For the duration of time that Temple and Duquesne have competed against each other in the Atlantic-10, the games between the schools have been quite lopsided. Thursday night will mark the last conference meeting between Temple (16-7, 5-4) and Duquesne (7-16, 0-9).Temple will officially enter Big East play in basketball next season.
Duquesne has won just three of the past 19 meetings with the Owls. The Dukes are also 5-21 when playing the Owls in Philadelphia. On Thursday, they will be playing at the Liacouras Center, an arena where they have never won. Duquesne’s last win against Temple came in 1995, at the Owls’ old home court, McMonigle Hall.
Duquesne is also 1-9 on the road and will be facing a team that is 10-2 at home.
Temple has performed well against several high-caliber opponents this season, including #3 Syracuse and #6 Kansas. They were able to beat the Orange by a score of 83-79 earlier on in the season. Their most recent result was a 72-71 win over Dayton last Saturday.
The Owls are looking to get to 20 wins in order to ensure themselves of a spot in the NCAA tournament. The upset win over Syracuse will be a great tournament resume booster.
Temple is led in scoring this year by senior Khalif Wyatt, who ranks among the leaders in the A-10 with 18.9 points per game. The biggest surprise so far this year, however, has been sophomore forward Anthony Lee, who is developing into a great big man. Lee has performed well in the big games and is averaging 11.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg.
Temple needs to win just four of their next eight games to make a strong case for the NCAA Tournament. Luckily for them, three of these eight opponents (Fordham, Rhode Island and Duquesne) are conference bottom-dwellers.
Photo Credit: Duquesne Athletics
