Men's Basketball Opens Diamond Head Classic Against Nevada on ESPNU

Game Info: Thursday, December 21, 2023 - 3:00 p.m. EST
Location: SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu Hawai'i
TV: ESPNU | Listen: 1210 WPHT | Live Stats: Owlsports.com

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Opening Tip
The Temple University men's basketball team plays its first game of the Diamond Head Classic as it faces off against the Nevada Wolfpack on Thursday, December 21. Tipoff from SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST.

Last Time Out - Five Owls in Double Figures at VCU
Sam Hofman posted a season-high 17 points, but a second half comeback attempt by the Owls came up shy as the Temple was upended 87-78 by the VCU Rams on Saturday afternoon.

BY THE NUMBERS

Hofman had his best shooting day as an Owl, connecting on a career-high tying five threes, also pulling in four rebounds.
In his return to action, Jahlil White posted his third double-double of the year, leading the team with 11 rebounds and scored 14.
Hysier Miller led Temple with a season-high nine assists and netted 16, all but one of his points coming in the second half. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Steve Settle III and Matteo Picarelli each scored 12.

Team Effort
For the fourth time this season, Temple placed five players in double figure scoring with the Owls turning the feat in again against VCU.

Going To The Line For Three
Often times a player getting fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer is a couple of times a season occurrence. TU has made all but made it a part of the offense this season with seven such opportunities in 10 games. Matteo Picarelli has been the beneficiary six times and Hysier Miller once. Temple has made 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) of its free throws when fouled on a trey.

Welcome Back
In his first game back in five contests it was like Jahlil White never left, as he posted his third double-double of the season against VCU. The 11 rebounds against the Rams pushed him to 8.6 per game, which would tie for the AAC lead if he had enough games to qualify. Despite playing just five games, White's three double-doubles are the third most in the conference, trailing only Brandon Johnson of East Carolina and Igor Milicic, Jr. of Charlotte.

Can We Have Seconds
The second half of the game has been a much better story for the Owls so far this season. Temple is averaging 6.8 points more in the latter 20 minutes and is shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, as opposed to 37.3 percent in the first half.

Scouting Report
Nevada is 9-1 on the season and is coming off a 72-66 win against Hawai'i on Sunday. The lone setback for the Wolfpack this season came to a 10-1 Drake team. Nevada was picked fourth with one first place vote in the Mountain West preseason poll. It is also receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll this week.

Leading the offense for the Wolfpack is the tandem of Jarod Lucas and Kenan Blackshear who average 16.1 and 15.8 points per game, respectively. Nick Davidson is a strong third option, scoring 10.1 a night and leads Nevada in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game. Blackshear tops the team with 46 assists.

As impressive as the offense has been, it is the defense that has carried the Wolfpack to the hot start. They are in the top-50 nationally in scoring defense at 64.7 points per game allowed and are 38th in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 39.5 percent from the floor. They also get to the line a lot, ranking in the top-10 in NCAA Division I in free throws taken and made and are one of the best teams at clearing the glass with 29.5 defensive rebounds a game.

For as well as it gets to the line and pulls down defensive rebounds, Nevada puts its opponents at the line a fair amount, ranking below 200th in the nation in fouls committed. They also are in the bottom 60 nationally in offensive rebounding at less than nine per game.

Well traveled and highly successful head coach Steve Alford is in his fifth season guiding the Wolfpack and has a record of 79-52 in Reno. In his 33 years as a collegiate mentor he has won over 600 games and guided his teams to the NCAA tournament 12 times. As player, he won a national championship with Indiana in 1987 and was a member of the 1984 Olympic gold medal winning men's basketball team.

All-Time Series
Thursday is the first meeting between Temple and Nevada in men's basketball.

A Rare Feat
With his back-to-back AAC Freshman of the Week honors on December 4 and 11, Zion Stanford became 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 ro on January 10 and 17, 2022.

20/20/20/20 Vision
December 10 against UAlbany was the fourth 20-point game of Hysier Miller's career. He had two combined coming into the season. Miller enters Thursday third in the AAC at 18.2 points per game and is fifth in The American with 4.8 assists a contest.

Half A Dozen
We mentioned earlier that Temple has placed five players with 10 or more points in a game four times this year, but 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.

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.

Up Next
Temple will take on either TCU or Old Dominion in its second game of the Diamond Head Classic on Friday, December 22. Tipoff will be at 5:00 or 7:30 p.m. eastern time. The time of the game and network will be determined based on the opponent and winners or consolation bracket.

Men's Basketball Opens Diamond Head Classic Against Nevada on ESPNU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Hofman

Hysier Miller

Matteo Picarelli

Steve Settle III

Zion Stanford

Jahlil White

Temple University Athletics

Men's Basketball Opens Diamond Head Classic Against Nevada on ESPNU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Hofman

Hysier Miller

Matteo Picarelli

Steve Settle III

Zion Stanford

Jahlil White

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