Owls Beat Quakers

Coach Fran Dunphy beat his former team on Wednesday night. Dionte Christmas scored 24 points as Temple posted an 80-64 victory over Penn. But sophomore point guard Luis Guzman injured his hip and his status for Saturday's game against Saint Joseph's is uncertain.

The pregame roster and stat sheet told you everything you needed to know about Wednesday night’s Big 5 matchup between Temple and Penn, where former high school teammates Martavis Kee and Jack Eggleston sat on opposite benches.

A year ago, Kee was the all-state guard and Eggleston was a productive frontcourt plugger at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Nobody questioned who was the better college prospect.

Kee landed at Temple, where he’s played a grand total of seven minutes this season. Meanwhile, at Penn, Eggleston has started from day one and ranks second on the team in minutes and third in scoring.

The Quakers are rebuilding.

Yes, the Owls are rebuilding, too. But at least Coach Fran Dunphy has three returning starters, including his two star players, back from last season. Two of Penn’s three best players are freshmen – including Eggleston.

Coming off an 82-42 loss to Saint Joseph’s, the Quakers limped into The Liacouras Center on Wednesday night to face a Temple squad that might be on the verge of something good. The game figured to be a blowout.

It was, until the Owls lost two starters and got a little tired and lazy.

Temple jumped to a 12-0 lead, pushed it to 41-22 at the half, then slogged through the second half to earn an 80-64 victory. The Owls improved their record to 9-8 this season. Penn slipped to 5-12.

There wasn’t much fanfare surrounding Dunphy’s second battle against his former team. The Quakers beat the Owls in a wild affair at The Palestra last season. Most notable this year was the fact that several of Dunphy’s former players were sitting behind Temple’s bench instead of Penn’s bench.

After a spectacular start – the Owls hit four three-pointers in the first three minutes of the contest – the action got a little chippy.

Late in the first half, sophomore point guard Luis Guzman took a shot to his right hip and crumpled to the floor in pain. He did not return to action. Dunphy said afterward that it was a “hip pointer-type” injury and that Guzman may not be available for Saturday’s game against St. Joe’s.

Midway through the second half, Penn Coach Glen Miller was called for a technical foul for arguing a potential goaltending call against the Owls. Later, the home team lost Sergio Olmos to his fifth foul. Lavoy Allen played the last four minutes with four fouls. But the Owls were far enough ahead to avoid serious concern.

While the Quakers never quit, and they shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, they also never cut the lead under 10 points.

But Temple didn’t get far enough ahead for Kee to get on the floor.

Dionte Christmas was (who else?) Dionte Christmas, hitting 8 of 15 field goal attempts, including 5 of 9 three-pointers. He led all scorers with 24 points. Mark Tyndale added 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Both of them, as usual, played the entire second half.

Ryan Brooks added 15 points, matching the second-highest point total of his career. Chris Clark had eight points, three assists, and no turnovers in 30 minutes. With Guzman out of action, Clark played the entire second half. He admitted after the game that he got tired towards the end.

The Owls looked a bit lethargic in allowing the Quakers to get some open three-point shots and score on a few inbounds plays in the second half. Scrappy freshman Tyler Bernardini led the Quakers with 16 points. Eggleston had 15.

Allen was Temple’s most energetic player, scoring on a couple late putbacks to keep the Owls ahead by double digits. Allen finished with eight points and nine rebounds, which matched his career-high. Still, the 6-9 freshman hasn’t scored in double figures in eight straight games.

He and Olmos will face a huge challenge when Ahmad Nivins and St. Joe’s come to North Broad Street on Saturday. Dunphy said that the game against the Hawks will be a true test of whether the Owls have “turned the corner.”

Postgame Press Conference: Listen to Audio

Harvey Levine's Penn-Temple Gallery