Category Archives: Men’s Basketball

Owls announce non-conference schedule

Posted on by

On Thursday, the men’s basketball team announced its non-conference schedule for the upcoming season.

Temple, who finished 22-9 last season, will begin non-conference play on Nov. 13 with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland for the Veterans Classic held at the United States Naval Academy. There, the Owls will face the University of North Carolina, who returns its top four scorers from last year’s team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Six days later, the Owls will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which takes place on Nov. 19, 20 and 22.

In Puerto Rico, Temple will be joined by Butler University, the University of Miami, the University of Minnesota, Mississippi State University, Missouri State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Utah.

Up next, Temple will host Fairleigh Dickinson University and the University of Delaware on Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, respectively.

After the two-game home stand, the Owls will travel to Madison, Wisconsin on Dec. 5 to face the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who appeared in two straight Final Fours and is returning two of its top four scorers.

The Owls will finish the month of December off with a trip to the University of Pennsylvania on Dec. 9 and back-to-back home games against St. Joseph’s University on Dec. 13 and Delaware State University on Dec. 19.

The Owls will open the new calendar year on Jan. 20 with a trip to The Palestra to face Big 5 rival La Salle University. The team will finish its non-conference play with a home game against Big 5 rival and defending Big East conference champion, Villanova University on Feb. 17.

Ex-Owls to compete in $1-million basketball tournament

Posted on by

A number of former Owls will take the floor together once again this Friday at Philadelphia University.

Playing as the North Broad Street Bullies, Temple alumni Khalif Wyatt, Dalton Pepper, Rhalir Hollis-Jefferson, Ramone Moore, T.J. DiLeo and Jacob Godino as well as a handful of other former college players will compete in the first round of The Basketball Tournament.

The Basketball Tournament, is a nation-wide, free-entry, single-elimination tournament. Rosters are composed of all kinds of players including a few ex-NBA talents. The winner of the tournament will take home a $1 million prize.

In their first round match-up of the tournament’s Northeast Regional, the North Broad Street Bullies will take on Friar Nation, a team composed of former players from St. Anthony High School in New Jersey.

The Northeast Regional takes place at Philadelphia University from Friday to Sunday. If the North Broad Street Bullies can win three games they will advance to the Super 17 in Chicago on July 23.

Last season the North Broad Street Bullies advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

 

Owls to play in Big 5 doubleheader

Posted on by

For the first time since 2004, the Palestra will host a Philadelphia Big 5 doubleheader. On Jan. 20, 2016, Temple will take on La Salle in the first game of the day followed by a match-up between Penn and St. Joseph’s to honor The Big 5’s 60th anniversary.

“The Athletics Directors wanted to do something very special to celebrate this unique achievement,” said Steve Bilsky, Executive Director of The Big 5, in a university-issued statement. “We thought nothing would capture its history better than a competition to be held in the famed Cathedral of Basketball. The fact that we were able to pull it off in a very challenging college basketball scheduling environment is a credit to the AD’s, coaches, and conference commissioners, all of whom displayed tremendous perseverance and flexibility.”

Temple, La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph’s and Villanova have been squaring off against each other every year since the mid 1950’s.

The Owls defeated Villanova 53-52 the last time a Big 5 doubleheader took place in 2004.

Coach Fran Dunphy has taken part in the rivalry both with the Owls and as the coach at Penn.

“The Big 5 is a special part of the fabric of Philadelphia sports,” Dunphy said in a university-issued statement. “It is held in high regard nationally, and is treasured by Philadelphia college basketball fans locally. We are happy to be taking part in this true Big 5 doubleheader to honor its 60 years of existence.”

The annual match-up between the Owls and the Explorers will take place in the Palestra for the third consecutive season. Temple won last year’s match-up by a score of 58-57.

Jesse Morgan invited to Utah Jazz summer league

Posted on by

Jesse Morgan will play for the Utah Jazz in the the Utah Jazz Summer League.

The former Owls’ guard averaged 11.9 points per game last season and knocked down a team-high 68 3-pointers.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native sat out the 2013-2014 season due to NCAA transfer rules after transferring from the University of Massachusetts.

Morgan played his first game as an Owl on Dec. 18, 2014 against the University of Delaware, scoring 16 points on 6 of 16 shooting, including 4 of 8 on three-point field goals.

Morgan played high school basketball at Olney High School in Philadelphia and was a first team All-City selection.

The league, which runs from July 6 to 9, will include summer league teams from the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

Morgan joins his former teammate, Will Cummings — who agreed to terms on a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets on June 26 — in the pursuit of making an NBA roster. The Rockets will be participating in the Las Vegas Summer league, which begins on July 10.

Cummings signs with Houston Rockets

Posted on by

Per a university athletic spokesperson, Will Cummings has agreed to terms on a free agent contract with the Houston Rockets.

The Jacksonville, Florida native, who was not selected during the NBA Draft on Thursday cannot sign with the Rockets until July 1, which is the official beginning on NBA free agency.

The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 14.8 points per game and 4.2 assists last season while leading the Owls to a 26-11 record.

After missing the 2015 NCAA Basketball Tournament, Cummings and the Owls were selected as the No. 1 overall seed for the National Invitational Tournament, where they were eliminated by the University of Miami 60-57 in the semifinals.

Cummings, who was a first-team all American Athletic Conference selection last season, became the 50th member of Temple’s 1,000-point club — the eighth player to reach the milestone under coach Fran Dunphy — in a win over South Florida in February.

Temple Alum Harvey Pollack Died on Tuesday

Posted on by

This past Tuesday, Naismith Hall of Fame basketball statistician and Temple alum Harvey Pollack died at the age of 93.

Pollack, who received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple in 1943, had been hospitalized since he suffered injuries in a car accident on New Year’s Day.

During his time as a student at Temple, Pollack worked as a manager for several Temple athletic teams including basketball. After graduation Pollack worked as Temple’s official football scorer until 2010. He was inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Pollack is the only statistician inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame. His most impactful contribution to the sport may be the introduction of statistics such as minutes played, rebounds, steals, turnovers and blocked shots.

Men’s basketball to face Southern Methodist in conference semis

Posted on by

HARTFORD, Conn. – With an 80-75 defeat of Memphis in the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament, the Owls won the right to face the team that beat them twice in the regular season.

Temple, the fourth seed in the tournament, will face Southern Methodist, led by hall-of-fame coach Larry Brown, in a conference semifinal matchup Saturday at the XL Center.

The Mustangs highlighted a regular season in which they finished 25-6 with a 15-3 conference record, which topped The American standings. SMU also finished the season with a spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the second consecutive year, holding the No. 20 ranking.

With Nic Moore leading the way for the Mustangs, they’ll be tough to contain on the offensive end. Moore, a redshirt-junior guard, won the conference’s player-of-the-year award and is averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.2 assists per game in 31 games, including SMU’s 74-68 win against eighth-seeded East Carolina on Friday.

The Owls will counter with senior guard Will Cummings, who drew consideration for player of the year in his own right, as enters Saturday’s contest with averages of 14.4  ppg and 4.3 apg, along with 2 steals per game.

A Temple spokesman said Saturday morning that junior forward Jaylen Bond is questionable for the game after Bond sprained his right ankle toward the end of the first half against Memphis. He did not return for the rest of the game.

If Bond remains absent for Saturday’s contest, that could give an edge to a Mustangs frontcourt consisting of sixth-man-of-the-year honoree Markus Kennedy, along with the likes of sophomore Ben Moore and senior Yanick Moreira.

ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Temple out of his list of teams that he predicts will be the last four teams to make the tournament, and among those that will secure an automatic spot in the second round.

While Friday’s defeat of Memphis may help the Owls’ tournament resume come Sunday night, junior center Devontae Watson, who posted eight points and four rebounds in the second half of Friday’s game in light of Bond’s absence, said his team needs to keep winning if it wants to play in the field of 68.

“With all the talk that’s going on, it’s definitely important that we [beat Memphis],” Watson said after Friday’s game. “The only sure way you get into the NCAA tournament is that you win this tournament. That’s the only sure way you’re getting a bid, and you have to try to strive for that. You’re not guaranteed unless you get that bid.”

Men’s basketball to contest conference quarterfinal with Memphis

Posted on by

HARTFORD, Conn. – When Memphis faces the Owls Friday in a quarterfinal matchup in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, it’ll likely do so without its top scorer.

Sophomore forward Austin Nichols re-injured his ankle in the Tigers’ 74-72 overtime loss to Tulsa on Feb. 28, and hasn’t played since. Reports last week said Nichols, who averages 13.3 points per game, will likely sit out for the duration of the Connecticut-hosted tournament, which will take place in downtown Hartford at the XL Center.

Nichols initially injured the ankle in Memphis’ 61-60 home defeat to the Owls (22-9, 13-5 The American), in which junior guard Josh Brown hit a game-winning jump shot with 2.4 seconds left to play.

Senior forward Calvin Godfrey has averaged 11 points in his last two games starting in Nichols’ spot on the frontcourt alongside junior Shaq Goodwin. Without Nichols, Goodwin will enter Friday’s contest as the leading scorer for the Tigers (18-13, 10-8 The American) with his 9.5 ppg.

Senior guards Will Cummings and Jesse Morgan are coming off games in which they netted point totals of 23 and 17, respectively, in the Owls’ 75-63 defeat of Connecticut in their regular-season finale March 7 at the Liacouras Center. Cummings, who earned first-team all-conference honors for his regular-season efforts, paces Temple with 14.1 ppg, along with 4.3 assists per game and 2.1 steals per game. After re-joining the starting lineup Jan. 22 against South Florida after suffering a muscle strain in his lower left leg earlier in the month, Cummings hasn’t scored less than 12 points in any of Temple’s contests since.

Morgan, meanwhile, enjoyed his highest point total in a game Saturday since he netted 19 points in the Owls’ defeat of USF on Jan. 22. He sank 5 of 7 3-pointers in the victory, including two in the game’s final eight minutes.

With the absence of Nichols, junior Jaylen Bond, the conference’s leading rebounder with 8.3 boards per game, could benefit from a favorable matchup Friday alongside a combination of Temple forwards Devontae Watson and Obi Enechionyia.

Temple last won a conference tournament in the 2010-11 season as a member of the Atlantic 10. In The American’s inaugural tournament at Memphis last year, the Owls dropped a 94-90 contest to South Florida in double overtime.

The Tigers entered a conference quarterfinal matchup against Connecticut last season as the favorites and the No. 19-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, but were topped, 72-53, by the Huskies en route to UConn’s national-title-winning run.

The two teams will tip off at 2 p.m., and will be shown on ESPN2. The winner will play Saturday at 3 p.m. against the victor of a quarterfinal between East Carolina and Southern Methodist, which will take place Friday at noon.

Dunphy honored as conference’s coach of the year

Posted on by

Fran Dunphy was chosen as the American Athletic Conference’s Coach of the Year award at the conference’s awards luncheon held Thursday at the XL Center, according to a recent press release.

Dunphy, who owns a career coaching record of 499-269, has led the Owls to a 22-9 mark this year after the team finished 9-22 last season, when it failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006-07 – Dunphy’s first season as Temple coach.

“I am humbled by this honor as there are so many coaches deserving of this award in our conference,” Dunphy said in the release. “While this may read Coach of the Year, it is truly a team award. I would like to recognize our staff for all the hard work throughout the season, and our players for their hard work this season.”

The honor marks the third time the 26-year coach has been honored with a conference coach-of-the-year award at Temple. Previously, he was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012.

Sánchez bound for Big 5 Hall of Fame

Posted on by

Pepe Sánchez, a former Temple All-American, was announced Monday to be headed to the Big 5 Hall of Fame. He’ll be inducted Monday, April 13 at the Palestra during the season-ending Big 5 banquet.

The Argentina native will be enshrined alongside longtime Philadelphia Daily News reporter Stan Hochman, former University of Pennsylvania forward Ugonna Onyekwe and Fox Sports 1 broadcaster Bill Raftery.

In a Temple career spanning from 1996 to 2000, Sanchez was named Big 5 MVP for his junior and senior seasons, while he still owns the university’s all-time record with 5.9 assists per game through his four years with the Owls.

While scoring wasn’t a primary aspect of his game, his assist numbers and 365 career steals helped him play two seasons in the NBA. After the 2002-03 season, Sanchez played for four teams overseas before closing out his career with Weber Bahia Estudiantes in Argentina from 2010-2013.