Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Fans

Temple vs Xavier Basketball Recap

Temple 77, Xavier 72

For the past three seasons, the Xavier Musketeers have entered the month of February as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Wednesday night in Philadelphia, a changing of the guard took place.

The Temple Owls have desperately scrambled to reach the NCAA Tournament in recent years, turning an NIT resume into a happy dance by winning the A-10 Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. This year, however, Coach Fran Dunphy - who made his share of tourney trips in his immensely successful tenure at the University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League - has Temple primed to supplant the X as the leader of the A-10. A fulfilling five-point win over Coach Chris Mack's Musketeers at the Liacouras Center has the Owls in the catbird's seat as this season unfolds.

Not much separated the two best teams in the conference, on a night when the X and the Owls both showcased two terrific triumvirates. Xavier's big three of Jason Love, Terrell Holloway and Jordan Crawford combined for 47 points on 17-of-31 shooting and a cumulative 9-of-12 effort from the charity stripe. The "Three Musketeers" also dished out seven assists, snared 12 rebounds, and plucked five steals.

Temple's talented trio didn't land a knockout blow in its battle with the best of the "X Men", but the most outstanding members of the Owls did prove to be slightly superior in this high-stakes showdown. Temple's Lavoy Allen, Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks produced 53 points on 20-of-35 field goal shooting plus 11 of 13 free throws. The three men did commit seven turnovers, but they compensated for that one glaring deficiency with 12 assists and 16 rebounds.

Fernandez - who has reminded many Temple diehards of all-time great Pepe Sanchez - nailed a jumper with 45 seconds left to give Temple a 70-65 cushion after the visiting Musketeers pulled within three at the 58-second mark of regulation time. Brooks then put the finishing touches on the Owls' mountaintop moment by hitting 6 of 6 free throws in the final 25 seconds.

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In order to appreciate the magnitude of this victory for Temple, one needs to realize that the Owls - who have already beaten No. 4 Villanova - own the kind of non-conference conquest that an A-10 school needs in order to gain an at-large berth for the NCAAs. Moreover, the Owls supplemented that high-value achievement with other quality wins over Siena and Virginia Tech. This win - the best one Temple could have hoped for within the confines of the A-10 regular season - balances out the Owls' overall portfolio by giving them a mixture of non-conference and in-conference scalps. As a result, it will take a collapse of considerable proportions to keep Temple out of the tournament.

The same cannot be said for Xavier.

The Musketeers did get shafted on a late clock malfunction (and a deficient ruling by the referees) in a one-point loss at Butler, but the fact remains that Xavier's best wins - over Creighton and Cincinnati teams that were highly touted earlier in the season - just don't carry much weight at the moment. The X lost to Wake Forest, Baylor, Marquette and Kansas State, which means that despite scheduling boldly, this team hasn't been able to generate the kinds of results that will impress the Selection Committee.

This year, it's Xavier who must win the A-10 Tournament. How sweet that sentence must sound to fans of the Temple Owls.

By: Matt Zemek
A10-fans.com Staff Writer