Owls to Tackle the Storm

Coming off yesterday's victory over Virginia Tech, the Temple Owls will head back to The Palestra tonight to take on their second Big East opponent in the St. John's Red Storm.

Temple will look to continue their two game winning streak through such a tough out of conference schedule. The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Saturday's game against St. John's for the Temple Men's Basketball team.

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Temple Owls vs. St. John's Red Storm
The Palestra (Philadelphia, PA)
Television: MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network)
Tip-off: 8:30 PM

This is the first time in 20 years that the teams have played. In their previous meeting (March 16, 1990), St. John's was able to win handily by a score of 81-65. The Red Storm lead the overall series 3-1.

St. John's Red Storm

Overall Record: (4-0)(0-0)
2008 Record:(15-16)(6-12)
Last Game: (77-68 win over Siena)

Key Losses: (C) Tomas Jasiulionis
Key Returns: (G) D.J Kennedy, (F) Sean Evans, (F) Justin Burrell, (G) Malik Boothe, (G) Paris Horne

The St. John's Red Storm are in an interesting situation, as the entire starting 5 has returned from last year. In addition, there was merely one senior that had graduated from this team. The majority of these players are entering their junior year, and it goes to show the amount of unity and experience this program has. In addition, this team is very talented and dangerous.

Here's a look at St. John's last top performers:

D.J. Kennedy (23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists)
Dwight Hardy (13 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists)
Paris Horne (9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists)
Sean Evans (9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist)
Justin Brownlee (9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)

Led by junior D.J. Kennedy, the St. John's Red Storm are equipped with talent and a ton of depth. Kennedy leads this team with 18 points per game, as well as 3 assists per game as well. Roughly four players on this team average double digits, and 11 players have found ways to contribute whether it be scoring or rebounding. This team defines team effort. Matter of fact, 32 of the team's 77 points against Siena came from guys off the bench-- that says a lot about the wide variety of talent on this squad.

This being said, Temple fans know that Coach Fran Dunphy is not one to go deep on the bench in the majority of the teams outings. That means that the Red Storm will have fresh legs on and off the court at all times.

As a team, the Red Storm are generally a taller team. They match up extremely well with the Owls, from guard to center.

Temple Owls

Overall Record: (3-1)(0-0)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (61-50 win over Virginia Tech)

Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen

Unlike St. John's, the Temple Owls lost a number of players and key contributors after this past year due to graduation. However, what this team lacks in leaders they gain in experience. Leading the Owls are senior Ryan Brooks and junior Lavoy Allen, who have been to two NCAA tournaments already. Lavoy Allen has recently stepped up huge in this Philly Classic, scoring a double double in both contests. Brooks has slightly cooled off, and several others have began impacting this team.

Unlike last year, Temple's 3 point shooting percentage has tremendously dropped since Dionte Christmas' departure. The Owls tend to score more from mid-range jumpers, and now more often points in the paint.

Here's Temple's last top performers:

Lavoy Allen (18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists)
Juan Fernandez (8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists)
Luis Guzman (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists)
Ryan Brooks (7 points, 4 rebounds)
Craig Williams (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks)

The Owls, as they usually have done under Coach Fran Dunphy, have settled to about an 3 deep bench. Similar to St. John's, Temple has several players who despite getting fewer minutes have made plays game in and game out.

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Predicted Starting 5

Here's our prediction of today's starting five for the Temple Owls:

(G) Juan Fernandez
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(F) Craig Williams

Key Players (TEM): Both teams are coming off games on Friday, so there's no excuse for one team to be more tired out than the other. Lavoy Allen played all 40 minutes in what was his best game of the season, but will once again need to make things happen against a talented team like SJU. Ryan Brooks needs to play the way he played earlier against Delaware in order to provide Temple will another dangerous scoring option. Also, the defense just needs to keep doing what they have all season to keep the Red Storm's weapons contained.

Key Players (STJ): St. John's will want to utilize every weapon they have between their starting five and the bench. D.J. Kennedy can do enough damage himself, but playing against a defense like Temple's a guy can only do so much. The key for SJU would be to use and create every scoring option possible in order to cause problems for this defense. A team can never have too many players contributing to their offense. For the most part, the Red Storm will also want to force the Owls to rush their shots, rather than set up a look in the paint.

Feel free to join us for a Live Chat during the game! Temple - St. John's Gameday Chat!

You can catch Tuesday's game on ESPN, as well as ESPN360.com!