes just the second player in program history to win consecutive weekly awards from the American Athletic Conference. Jahlil White was the Freshman of the Week two weeks in a row on January 10 and 17, 2022.
Dynamic Duo
In the last five games, Jordan Riley and Zion Stanford have taken on more of the offensive output. The two have combined to score 31.8 points and pull down 12.2Â rebounds per game, while shooting 58.5 percent from the floor. The pair are Temple's second and third leading scorers in the span.Â
20/20/20/20 Vision
Sunday against UAlbany was the fourth 20-point game of Hysier Miller's career. He had two combined coming into the season. Miller enters Saturday second in the AAC at 18.4 points per game and is fifth in The American with 4.3 assists a contest.Â
Scouting Report
VCU is 5-5 on the season and is coming off an 86-58 win against Alcorn State on Sunday. The Rams were picked second in the A10 preseason poll, earning three first place votes, and are the defending conference champions.Â
Leading the offense for VCU is the tandem of Max Shulga and Zeb Jackson, who are netting 15.5 and 14.8 points per game, respectively. Jason Nelson and Toibu Lawal provide some punch off the bench with both tallying more than nine a contest. Lowal tops the team at 6.1 rebounds a contest. Jackson has 43 assists with Shulga dishing 39.Â
The Rams have done a good job of protecting the rim this season, ranking in the top-35 in the NCAA and third in the A10 in blocks per game at 5.2 an outing. 20 of their 52 rejections this season come from Christian Fermin, whose 20 are also in the top-35 nationally. They have shot well at the line at 77.9 percent, currently sitting in the top-15 in NCAA Division I.Â
VCU has also not been afraid to challenge itself this season with games against Power 5 opponents Iowa State and Penn State, as well as battling Memphis down to the final whistle.Â
One area of concern for the Rams has been both the amount of turnovers they have committed and the lack of forcing opponent miscues. They are below 300th nationally at 14.4 turnovers a game and are in the bottom 25 with a turnover margin of -3.3.Â
Ryan Odom is in his first season as the head coach of VCU. The well traveled mentor has made stops at Charlotte, Lenoir-Rhyne, UMBC and Utah State. He has guided his teams to four seasons of 21 wins or more in eight years as a D1 head coach, including a 26-9 mark last season and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament at USU and led the 2018 UMBC team to the first victory by a 16-seed against a No. 1 in NCAA tournament history.
All-Time Series
Saturday is the fourth meeting between Temple and VCU in men's basketball with the Owls holding a 2-1 series edge.Â
Last Time Against VCU
Jahlil White had 10 points and four rebounds and Hysier Miller delivered a team-high four assists as Temple downed the Rams 83-73 on December 3, 2022 at the Liacouras Center.
Not The Only Ones
White and Miller aren't the only Temple players with experience versus VCU. Shane Dezonie played in the game last year and also for Vanderbilt against the Rams in 2021. Steve Settle III scored 18 points with nine rebounds and three steals for Howard at VCU on December 11, 2022.Â
Half A Dozen
December 6 against Bloomsburg was the second time this season the Owls placed six players in double figure scoring. TU also accomplished the feat against La Salle. They are the first such games since February 7, 2018 when Quinton Rose (23), Josh Brown (17), Shizz Alston, Jr. (14), J.P. Moorman II (11), Ernest Aflakpui (10) and Nate Pierre-Louis (10) all tallied 10 or more in a 90-73 win against East Carolina.Â
Putting In Extra Work
By going to triple overtime, the game against La Salle on November 29 entered some rare territory. It was the first 3OT game for the Owls since an 83-82 win at Massachusetts on February 11, 1990. The game was also just the fifth triple overtime game in Big 5 history and the first since La Salle downed Villanova, 84-83 on December 20, 1980.Â
Holiday Travel
Temple will not play at the Liacouras Center between December 6 through January 7, a span of 32 days, when it faces Wichita State in a nationally televised matchup. In that time, the Owls will play six games with four neutral site and two true road contests.
Up Next
Temple embarks on its holiday trip to Hawai'i where it will take on Nevada on Thursday, December 21. Tipoff from the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.Â
Players Mentioned
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