Back on a two game winning the streak, the Temple Owls will continue to regain their momentum by heading out on the road this Saturday to take on the Richmond Spiders.
The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Saturday afternoon's outing for the Temple Men's Basketball team.
#17 Temple Owls vs. Richmond Spiders
Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena (Richmond, Virginia)
Television: (TV) ESPNU | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT
Tip-off: 2:00 PM
The head to head matchup has Temple leading 8-6. Last year's matchup featured a 74-65 Owls victory.
Richmond Spiders
Overall Record: (17-6)(6-2)
2008 Record: (14-14)(9-7)
Last Game: (68-58 win over Saint Joseph's)
Key Losses: (F) Jarhon Giddings
Key Returns: (G) David Gonzalvez, (G) Kevin Anderson
The Richmond Spiders are having a spectacular season this year with both difficult losses and hard earned victories. The Spiders have played a number of talents thus far both in and away from their home schedule.
One of the team's key wins came within the first week of college basketball, when Richmond took down the Big 12's Missouri. The team slowly improved itself and earned another solid victory over the Florida Gators.
Losses come against William & Mary, VCU, South Carolina, Saint Louis, and Charlotte.
Richmond's RPI current sits at number 31 in the country.
Field Goal Percentage:44%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 33%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%
As a team, the Richmond Spiders average 67 points per game, and see scoring from nearly everyone on the team that sees efficient playing time.
Here's an idea of Richmond's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against :
David Gonzalvez (18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist)
Ryan Butler (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Kevin Anderson (9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists)
Kevin Smith (7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
The Spiders have a number of contributors:
Kevin Anderson is the team's leading scorer, averaging 17 points and 4 rebounds. The junior guard has however been held to just 15 points in his last two games.
The team's second leading scorer is David Gonzalvez, who single handedly scored over half of his Richmond's points against the Owls last year. Gonzalvez averages 13 points and 4 rebounds per outing.
The final double digit scorer is forward Justin Harper. He is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 11 points and 6 boards per game.
Please be sure to visit the following Richmond sites for more on the Spiders:
#17 Temple Owls
Overall Record: (19-4)(7-1)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (76-60 win over Duquesne)
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 rd in the country.
According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 17th in the country.
Field Goal Percentage: 43%
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 Duquesne:
Ramone Moore (15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists)
Lavoy Allen (14 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks)
Rahlir Jefferson (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals)
Luis Guzman (9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists)
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.
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): Temple's two guards Ryan Brooks and Juan Fernandez have played sparingly in the last several games with both player becoming extremely unreliable. It will be up to Temple's two top scorers to finally incorporate themselves back into the mix or the Owls will have a number of problems.
Key Players (RICH): The play of David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson is going to be crucial for the Richmond Spiders to be able to give Temple a scare. Duquesne was able to get Eric Evans in double digits, but Temple's defense was able to shut down leading scorer Damian Saunders. The Spiders need to be consistent and productive to earn the win.
We'll have more in store for Saturday's meeting with the Spiders as we approach gametime!
