PHILADELPHIA – The Temple men’s basketball team will be looking to ring in the New Year with the program’s 1800th victory Monday when it takes on Bowling Green at the Liacouras Center in a New Year’s Eve matinee game. The Owls (9-2) and Falcons (5-6) contest will tip-off at 2:00 p.m (OwlAccess/1210 WPHT AM). Fans will receive a discounted ticket for as low as $5.00 for bringing a new, unwrapped toy to the game for Toys for Tots. Canned food will also be collected for Philabundance.
The Owls, under the direction of head coach Fran Dunphy, will become just the sixth NCAA Division I program to reach the 1800-win milestone with their next victory. More importantly Monday, Temple will be looking to extract revenge over Bowling Green, who defeated the Owls in Ohio last season.
Temple, who had an unschedule break due to Friday’s postponement of the Detroit game, will be playing its first game since its 83-79 upset of then #3/3 Syracuse at Madison Square Garden (Dec. 22). That win extended the Owls streak to five season with a win over a Top 10 opponent, the best active streak for wins by an unranked team over a Top 10 foe.
Senior guard Khalif Wyatt, who earned A10 and National Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the Syracuse win, leads the Owls in scoring (16.2 ppg.) and assists (3.9 apg.). Wyatt scored a career-high 33 points in the upset of the Orange, and made 15 of 15 free throws to propel the team to victory.
Senior forward Scootie Randall is second on the squad in scoring (13.0 ppg.) while topping the squad in rebounding (7.2 rpg.). Sophomore forward Anthony Lee (11.5 ppg., 6.8 rpg.) also had a career day against SU, scoring a personal best 21 points while hauling in nine boards. Senior Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (8.9 ppg., 5.6 rpg.) and sophomore guard Will Cummings (5.5 ppg., 2.0 spg.) round out the Owls’ starting five.
Graduates Jake O’Brien (7.5 ppg.) and T.J. DiLeo (3.5 ppg.) are the top two reserves with junior Dalton Pepper (1.8 ppg.) and freshman Quenton DeCosey (3.8 ppg.) also seeing quality time.
Bowling Green, under the direction of head coach Louis Orr, is 5-7 on the season following a 56-53 loss at North Dakota Friday. The Falcons are led by the senior duo of Jordan Crawford (16.5ppg.) and A’uston Calhoun (15.7 ppg.). Crawford also tops the team in assists (47), steals (21) and three-pointers (26), while Calhoun leads the squad in rebounding. (7.0 rpg.) Sophomore Chauncey Orr, the coach’s son, is next in scoring with a 6.8 average.
Temple leads the series, 3-1, but Bowling Green won last year’s contest, 67-64.
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