PHILADELPHIA — Temple wound the clock back to the 1990s with a game in its old gym, slashed ticket prices, and wore retro uniforms. There was even a big old pay phone affixed to the wall across from the Owls’ locker room.
The Owls didn’t have to rewind the videotape, though, to relive the glory days. Fran Dunphy’s bunch is doing just fine in leading Temple back to national prominence.
Ryan Brooks scored 19 points, Ramone Moore had 17 and No. 18 Temple won its sixth consecutive game, 63-39 over Bowling Green on Monday night.
“There’s an extreme amount of excitement,” Brooks said.
The Owls (10-2) used runs of 13-0 in the first half and 10-0 in the second to break it open and win in their first game as a ranked team since 2001. The Owls played their first game at former home McGonigle Hall since 1997. Tickets were $9, concession prices were sliced, and the Owls wore classic uniforms.
There’s a more meaningful throwback going on with the Owls, back to the days when they were regulars in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll and the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls already have a victory over then-No. 3 Villanova, and undefeated No. 1 Kansas rolls into Philly on Saturday.
“We’ve put ourselves in pretty good position,” Dunphy said. “But we’re not a team that if we lose a game, we’re going to fall three spots, we’re goingto fall mightily. So we really need to concentrate our efforts.”
The Owls used the Dec. 13 victory over Villanova to propel themselves into the Top 25 for the first time since 2001. They were ranked No. 16 in the 2001 preseason poll, dropped to 25th in the first regular-season rankings, then vanished from the rankings for eight years.
Temple is back and it wants to keep a number before its name.
“It’s been a hard road to get where we are and it’s going to be an even harder road to get to try to stay there,” Dunphy said. “We have some great gamescoming up against some really good basketball teams and we haven’t even started our league yet.”
Bowling Green gamely made a run at the Owls early in the second half that trimmed a 19-point lead to 10. Craig Williams and Brooks hit threepointers on consecutive possessions to spark the 10-0 spurt that put this one away.
The Owls have used one of the top defenses in the country to blow away preseason expectations. They held the Falcons to only 13 points by halftime, the fewest allowed in the first half by the Owls this season. Temple was holding opponentsto a nation’s best 54.1 points per game though the first 10 games, the lowest scoring average by Owl opponents since the shot clock was instituted.
The Owls limited a team to under 45 points for the third time during their winning streak.
The Falcons missed 20 of 24 shots in the first half and were outrebounded 22-11.
Dee Brown led the Falcons (5-5) with 10 points.
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 81, RUTGERS 67
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman Dexter Strickland scored a season-high 18 points, including a key three-pointer late, to help No. 9 North Carolina beat Rutgers.
Deon Thompson added 14 points for the Tar Heels (10-3), who played without injured fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard.
Rutgers (9-3) cut the lead to four points with about two minutes left, but Strickland responded by hitting a three with 1:54 left that pushed the margin to 74-67 and ultimately helped the Tar Heels pull away late.
Mike Rosario scored 22 points for the Scarlet Knights, who were playing in their first road game of the season.
SEC
FLORIDA 76, AMERICAN U. 60
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Alex Tyus had 20 points and nine rebounds, Kenny Boynton added 19 points and Florida snapped a three-game losing streak.
Vernon Macklin finished with a careerhigh 18 points for the Gators (9-3), who won for the first time since Dec. 4.
Florida had been ranked as high as No. 10, but dropped close games against Syracuse, Richmond and South Alabama.
The Gators rebounded against American, an NCAA Tournament team in 2009 that is rebuilding after losing several seniors. The Eagles (2-11) made it close by outscoring Florida in the second half and finishing 10 for 24 from the threepoint line.
Nick Henden led American with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 73, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 45
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Ravern Johnson scored 22 points to lead Mississippi State past Mississippi Valley State.
The Bulldogs (11-2), who have won eight in a row, shot 39.3 percent from the field and hit 12 three-pointers. They are ranked second in the nation in three-pointers made with 138 on the season.
Mississippi State turned the ball over only three times, a season low.
Phil Turner scored 12 points and had eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Barry Stewart added 11 points and Jarvis Varnado had 10 points and seven blocks.
Shannon Behling paced the Delta Devils (1-12) with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Jason Holmes added 10 points.
SEC WOMEN
NO. 9 GEORGIA 59, CLEMSON 47
CLEMSON, S.C. - Angel Robinsonhad 12 points and 14 rebounds as No. 9 Georgia improved to 12-0 for the second time in the three seasons.
The Lady Bulldogs watched a 13-point lead shrink to 47-42 with 6:33 remaining. But Robinson added two free throws and Porsha Phillips a three-point play to regain control.
Lele Hardy, Clemson’s leading scorer coming in, was just 3 of 12 from the field with 13 points.
The Lady Bulldogs are two victories away from matching the program’s best start, a 14-0 run to open the 1998-99 season. That team advanced to the Final Four.
NO. 18 VANDERBILT 96, E. TENNESSEE STATE 83
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman Tiffany Clarke had career highs with 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 18 Vanderbilt over East Tennessee State.
Clarke hit 10 of 13 from the field before fouling out as the Commodores (11-1) had their highest offensive output of the season.
Meredith Marsh added 18 points while Lauren Lueders had a career-best 16. Jence Rhoads scored 16 and Hannah Tuomi scored 14.
TaRonda Wiles scored 30 points and Siarre Evans added 20 and 10 rebounds for East Tennessee State (4-5).
SUN BELT WOMEN
UALR 87, SE MISSOURI STATE 55
UALR’s Chastity Reed scored 25 points and Kim Sitzmann added 16 points as the Trojans routed Southeast Missouri State.
The final basket, a jump shot by freshman Janette Merriex at the buzzer, increased UALR’s shooting percentage to 64.2 percent for the game, breaking the previous school record of 64.1 percent.
UALR (8-5), which has won three consecutive games and five of the past six, showed no signs of sluggish play coming out of the Christmas break.
UALR blitzed Southeast Missouri from the start Monday, going on firsthalf runs of 9-0, 8-0 and 17-0 to take a 46-17 halftime lead.
Junior Shanika Butler added a careerhigh 15 points for UALR.
Jasmine Davis scored 14 points to lead Southeast Missouri State (3-8).
Sports, Pages 20 on 12/29/2009