Owls Are Lost in the Red Storm

(Kennedy's 15 points lead SJU to their first 5-0 start since '02)

The Temple Owls and St. John's Red Storm battled it out at The Palestra on Saturday night for the Philly Hoops Classic finale. Both teams were looking to tack on a win that would look really nice on their tournament resumes.

This game was very similar to Temple's outing against Georgetown, where both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket. In addition, both teams struggled to take care of the ball, combining for 31 turnovers.

Poor shooting was once again the story of this game for Temple. The Owls shot 18 for 64 (that's 28%), and could not capitalize from the free throw line. From the charity strike, Temple was 9 for 15 (60%).

St. John's had a number of opportunities to extend their lead and pull away, as TU gave the Red Storm 20 points on 23 fouls.

In our preview of this game ("Owls to Tackle the Storm"), we mentioned that an advantage that St. John's had was their ability to go five or six guys deep on the bench. The Red Storm were able to wear down the Owls through this game, and get several important TU playmakers in early foul trouble.

Players like Lavoy Allen and Craig Williams struggled early with fouls, and partially kept them from contributing as well.

Here's a looking at the scoring breakdown for the Owls:

Lavoy Allen - (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks)
Ryan Brooks - (8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Juan Fernandez - (5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists)
Ramone Moore - (10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
Rahlir Jefferson - (9 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal)
Luis Guzman - (2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist)
Craig Williams - (3 points, 2 rebounds)
Scootie Randall - (2 points, 2 rebounds)

Sophomore Ramone Moore led the Owls with 10 points, followed by Rahlir Jefferson and Lavoy Allen with 9. Jefferson led all rebounders with 12 boards.

For St. John's, the team was led by leading scorer D.J. Kennedy with 15 points, followed by Dwight Hardy with 11 points off the bench. Sean Evans led the team with 11 rebounds, with also told part of this game's story.

Temple's record goes to (4-2)(0-0), and the Owls take on the Western Michigan Broncos.

St. John's record goes to (5-0)(0-0) and the Red Storm will head home to play Stony Brook

Stay updated with The Owl's Nest or follow us on twitter.