After a dissapointing and discourging loss to Charlotte, the Temple Owls will look to bounce back and head home for a big five matchup against the La Salle Explorers.
The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Saturday night's outing for the Temple Men's Basketball team.
#15 Temple Owls vs. La Salle Explorers
The Liacouras Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Television: (TV) ESPN2 | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT
Tip-off: 12:00 PM
The head to head matchup has Temple leading 60-45. Last year's matchup featured a split between the teams, with the Explorers winning the second game at the Liacouras Center 70-63.
La Salle Explorers
Overall Record: (11-9)(3-3)
2008 Record: (18-13)(9-7)
Last Game: (80-73 win over Fordham)
Key Losses: None
Key Returns: (G) Rodney Green, (G) Kimmani Barrett
La Salle is a team that consists of both veteran and youth leadership. Guards Rodney Green and Kimmani Barrett lead the Explorer backcourt with their contributions, but are assisted by the developing post game.
The Explorers have been challenged several times this year, playing against teams like Kansas, Xavier, and South Carolina. Although these three games all resulted in losses, the team has been able to learn from these opportunities to give future opponents tough challeneges.
La Salle's RPI current sits at number 12.
Field Goal Percentage: 46%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 38%
Free Throw Percentage: 67%
As a team, the La Salle Explorers average 72 points per game, and see scoring from nearing everyone on the team that sees efficient playing time.
Here's an idea of La Salle's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against Fordham:
Aaric Murray (24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks)
Jerrell Williams (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists)
Rodney Green (16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists)
Yves Mekongo Mbala (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists)
The Explorers have a number of contributors:
Leading the team in scoring is senior guard Rodney Green. Green has been a proven playmaker for the last couple of years for La Salle, and continues to contribute great numbers. He is currently averaging 19 points per game along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kimmani Barrett is the other half of this talented Explorer backcourt. Also in his senior year, Barrett averages 13 points and four assists for his team. The tandem of Green and Barrett has proven to be very challenging to guard.
One of the newest additions to this team is freshman Aaric Murray, who has definitely lived up to the majority of his expectations. The 6'10 first year center scores 13 points and pulls down 7 boards per outing.
La Salle's defense gives up 71 points per game; however, the team does average 5 blocks and 7 steals.
Please be sure to visit the following La Salle sites for more on the Explorers:
#15 Temple Owls
Overall Record: (17-4)(5-1)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (74-64 loss to Charlotte)
Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen, (G) Juan Fernandez
Temple has had a tough out of conference schedule leading up to Atlantic 10 Conference play, and competition has yet to light up a bit. The Owls have seen the likes of three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown), a Big 12 team (Kansas), and teams from the ACC and Big Ten. The Owls have been challenged early on and have been very successful thus far. Temple's Strength of Schedule is currently ranked 27th in the country.
According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 16th in the country.
Field Goal Percentage: 42%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 34%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%
As a team, the Owls average 65 points per outing. This comes from the contributions of several players.
Here's Temple's last top performers in their game against Charlotte:
Ryan Brooks (20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists)
Luis Guzman (14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Lavoy Allen (12 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists)
Scootie Randall (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist)
Temple's leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Brooks. He is both athletic in the scoring column as well as the rebounding stat. Brooks averages 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Guard Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer, averaging 14 points and 4 assists. Fernandez was in foul trouble early on against Charlotte and could not contribute the number he would have liked.
Lavoy Allen is Temple's third leading scorer and top rebounder. Averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds, Allen has been a force to reckon with all year long.
The Owls' defense gives up 56 points per game, and as a team Temple averages roughly 5 steals and 3 blocks per game.
Predicted Starting 5
Here's our prediction of Saturday's starting five for the Temple Owls:
(G) Juan Fernandez
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(C) Micheal Eric
Key Players (TEM): Juan Fernandez is going to be needed in this game, as his missing presence against Charlotte is just one of many reasons Temple was upset. If he is able to stay out of foul trouble and get into the mix with Ryan Brooks and Lavoy Allen, Temple could bounce back nicely from Wednesday.
Key Players (LU): Aaric Murray is going to have his hands full in the paint when he takes on Lavoy Allen, but there's no challenge the freshman playmaker isn't willing to face. He and Yves Mekongo Mbala will need to solidify a post game presence against the Owls.
We'll have more in store for tomorrow's meeting with the Explorers as we approach gametime!
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