Men's Basketball Hits the Road to Face Boston College

Game Info: Friday, November 15, 2024 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Conte Forum - Chestnut Hill, Mass.
TV: ESPN+ | Listen: Owlsports.com/listen | Live Stats: Owlsports.com | Temple Game Notes

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Opening Tip
The Temple men's basketball team plays its first true road game of the season, heading to New England to take on Boston College on Friday, November 15. Tipoff from Conte Forum is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Last Time Out - Stanford's Career Day Leads Temple Past Drexel
Zion Stanford had a career game with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting as the Temple men's basketball team withstood a late Drexel charge as the Owls topped the Dragons 69-61 in a Big 5 game on Tuesday night.

BY THE NUMBERS

Stanford had a pair of three pointers in the game, also going 7-for-9 from inside the arc.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. was in double figures with 20, adding five rebounds and four assists. He shot 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
Babatunde Durodola pulled in a career-high nine rebounds to join Steve Settle III in leading the Cherry and White. Quante Berry had a personal best eight boards.
The Owls held on to the ball, committing just seven turnovers, the second consecutive game in single digits.

Shaking Off The Rust
After turning the ball over 16 times in the opener against Sacred Heart, the Owls have held on to the rock, giving it up a total of 13 times in the two games since. The lower numbers are more along what Temple is used to after finishing in the top-35 nationally last season with 9.9 turnovers per game.

Props
Two Owls were recognized by the AAC in the weekly awards. Dillon Battie was named the Freshman of the Week and Jamal Mashburn Jr. was selected to the honor roll. Battie averaged 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while going 7-for-9 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Mashburn tallied 25.5 per game and was 20-of-31 (64.5 percent) from the floor with eight three pointers.

Baba Breaks Through
Not that he hadn't been playing well previously, averaging 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his first two contests, but Babatunde Durodola had a breakout against Drexel with nine rebounds and playing a personal best 25 minutes against the Dragons.

20-20-20 Vision
Even on an off shooting night by his standards, Jamal Mashburn Jr. reached 20 points against Drexel. He has scored 20 or more in all three of his games with Temple, averaging 23.7 points per game and is now up to 1,937 for his career.

Three-Peat
For a second consecutive season, the Owls have started the year 3-0. The last time the Cherry and White won more than three straight games to open the year was 2019-20 when it defeated Drexel, Morgan State, La Salle and USC on its way to a 4-0 record.

Lights, CAM-era, Action!
The early Signing Day brought two members of the Class of 2025 to the Owls in Cam Wallace and Cam Miles. Wallace is a 4-star recruit from The Westtown School where he was Second Team All-State last season and is closing in on 2,000 career points. Miles is averaging 26.0 PPG for the post-grad team at IMG Academy. The pair has Temple ranked as the top recruiting class in the AAC (Rivals.com and 247Sports) and as high as the No. 48 class in the nation (Rivals.com).

Scouting Report
Boston College holds a 1-1 record entering Friday night with a win against The Citadel and a loss against VCU. Sophomore guard Donald Hand Jr. led the Eagles in scoring with 22 points against the Citadel, recording a career-high, while guard Roger McFarlane registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against VCU.

BC finished the 2023-24 season with a 20-16 record, ranking 18th in the ACC preseason poll. The Eagles demonstrated strong ball control, ranking 61st nationally, averaging just 10.4 turnovers per game. Boston College also proved resilient under pressure, achieving seven of its 20 wins last season after coming back from double-digit deficits.

The Eagles have added three first-year players to their roster, including three-star recruits Nick Petronio and Luka Toews, as well as four-star prospect Kany Tchanda. BC has also strengthened the team through the transfer portal, adding Chad Venning from St. Bonaventure and Roger McFarlane from Southeastern Louisiana, both of whom arrive in Chestnut Hill with over 1,000 career points each.

Returners for the Eagles are highlighted by junior guard Chas Kelley III and sophomore forward Elijah Strong. Kelley has made 59 appearances in his career at Boston College, including nine starts. He set a season-high of 13 points a year ago in a win against St. John's. Elijah Strong was a spark plug off the bench last season, appearing in 19 games for BC. Strong made significant contributions to the team in the NIT, recording 10 points in a first-round win against Providence and then scoring seven in a second-round loss to UNLV.

Head coach Earl Grant is beginning his fourth season as head coach of Boston College. Grant has accumulated a 50-54 record over his tenure, with the team qualifying for the National Invitational Tournament a season ago. The Eagles have won at least one game in the ACC tournament each year during his tenure, tying the record for the most tournament wins by a BC coach. Last year, the team advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Virginia.

All-Time Series Against Boston College
Temple holds a 4-0 series advantage against the Eagles as the two teams have played sporadically starting in 1963.

Last Time Against The Eagles
David Hawkins scored 36 points on 11-of-16 shooting as Temple topped Boston College 75-62 in the First Round of the NIT on March 21, 2003. Mardy Collins added 17 points and Brian Polk had 12. The 36 from Hawkins are tied for 16th most in a single-game in the 129 years of Temple basketball.

Up Next
Temple is off until November 22 when it travels to Mohegan Sun for the first of two games at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off, taking on Florida State. Game time from Uncasville, Conn. is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. That game will be followed on November 23 vs. UMass, also at 5:00 p.m.