Charlotte 49ers (9-10, 1-4 Atlantic 10) @ Temple Owls (13-5, 3-2)
7:00 PM January 26, 2011
Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA
ALL-TIME
The series is tied 5-5. Both teams own 4-0 records on their home court and are 1-1 at neutral sites.
LAST TIME
1/27/2010 - The #15/#15 Owls were given a reality check courtesy of the 49ers as they were upset at the Halton Arena 74-64. Temple was winning 45-39 with just under 12 minutes to go in the game before Derrio Green ignited a fast and furious Charlotte rally that ultimately gave them their first lead of the game. The guard finished with a game-high 26 points. Lavoy Allen scored 12 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Owls. Juan Fernandez struggled mightily, scoring only three points and fouling out in 24 minutes.
HEAD COACHES
Temple
Fran Dunphy
Record at Temple: 97-54 (5th season)
All-Time Record: 407-217 (21st season)
Charlotte
Alan Major
Record at Charlotte: 9-10 (1st season)
All-Time Record: 9-10 (1st season)
TOP PERFORMERS
Temple
PPG: G Ramone Moore - 14.9
RPG: F Lavoy Allen - 6.0
APG: G Juan Fernandez - 3.8
Charlotte
PPG: G Derrio Green - 13.3
RPG: F Chris Braswell - 7.1
APG: G Derrio Green - 4.4
PROBABLE STARTERS
Temple
Lavoy Allen F - 10.1 ppg. 6.0 rpg. 1.6 bpg.
Scootie Randall F - 9.9 ppg 4.6 rpg. .482 fg%
Micheal Eric F - 6.9 ppg. 5.9 rpg. 1.7 bpg.
Juan Fernandez G - 10.4 ppg. 3.3 rpg. 3.8 apg.
Ramone Moore G - 14.9 ppg. 4.8 rpg. 2.6 apg
Charlotte
Javarris Barnett F - 7.1 ppg. 5.4 rpg. .421 fg%
An'Juan Wilderness F - 6.3 ppg. 4.8 rpg. .471 fg%
Chris Braswell F - 10.5 ppg. 7.1 rpg. .481 fg%
Derrio Green G - 13.3 ppg. 3.9 rpg. .347 fg%
Jamar Briscoe G - 13.0 ppg. 4.3 rpg. .367 fg%
LAST OUTING
Temple (88-77 loss at Xavier)
From my game story:
Scootie Randall's career high 28 points on 11 of 16 shooting was all for naught as the Owls simply could not get the key stops necessary to overtake the Musketeers. The Cherry and White tied the game three times in the first half and four times in the second but were simply unable to get over the hump.
Randall single-handedly kept the Owls in the game early, scoring the team's first 11 points and genuinely looking like the only player on the court for the Owls who came to the Cintas Center ready to play.
Xavier was able to keep the Owls at bay for much of the half until the junior forward hit a three-pointer with 7:10 remaining to give Temple their first lead of the game, 29-28.A 6-0 mini-run of three straight layups by Andrew Taylor, Jamel McClean and Kenny Frease pushed the Musketeers back out in front, 34-29. The Owls ended up going into the half down just two points, 41-39, despite the fact that they simply could not stop the Musketeers in transition.
Charlotte (83-67 loss at Duquesne)
From the Associated Press:
B.J. Monteiro had 20 points and six rebounds and Damian Saunders added 15 and six as Duquesne cruised past Charlotte 83-67 on Saturday in front of 3,687 fans.
The resurgent Dukes (13-5, 5-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) have won eight consecutive games for the first time since 1971-72. All of the victories on this streak have been by double digits.
This one was relatively easy, despite some statistics. Duquesne made just 6 of 24 from 3-point range, and was outrebounded 41-28 by the 49ers (9-10, 1-4).
THE MATCHUP
The 49ers are down to just eight scholarship players after Shamari Spears quit the team and Phil Jones was ruled academically ineligible for the spring semester. Chris Braswell has been thrust into the center position in Jones' absence and has performed admirably but he is going to have his hands full with Lavoy Allen and Micheal Eric. K.J. Sherrill, a 6-7 sophomore forward, may be able to provide some relief off the bench but size is at a premium for the 49ers.
The key for Charlotte is their guard play. Derrio Green and and Jamar Briscoe average roughly 13 points each. If they can knock down some shots and spread out Temple's defense a bit then Braswell and Sherrill may be able to get that extra bit of room necessary to make more of an impact down low.
Reserve Gokhan Sirin and Javarris Barnett are the only real three-point threats on the 49ers. Sirin connects on just a hair under 43 percent of his three-point attempts and Barnett knocks down 41.5 percent of them. The 6-9 Sirin's minutes have jumped up nearly twenty per game under first year coach Alan Major but he is more of a perimeter player. I wouldn't be surprised if Rahlir Jefferson finds himself guarding the junior from Turkey.
Senior forward An'Juan Wilderness is one of those players that has seemingly been around forever. He isn't going to wow you game in and game out but he does give a solid all-around effort. Wilderness hasn't scored in double digits since a Dec. 7 victory over Winthrop but he is still a player the Owls will have to account for at all times on the court. His style of play reminds me a little of former Owl and current member of the coaching staff Dion Dacons.
PREDICTION
Temple SHOULD be able to take this game easily. The Owls are a much different team on their home court (8-0 this year and 39-6 since 2007-08) and I suspect that they will come out firing on all cylinders. I think last year's loss at Charlotte is still in the back of the player's minds and I believe they'll be looking to atone. Temple 77, Charlotte 58