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SEASON 5

Recent Game Recaps

Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Memories

So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen

Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Challenge 11: Final Four Memories

By George, UConn is Dead

Butler and Us

Donning the Black and Gold

Challenge 10: Tourney Memories

The Madness of the Horizon League

The Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament

MAC Madness

Anything Can Happen in the MAAC

Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood

A Youthful Surprise

From Worst to First

Peers and Seers

Game! Of! The! Night! 2/12/2009: Temple vs. Saint Joseph's
February 12, 2009 9:42 am ET by Kyle Whelliston


Temple vs. Saint Joseph's (Atlantic 10)
The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA
7:00 PM EST

It's super-exciting in the grand old Atlantic 14 this week, no? Those who tuned into ESPN Classic last night looking for a rerun of the Cheap Seats Superdogs/Superjocks episode were treated to a thrilling ballgame between Xavier and Dayton, which people like us recognized for what it was -- UD affirming their case for the league's second NCAA bid. Tonight in a more FX type of town, we have what could easily be seen as elbows-sharpened positioning for the A-14's third entry (and final, most likely) for next month's Big Dance.

After all the super seismics, Saint Joseph's sits alone at the top of the league at 7-1, and the Hawks are winners of nine of their last 10. So where's all the respect? For one thing, SJU is still working off losses suffered in nonconference play, a 6-7 start that included drops to Holy Cross, Siena and Drexel. The Hawks' NCAA-caliber résumé in 2008 included a 2-1 record against those teams (lost to HC) and was based primarily on a four-of-five surge in March that took them to within five points of getting in the old-fashioned way. While Ahmad Nivins (19.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg) and Tasheed Carr (13.5 ppg, 4.2 apg) have been having the kinds of senior seasons everyone expected they'd have, the record's been inflated somewhat due to SJU drawing an A-14 schedule firmly in the league's second tier... you might recall that perceived top teams are now given RPI insurance, but the Hawks only get one shot each at Dayton (the only loss) and Xavier (home on Feb. 26) while facing teams like Bonaventure and UMass home-and-home. They'll need another run to the championship game to overcome that.

The last time these two squads met, it was Mar. 15, 2008 and your host jumped the media table like an idiot afterwards (at :18, right to left, with the giant shiny dog-tag). Can't resist a floor-storming. Now, it's 2008-09 and the Owls are the best 5-3 league team in Hoops Nation -- even though their league schedule is on par with SJU's, Temple has been toughing it out through the country's 40th hardest schedule and has so far earned an NCAA-range RPI of 45. It also helps that all three conference losses were out on the long league road, at UMass, Rhode Island and X. The Owls are 6-1 inside the city limits, and feature Dionte Christmas, whose 20.0 ppg leads the team and make every day feel like, you know, some kind of holiday or something. We've mentioned the supporting cast coming up behind him; 6-9 sophomore Lavoy Allen (11.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is exploding onto the A-14 scene with eight double-doubles this season, including four in his last five games, and he's contributing 1.7 blocks as well. It's always Arbor Day when he's around.

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