HALFTIME UPDATE: Owls: 19, Bulls: 15
The Owls lead, 19-15 at the half and the game began as expected with low-scoring and physical.
The Bulls struggled offensively at the half, shooting 11.1 percent from the field, going 3-27. Meanwhile the Owls had 14 fewer field goal attempts and went 5-for-13 (38-5 percent).
The score was 11-5 at the 10-minute mark of the first half, in favor of Temple and junior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson led the squad with four points, two steals and a rebound.
Entering the game, the Owls were expecting to face a tough South Florida defense. The Bulls have been stingy all year and has been talked about lately, after coming off a win over California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they allowed 13 points in the first.
Junior guard Khalif Wyatt scored nine points at the half, which bested all scorers in the game. Wyatt added two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block as well.
Redshirt-senior guard Ramone Moore senior failed to score in the half and senior guard Juan Fernandez recorded a single point. Both guards average 17.7 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, on the year and are statistically the Owls first and third-best scorers.
The Bulls are led by sophomore forward Victor Rudd Jr., who scored four points in the half. The Bulls’ defense has kept the game close with suffocating man-to-man coverage, as it recorded five steals and a block.
Redshirt-freshman forward Anthony Lee, sophomore Aaron Brown and senior guard T.J. DiLeo all saw action as reserves in the half and combined for two points.
Owls prepare for tonight’s game
March Madness: Temple MBB: Scouting the South Florida Bulls
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Owls practiced for their allotted 40 minutes Thursday evening at the Bridgestone Arena in preparation for a second round NCAA Tournament match up with the play-in game winner South Florida Bulls.
Although the practice appeared to be nothing more than a typical pre-game shoot around, the fifth-seeded Owls made it evident during its press conference earlier on Thursday that they weren’t going to take the 12th-seeded Bulls lightly. The game will tip-off at 9:50 p.m on Friday (TNT broadcast).
Friday’s game will feature the Owls’ first meeting with the Bulls in program history, but coach Fran Dunphy told the media that he has been following South Florida’s play in the Big East Conference this season.
“I thought they were a really terrific defensive basketball team, who took care of the ball in pretty good fashion and great control of games; most teams played at their pace,” Dunphy said. “And then last night, obviously they defended very well, but they also made shots, and made a ton of them early and got a sizeable gap between they and California. I just thought they were on their game last night.”
Graduate center Micheal Eric said South Florida appears similar to an opponent that Temple faced earlier in the year at the 5 Hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
“I think they remind me of Wichita St., [South Florida] has depth with the guards and scoring abilities from the wings” Eric said. “It’s going to be an interesting game.”
The Owls defeated Wichita St. in overtime, 78-74.
South Florida is led by 6-foot 10-inch senior forward Augustus Gilchrist who averages 9.6 points per game.
The Bulls have four other players who average at least eight points. Senior guard Hugh Robertson averages 6.7 points per game and is the team’s leader in field goal percentage at 52.7 percent.
Wyatt took several shots during the practice that looked like he was anticipating shooting over the length of the Bulls.
Temple will be facing a South Florida defense that shutdown California in the first round game on Wednesday night, as they went onto win 65-54. The Bulls held the Bears to 13 first half points and to 5-of-24 shooting.
“We’re going to have to move the ball, be patient and move without the ball too,” senior guard Juan Fernandez said. “And play as a team more than ever on offense, if we’re going to break them down.”
The Owls will look to make it two consecutive years in which they make it past the second round, as last year then-No. 7 Temple defeated No. 10 Penn State, 66-64 at Tucson, Ariz. in the NCAA Tournament. Temple’s run ended in 2011 when they lost to No. 2 San Diego State in double overtime, 71-64.
“This is our [seniors’] last go-around, as far as we’re going to make it, it would be great to make it to the Elite Eight.,” redshirt-senior guard Ramone Moore said. “But, we don’t want to try to look too far ahead.”
Celebrate in green
St. Patrick’s Day is similar to Halloween, that is, it’s celebrated for an entire month by most, especially college students.
Whether you already attended State Patty’s Day in Happy Valley, Scranton’s Parade Day or Philadelphia’s own parade celebration last Sunday, don’t miss out on the festivities happening on the real day for the Irish – this Saturday, March 17.
And it looks like we’re all lucking out with the 70 degree weather that is predicted.
…Now that calls for a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.
Since St. Patrick’s Day isn’t on a week day this year, it’s the perfect time to leave Main Campus and explore other areas. Just get your homework done first, because you probably won’t be feeling well on Sunday.
Mad River in Manayunk is hosting its first annual Pattypalooza, an all-day indoor music festival starting at 11 a.m. this Saturday, March 17. Featured artists include Go Go Gadjet, Split Decision, Stellar Mojo and more. An outdoor deck bar and gazebo will be open and drink specials will be offered. See more about the event at madrivermanayunk.com.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by honoring the heritage and accomplishments of Irish souls at Laurel Hill Cemetery with a tour starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Sample Irish food and beer after the event let by Jerry McCormick and Bill Doran. See more on the website thelaurelhillcemetery.org.
If you missed last week’s parade in Philadelphia, head up to New York Saturday morning for the 251st annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, starting at 44th Street. Getting to experience our country’s oldest Irish tradition will surely be worth the $13 MegaBus ticket. Find out more information on nycstpatricksparade.org.
There are many Irish pubs and bars participating in St. Patty’s Day specials. Check out PubCrawls.com to find out more about the world’s largest pub crawl and its events offered in Philly.
But don’t lose your green beads just yet — the fun doesn’t stop until after next weekend.
Continue celebrating in Washington, DC next Saturday, March 24 at the National ShamrockFest. This year, Gavin Degraw, Dropkick Murphys, Carbon Leaf, Scythian and more will perform at the live music festival from 1 to 9 p.m at RFK Stadium. Check out shamrockfest.com for details and ticket prices.
Can’t get to DC? Take Amtrak to our state’s capitol, Harrisburg, to see the March 24 annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, starting at 2 p.m. See harrisburgirishparade.com for more information.
Men’s basketball will face South Florida in 2 Rd. of NCAA Tourney
The men’s basketball found out its second round match up Wednesday night when South Florida defeated California, 65-54, in the play-in game at Dayton, Ohio.
The Bulls played stiff defense and limited the Bears to 5-of-24 shooting at halftime and began the second half with a 36-13 lead. On the year, South Florida has had just three games where its offense has scored more points at halftime.
Check back at www.temple-news.com for coverage of the men’s basketball team in Nashville, Tenn. Coverage begins at the team’s practice on Thursday, in preparation for the Owls’ Friday game at 9:50 p.m.
(Watch TNT for the nationally-televised broadcast of the game).
Nikorak leads Owls to win over Penn on the diamond
Temple overcame a five-zero deficit after two innings to tie the game at seven in the eighth before prevailing,11-9, in the 11th innig to spoil Penn’s 2012 home debut.
By Scott Samuel David Weiss
UNIVERSITY CITY, Pa.- Following a disappointing 9-7 defeat at the hands of visiting LaSalle on Tuesday March 13, the Owls had fewer than 22 hours to regroup before their next Big Five showdown at Pennsylvania’s Meiklejohn Stadium on Wednesday, March 14.
Temple’s defeat by LaSalle had been the final game of a four-game homestand at Ambler’s Skip Wilson Field, in which the Owls outscored opponents, 29-28. Penn, which made its 2012 home debut in front of nearly 100 spectators, played eight consecutive road contests to begin this season, and they have been outscored 62-38.
After the Owls fell short in their comeback attempt against LaSalle a day before (in which Temple rallied trailing 8-0 to trailing 8-7), Temple had been bailed by a game-tying three-run sayonara by redshirt-senior third basemen Steve Nikorak in the bottom of the eighth to knot the score at seven.
The Owls and Quakers could not tally another run in their frames of the ninth, sending this Big Five contest to extra innings, where the visiting Owls prevailed against the host Quakers, 11-9, snapping a two-game skid.
The visiting Owls began the game with a fifth-pitch hit-by-pitch to Jordan Queja by Penn righty Connor Cuff to lead off the first. However, Cuff’s next three batters saw nine pitches, including strikeouts of Nikorak and Elijah Yarborough. In the bottom of the first, Owls righty Ryan Kuehn, making his first start of 2012, struggled after retiring Brandon Engelhardt on a right field flyout. Then, the Quakers’ Greg Zerback had been hit on his back on a cutter from Kuehn, and Spencer Branigan followed with a single.
There had been two on and one out with the count at two balls and two strikes when Quaker Ryan Dietrich, Penn’s leading hitter at .393, sent a screamer to deep left field onto the protection screen over the 365 mark for a three-run sayonara to put Penn leading 3-0. One more run crossed for the hosts on a Foster Dunigan Error, which had Derek Vigoa score from second for a Penn 4-0 advantage.
Connor Reilly’s one-out single in the Owls’ top of the second wiith one out turned into a pickled when he was caught between second and third, and Matt Elko grounded out to second. Engelhardt walked, stole second, reached third on a Kuehn misthrow to first, and scored on a Zerback sacrifice fly for a 5-0 Quaker lead after two.
Temple nor Penn scored in the third, which included a one-two-three inning from Kuehn in the bottom half. First-year coach Ryan Wheeler saw his Owls find their groove off Cuff in the top of the fourth, receiving two runs on two hits, including an RBI double from Elko that brought in Reilly, cutting the Penn edge to 5-2. Kuehn allowed an infield single to Kyle Toomey in the bottom half, but Toomey had been caught stealing second to end the frame.
“Let’s stay up now and get in this game,” Wheeler yelled at his players while approaching the bottom half of the fourth.
Additional chances of trimming Penn’s lead in the top of the frame began with Dunigan walking, but Queja grounded into a five-six-three double play. Nick Lustrino drew the Owls’ second walk of the inning before Nikorak struck out swinging.
Entering the bottom of the fifth, Wheeler removed Kuehn after four innings of four hits, five runs (four earned), one walk, and one strikeout. Steve Visnic, a sidearm righty, replaced Kuehn and did not disappoint as Visnic yielded two hits without a run along with one walk and two strikeouts. Zebrack gave the Quakers a runner in scoring position in the fifth by smoking a double off the right field wall from a Visnic offering.
“Don’t you let much go in,” Wheeler yelled at Visnic after he yielded Zebrack’s double. “Find your pitch.”
The Owls had an opportunity to chase Penn’s lead in the top of the six as Matt Gotschall replaced Cuff. Cuff pitched five innings, allowing four hits, two runs (both earned), three walks, and five strikeouts. However,Gottschall had been relieved by Quaker lefty John Beasley after Gotschall yielded singles to Taylor Juran, who has hit safely in 15 of 16 games in 2012, and Matt Elko, and Gotschall loaded the bases by walking Jabir Kahn. Dunigan, seizing the opportunity to drive in Owls, grounded out to the second baseman.
Unlike the top of the sixth, the Owls drove in runners in the top of the seven to cut their defecit to 5-4, in which they faced three Penn relievers. Beasely threw two-thirds additionally, Stephen Selvestri could not record an out by allowing a two-RBI single to Juran, and Cody Thompson allowed a single to Reilly and walk to Elko to load the bases for Kahn.
Before Juran’s seventh-inning at-bat, Reilly told him, “All it takes is one bat.”
Khan had been the batter at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, but he struck out on three pitches. The hosts extended their lead, 7-4, in the bottom of the seventh, with a two-run homerun by Branigan.
Penn held onto the lead for only half an inning before the homerun by Nikorak, which marked his first roundtripper of the season.
Penn(3-6,0-1 Big Five) had won the previous three meetings against the Owls(6-10, 1-1 Big Five). Also, the Quakers finished their 2011 home slate at Meiklejohn Stadium with nine victories against six defeats.
The Owls will have a day off to celebrate a rally that did not fall short before hosting St. Peters of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) at Skip Wilson Field on Friday March 16.
Scott Samuel David Weiss can be reached at scott.weiss@temple.edu.
Baseball: Owls get late rally, but Explorers hold on for win
By Samuel Botwinick
The Temple News
What looked like it might be a blowout early on ended up being a close game, with the La Salle Explorers edging out the Owls in a 9-7 victory at Skip Wilson Field at Ambler Campus.
The Explorers’ early outburst came in the first and third innings, with junior shortstop Joe Bennie driving in two runs with an RBI double in the top of the first.
The top of the third proved to be an eventful inning for both Owls’ senior starting pitcher, Dan Moller and fellow freshman pitcher Adam Dian, who proceeded to walk several batters, including throwing a wild pitch that led to a run.
The Owls began to regain momentum at the top of the ninth, thanks to the bats of redshirt-senior third baseman Steve Nikorak, junior designated hitter Elijah Yarborough, senior second baseman Foster Dunigan and redshirt-junior first baseman Matt Elko. Elko came up with a clutch two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to bring the Owls within one run.
Another contributor for the Owls was freshman relief pitcher Eric Peterson, who was able to neutralize the bats of the Explorers. Peterson pitched a career-high six innings of one-run ball, giving up three hits, while notching a career-high of five strikeouts. His only blemish was a solo shot yielded to Explorers’ sophomore center fielder George Smith Jr.
Peterson was confident in his “stuff” today and he was pleased with the way he pitched.
“I thought I threw pretty well today,” Peterson said. “I hit my spots. I was able to get out batters, so hopefully I’ll be able to gain confidence off that and move on to the next game, I guess.”
Reigning Atlantic Ten Conference Player of the Week, Nikorak, was the primary source of offense for the Owls, driving in two runs and collecting two doubles in the process. Nikorak contributed on defense as well, when he made a catch that prevented the Owls from giving up potential runs in the top of the seventh.
He explained what was going through his head when he attempted that catch.
“ Well, I was just trying to get over to that dug out and try to find the fence, and it worked out from there,” Nikorak said.
Coach Ryan Wheeler put the game in a nutshell.
“I thought it was sort of a tale of two games,” Wheeler said.
The Owls look to rebound today as they travel to Penn to take on the Quakers.
Samuel Botwinick can be reached at samuel.botwinick@temple.edu.
Man threatens crowd with bomb at Liacouras Center
A man attending the Celtic Women Irish Dance Show at the Liacouras Center on Thursday, March 8, threatened the crowd claiming he had a bomb in his bag. The statement was made to patrons seated nearby at approximately 8 p.m. who, in turn, notified the Liacouras Center staff. The bag was then given to Temple Police who were working the event.
“As a precaution, the Philadelphia Police Mobile Bomb Squad were contacted and quickly determined the bag safe,” said Charles Leone, deputy director of Campus Safety Services.
The bag contained only clothing and other personal items belonging to the male.
Following these events, the man, not associated with Temple, was taken to Episcopal Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, Leone said.
The event continued despite the incident.
March Madness: Men’s basketball earns No. 5 seed
The Owls were selected as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest bracket and will play the winner of 12 seeds California and South Florida on Friday in Nashville, Tenn for the second round of the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest and will play the winner of a first round game between 16 seeds Lamar and Vermont. The No. 2 seeded Kansas Jayhawks will face No. 15 Detroit.
The following matchups round out the Midwest bracket: No. 8 vs. No. 9 Alabama, No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 Ohio, No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Purdue, No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 14 Belmont and No. 6 San Diego State vs. No. 11 N.C. State.
The other No. 1 seeds in the tournament are Kentucky, Michigan St. and Syracuse.
Three other Atlantic Ten Conference teams earned a spot in the “Big Dance” including No. 9 seed St. Louis, No. 10 seed Xavier and the A-10 tournament champion No. 14 St. Bonaventure.
Drexel was one of the teams left out of the tournament along with Miami, Northwestern, Seton Hall, Mississippi State, Nevada and Washington.
