Sunday, March 13, 2011
Posted: 6:34 p.m.Updated: 11:11 p.m.
By Dave Zeitlin
CSNPhilly.com Contributor
Temple players, coaches, fans and boosters gave a hearty cheer when they saw their teams name flash on the big screen inside the Fox-Gittis Room at the Liacouras Center.
That was nothing compared to the eruption a few moments later when Temples opponent was announced during Sundays NCAA tournament selection show.
The message from North Broad Street: Bring on Penn State.
Its definitely an intriguing matchup because theres a little bit of a rivalry there, said Temple guard T.J. DiLeo shortly after the Owls received a No. 7 seed in the East Region and a matchup against the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Tuscon, Ariz.
I think it will mean a lot because a lot of people at Temple arent very big fans of Penn State.
Pennsylvanias two largest public universities will be meeting for the 92nd time on the basketball floor. Temple, which holds a 59-32 advantage in the all-time series, beat the Lions the last time the two squads played in the regular seasona 45-42 win on Dec. 5, 2009and also in a preseason exhibition a few months ago.
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The Owls and Nittany Lions last met in the NCAA tournament in 2001 with Temple earning an 84-72 win in the Sweet 16. Since then, Penn State has not been back to the Big Dance and Temple hasnt advanced out of the first round.
Both squads earned at-large berths for this years tourney.
I had a good feeling we were going to get in, said Temple star senior Lavoy Allen, who was recruited by Penn State out of Pennsbury High. To see our name called was great. To see us play an in-state school like Penn State is even better.
This will be Allens fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, but the first time in his career that the Owls didnt have an automatic bid for winning their conference tournament. Temple (25-7) lost to Richmond in the Atlantic 10 semifinals on Saturday, making Selection Sunday a little more stressful.
I tried something new this morning, Allen said. I actually went to church.
Temple coach Fran Dunphy had never been in this position before, either. Hes coached in 12 different NCAA tournamentsnine at Penn and three at Templebut each time his team earned the auto bid.
Naturally, he was a little nervous on Sunday.
Its kind of like when you have a dream where you dont go to class all semester and you show up for the final and the professor says, Hey, Dunphy, what are you doing here? Dunphy said. Youre standing here and you have all these people, all of you media guys, and your name is not called. Thats the nightmare. As soon as you see your name, theres a great relief.
Of course, theres still one thing to be stressed about: winning an NCAA game. For three straight seasons, the Owls have been ousted in the first round, while Dunphy himself has lost 11 consecutive NCAA games.
These are lasting memories for these kids -- you dont want it to be a one-and-done, Dunphy said. The more you can play, the more memories you have and the greater your time is at Temple. Thats what you hope for.
To play more than one game in this years dance, the Owls must find a way to slow down Penn States phenomenal senior guard, Talor Battle.
The Nittany Lions all-time leading scorer, Battle is averaging 20 points per game this season. He helped guide Penn State to the finals of the Big Ten tournament, before scoring a game-high 24 points in the teams 71-60 loss to top-ranked Ohio State in Sundays tourney title game.
Battle and Penn State (19-14) won seven of its last 10 games, doing enough to impress the NCAA committee and sneak into the 68-team field.
Its a team really playing well now, Dunphy said. Theyre coming off two wins against Wisconsin and Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. They got it going on a little bit. So its a tough matchup for us. But you knew it would be.
With Michael Eric out for the season and Scootie Randall still questionable, the Owls will need big games from all of its key players, especially Allen, the teams only senior contributor.
Allen has done many great things at Temple, including setting the programs all-time rebounding record and helping to establish the Owls as one of the nations elite programs.
Now theres just one thing left to do.
The last three years have been dreadful, Allen said. I said from the beginning of the season that my main focus is to get out of the first round this year and win a couple of games in the tournament.
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Email Dave Zeitlin at djzeitlin@gmail.com