Temple University Athletics
Temple Hosts Maryland at The Palestra in Saturday Morning Matinee
1.19.12 | Men's Basketball
Owls-Terps to tip-off at 11:00 a.m. on ESPNU
PHILADELPHIA - Temple head coach Fran Dunphy returns to his familiar stomping grounds, The Palestra, Saturday morning (11:00 a.m./ESPNU/1210 AM WPHT) as his Owls play host to the Maryland Terrapins in their final non-conference game of the season. Dunphy, who coached 17 seasons at Penn prior to taking over the reins at Temple in 2006, owns a career record of 164-53 (.756) in the historic venue, including a 7-3 mark with the Owls.
Fresh off a 76-70 win over city-rival La Salle Wednesday, Temple has now won six of its last eight games to improve to 12-5 on the season. The Owls continue to be led by the stellar guard play of Ramone Moore (17.0 ppg.), Khalif Wyatt (16.4 ppg,) and Juan Fernandez (11.5 ppg.), who all average double figure points. Moore, rarely off the court as evidenced by his A10 leading 36.7 minutes per game, in a team-high 10 straight games. Wyatt, red-hot of late (21.2 ppg. over last 5 games), tops the Owls and is among the A10 leaders in three-point percentage (32-76, .421) and steals (2.0 spg.). Fernandez, who snapped out of a two-week slump, leads TU in three-pointers (36) and assists (70).
Junior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (10.1 ppg.), who ranks second in the A10 in field goal percentage (.623) also averages double-figures after a career-high 19 points in the La Salle win. Redshirt freshman forward Anthony Lee (5.9 ppg.) has looked anything like a newcomer, leading Temple in rebounding (7.1 rpg,) and blocked shots (31).
Sophomore guard Aaron Brown continues to be an offensive spark off the bench (7.6 ppg.) while redshirt junior T.J. DiLeo (2.8 ppg.) and freshman Will Cummings (2.5 ppg.) round out the eight-man rotation.
Maryland, under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Turgeon, boast the same 12-5 mark as the Owls and has won 10 of its last 12 games. Sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin leads the Terps with a 21.2 scoring average while senior guard Sean Mosley (10.5 ppg,) also tops double figures. Seven-foot, one-inch freshman center Alex Lin (8.9 ppg.) tops the team in rebounding (6.9 rpg.) and blocks (16) while junior forward James Padgett ((9.2 ppg,, 6.4 rpg.) bolsters the interior.
Temple leads the series, 5-4, winning last year's meeting at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C, 64-61.
