History is on Temple’s side.
The last time the Owls surrendered 100 points in a game, they finished the season in the Elite Eight. That was 1993. The opponent was Wake Forest. And the Owls had a trio of guards named Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones, and Rick Brunson.
McKie was back on campus Sunday night. During a timeout in the Temple-Villanova game, he thanked the Temple community for its generous contributions to his holiday toy drive. It might as well have been Villanova Coach Jay Wright who thanked the Owls for their generosity in allowing the Wildcats to put the ball in the basket.
On the 10th Anniversary of The Liacouras Center, Temple proved defenseless in a 101-93 loss to Villanova, which posted its record-breaking 13th consecutive Big 5 victory.
In a lopsided second half, the Owls scored 33 points in the last six minutes just to make the final score respectable. Prior to the late burst, the Wildcats led by 24 points.
Two minutes into the second half, Villanova had a 47-45 lead. Then they smashed the home team with a 33-12 run. Early in the run, Coach Fran Dunphy called three timeouts in a three-minute stretch. Nothing could stop the runaway.
For Villanova, sophomore guard Scottie Reynolds looked NBA-ready in a do-no-wrong performance – leading the Wildcats in points (27), assists (9), rebounds (6), and steals (3). Sophomore forward Shane Clark had 17 points and freshman forward Antonio Pena had 17 points in 16 minutes.
The Wildcats took advantage of their size advantage when Dunphy replaced Sergio Olmos with Ryan Brooks, leaving freshman Lavoy Allen as the only big man on the floor. While the Owls held their own on the boards (31-31), they were unable to stop the Wildcats from getting easy shots in the paint. Pena went 7 of 8 from the field.
Brooks hit a bunch of big shots and finished with a career-high 22 points. Senior guard Mark Tyndale led the Owls with 24 points and six assists. Dionte Christmas had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.
But all those points were meaningless as the Wildcats were never stopped.
In reality, the only time the score was close was when Olmos was in the game. The Owls owned a 30-29 advantage in the 15 minutes that he was on the floor. Coincidence? Probably. Olmos finished with two points, one rebound, and two turnovers. But his size must have meant something.
On a few occasions, the Owls went with a zone defense. But it failed every time. In the 1-3-1, they gave up a three-pointer and two dunks. In a 2-3, they surrendered another three-pointer.
Offensively, Temple did a pretty good job against Villanova’s fullcourt pressure. Yet the Owls still finished with 17 turnovers, most of them in the halfcourt set.
Allen had some big moments and sometimes disappeared in 36 minutes of action. He finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots. At point guard, the Owls got another nice game from sophomore Luis Guzman, who hit a pair of three-pointers in the first five minutes and finished with 13 points. But he also couldn’t avoid foul trouble, and fouled out in 26 minutes.
For awhile, the game was very exciting for the home crowd. The Owls led for most of the first half, until Villanova went on an 8-0 run to take a 35-29 lead. Temple answered with a 10-2 burst, sparked by Allen and Brooks.
But the Wildcats scored the next five points and carried a 42-39 lead into the locker room. And the game wasn’t close after the first three minutes of the second half.
Dunphy/Tyndale/Brooks Postgame: Listen to Audio
Lavoy Allen Postgame Interview: Listen to Audio
Jay Wright/Villanova Players: Listen to Audio
Harvey Levine's Villanova-Temple Gallery
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