NCAA Tournament: Departure Day for Temple Owls
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Temple University men's basketball team is headed to Tucson, Ariz., as their NCAA Tournament opener with Penn State on Thursday creeps closer.
The Owls' Ramone Moore has been to the NCAA Tournament before, but he and his Temple teammates lost (see related story). Now the junior guard says a victory over Penn State on Thursday would indeed be sweet.
"We never got a chance to win a game, so I think -- not only for Coach Dunphy but ourselves -- we want to go out there, play, and get a win. It's been a long time since Temple University went to the NCAA Tournament and got a win," Moore told KYW Newsradio.
The last Temple win in the tournament was ten years ago, when they beat none other than Penn State.
When you ask any Temple player, what will be the key to beating Penn State in this game?, the answer is always the same: stop senior guard Talor Battle.
"We're going to put six guys on him and see how that goes," Owls' head coach Fran Dunphy says with a smile. "He's really a good player, he's a talented athlete. And I think to me his tenacity, his desire to succeed, his mental and physical toughness are what make him so difficult to play against."
Battle averages more than 20 points a game and gets help from 6' 8" forward Jeff Brooks, who averages 13 points a contest, and point guard Tim Frazier.
Reported by Tom Maloney, KYW Newsradio 1060.
