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Temple Topples Muskies!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/21/2010
So how did Temple pull it off? The Owls beat the Muskies 77-72 Wednesday night in Philly. The loss wasn't unexpected! TU was favored at home by 3 and a half. They are rated 16th! They did beat Villanova by 10 for the Wildcats only loss so far! But the game was played at XU's pace? A score in the 70's favored Xavier I wrote boldly a couple days ago. Simply stated -- XU played a lot of matador defense. T scored on numerous uncontested lay-ups and wide-open jumpers inside and outside the three point arc. The Owls shot a sizzling 59% from the floor.
Help defense wasn't operative for the Muskies and nobody tried to step in to take a charge. T was selective from long range (and deadly) going 5-10 from 3 point range. Why bother to jack up a bomb when easy two pointers are available after running almost no offense?? XU launched 24 three's (too many).
Temple got to the FT line 18 times-making 14 while Xavier lagged going 9 for 12. That's minus 5 points in that category alone. X had been averaging plus 10 in FT points over their 4 game win streak.
The first half was an exercise in basket trading with TU a step ahead. The Owls led 39-34 at the break. X played a solid 5 minutes to open half two embarking on a 7 point run-taking a 48-47 lead.
Terrell Holloway triggered that good stretch attacking the basket with the dribble. The defense dug in and got stops. But that was it!! Jason Love picked up a third foul. X went into a scoring drought. The Muskies got into the bonus with 12 minutes left and couldn't find a way to shoot free throws.
T's Juan Fernandez got hot and made every shot he took. Down the stretch Ryan Brooks iced it with 8 straight FTs.
Who to blame?? First, let's give credit!! Temple's Big Three is excellent!! Lavoy Allen,Brooks and Fernandez combined for 53 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists. X needed to take one of the 3 away. They did not.
Brooks and Fernandez are both 6-4. It's hard for X to guard both of them and Allen is a very mobile 6-9-another nasty match-up with this XU roster. Luiz Guzman always kills XU (10 points-4 assists). Those 4 played 153 of a possible 160 minutes.
If X would meet TU in the A-10 Championship game, first off both would probably already be in the NCAA Tourney but X might have a real edge with greater depth playing a third game in just over 48 hours.
Bench guys hurt Xavier in this game. There was a big drop-off. Kenny Frease struggled handling the ball (3 turnovers) and finishing (1-4 shooting). The game seems a tick fast for him some nights. This was one of those nights.
Mark Lyons made some bad decisions. He's fresh off an injury and a freshman point guard. Holloway needs rest. Lyons is going to be excellent. You live with Lyon's learning curve. Jason Love played like a warrior (16 points-7 rebounds). He needed more help inside. Holloway and Jordan Crawford were good enough. Brad Redford did his job (3-7) from long range.
Better defense and fewer give-aways by Lyons and Frease add up to a nifty XU road win. Didn't happen!!
Now Xavier must hold serve on the three game home stand (Rhode Island, Duquesne and Fordham) to stay near the Temple lead in the A-10.
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