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Temple ’s Upset Bid Denied
Arizona State was on cloud nine heading into their first round game. They were in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. They had arguably the best overall point guard in the nation, James Harden. They were one win away from the all-time school record for wins in a season. They were coming off a great Pac10 Tournament where they may have played the best basketball of their season. They had been handed a six seed, and coach Sendek was not going to argue with that one. Herb Sendek is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. With his Sun Devils spoiling Temple’s upset bid, he has won Tournament games with three different D-1 teams. Arizona State’s 25 wins this season mark the first time the team has reached that point since the 1975 season. He has a great team – an underrated team – and it was evident as they held off a very solid Temple squad. However, the Owls did have Arizona State right where they wanted them. It appeared to be heading the way the Pac10 Championship was played. USC eventually overpowered a Sun Devils team that was playing with a struggling James Harden. In today’s game, Harden just could not find a groove. The P10 Player of the Year went 1-8 from the field and totaled just 9 points. But just when the Owls started to lick their chops, Derek Glasser and Pendergraph bailed ASU out. Both put together a career night with both players scoring 22 points (including Glasser’s 80% from beyond the arc) to save the Devils. ASU was favored big, and that is understandable when looking at Temple’s recent postseason success… or lack thereof. Coach Fran Dunphy is a mere 1-11 all-time in the NCAA T-ment, and Temple has not won a game in the big dance since 2001! This would be the second consecutive season that Temple was eliminated in the opening round. I sure hope that the team did not see those stats, but it sure seemed like the majority of the team did not even want to be there.
Dionte Christmas, the only Temple player that decided to show, dropped 29 points with 15 of those being from 20 feet away – over half of the teams overall total. The rest of the team shot a whopping 31% from the floor (Inge 0-10). It was a close game throughout, but the Owls never led… and could only cut it down to three once. At the 10:00 mark, things were looking grim with Temple trailing by eight. Within the next two minutes, Christmas knocked down three straight buckets to cut it down to 52-49 with 8:00 remaining. That would be the last stand they would put up. Christmas didn’t score at all in the final five minutes, and the team as a whole went 0-5 in the last four. ASU slammed the door shut with some great, clutch free throws in the final minute; nailing six consecutive points from the line.
FINAL SCORE: ASU- 66 Temple- 57 Arizona State takes on three-seed Syracuse on Sunday the 22 nd. Temple will call it a season and prepare for the ‘09-‘10 campaign.
By: Justin Hulsey |