Temple (#11, South, Miami pod)
Vs. Arizona State (#6)
Fri., 3/20 at 2:45 PM
Vegas Line: Temple, +5
General Profile
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Conference: Atlantic-10, Automatic bid
Coach: Fran Dunphy, 55-42
08-09 Record: 22-11, 11-5 in the Atlantic-10
Last 12 Games: 10-2 including 5 straight wins
Best Win: Defeated Xavier 55-53 in the Atlantic 10 tournament on March 13th
Worst Loss: At Long Beach State 76-71 on December 22nd
Off. Efficiency Rating: 108.6, 68th
Def. Efficiency Rating: 92.6, 40th
Nuts ‘n Bolts
Star Player(s): Dionte Christmas (19.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG) and Lavoy Allen (10.9 PPG and 8.9 RPG)
Unsung Hero: Ryan Brooks (10.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG)
Potential NBA Draft Pick(s): Christmas (34th in 2009)
Key Injuries: None
Depth: 24.7% (306th nationally); percentage of minutes played by reserves
Achilles Heel: The Owls have no depth (or Dunphy chooses not to utilize it).
Will Make a Deep Run if…: Christmas can outplay Arizona State’s star James Harden.
Will Make an Early Exit if…: If Christmas is having an off-night.
NCAA History
Last Year Invited: 2008; lost to Michigan State in the 1st round
Streak: 2nd straight year
Best NCAA Finish: Third place (1944, 1956, and 1958)
Historical Performance vs. Seed (1985-present): +0.24. On average the Owls win 0.24 more games per year than they would be expected to based on the historical performance of teams with a similar seed.
Other
Six Degrees to Detroit: Mike Jarmoluk, who played football at Temple, was drafted by the Detroit Lions and ended up making a Pro Bowl. Unfortunately for Lions, he never played for them as he ended up playing the Eagles and made the Pro Bowl in 1951.
Distance to First Round Site: 1,195 miles
School’s Claim to Fame: Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, who was just as legendary for his ability to win as his fiery demeanor.
School Wishes It Could Forget: Chaney ordering a “hit” on St. Joseph’s John Bryant.
Prediction: The Owls will hang around for the first half against the Sun Devils before Harden and Jeff Pendergraph pull away for a double-digit victory.
Major RTC stories: N/A
Preview written by Rush the Court