Owls like where they stand after ugly A-10 win over Dayton

THE LAST TIME Temple was the regular-season Atlantic 10 champion was 2000. But with three games left before the conference tournament, these Owls have put themselves in a position to be the top seed. Even though they were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll.

Fran Dunphy's 20th-ranked team improved to 23-5 overall, 11-2 in the A-10, with last night's 49-41 win at the Liacouras Center over Dayton (18-9, 7-6), which was the favorite, but might now have a tough time just making it into the NCAA field.

At 11-2 in the A-10, the Owls are tied with No. 23 Richmond, where they lost, and Xavier, which lost here and beat surging Saint Louis last night. Richmond plays at Xavier Sunday. The Owls are at injury-ravaged La Salle Sunday and at St. Louis on Wednesday, and close with George Washington at home on March 6. If they win out, the worst they can do is end up in a tie.

Temple had lost to Dayton three consecutive times. But this one was something that maybe only John Chaney could truly appreciate. The Owls led, 19-13, at the half, which, coincidentally, was the same score by which they trailed after 20 minutes in what became a 46-45 loss at Georgetown in their second game.

The Owls, who were coming off an overtime win over Saint Joseph's Saturday at the Palestra, wouldn't make a field goal in the last 9 1/2 minutes. Somehow, it didn't matter. Neither did the fact that four different players could only make one of two free throw attempts in the closing 4 minutes.

It was that ugly. But they don't award bonus points for artistry.

"We'll take it," said junior forward Lavoy Allen, who had nine points, 17 rebounds, three blocks and as many assists. "We didn't even talk about the score, because we were up. We don't mind winning this way.

"There were a lot of missed layups by both sides. It was very physical. They weren't letting us run our sets. And we tried. I wasn't even sure what was going on out there. Everyone was missing. It wasn't like it was one or two guys. That's the way the game went."

Temple, of course, is statistically among the top defensive teams in the land. But Dayton came in averaging 70 points. The Flyers' previous low this season was 56. The 41 was only two off the building record, set in 2006 by Richmond, and also two off the low for a Temple opponent this season. It was the fewest points for the Flyers since a 59-38 home loss to George Washington 13 years ago. And it matched their seventh-lowest total since 1950.

"I just like games where there's some spread between you and the opponent," Dunphy said. "We're thrilled to get the win and move on, to be honest with you."

In the first half, the Flyers went 8 1/2 minutes without a point, and the Owls followed with a 5-minute doughnut of their own. Dayton was within three with 15 1/2 minutes left. Then Temple went on an 8-0 run, which felt almost like 28-0. The lead was 11 with 4 minutes remaining. The Flyers made it a four-point game twice, with 1:32 showing and again at 39.9 seconds, both on three-point shots. But they didn't score again. And, just in case, the Owls made three of their final five freebies.

"When it got close down the stretch, we picked up our defense a little more than usual," Allen said. "It was a great situation for us."

Dayton went 15-for-57 from the field, to Temple's 17-for-53. The teams were a combined 7-for-32 from the arc. Dayton shot only nine free throws.

Chris Wright, the Flyers' top scorer, was the only one to get into double digits, with 12. But he needed 11 shots, making four. Nobody else scored more than seven.

The Owls got 13 from Ramone Moore, on 4-for-12 shooting. It's his seventh straight double-figure game since he entered the starting lineup after a head injury to Juan Fernandez. He's averaging about 16 1/2 during that stretch, and it was the sixth time he's led the team in scoring. Ryan Brooks added 11 points, going 5-for-12, which was almost lights out in this environment. The Owls, as usual, turned it over only eight times. The underappreciated Luis Guzman tied a career best with seven assists. He hasn't had a turnover in his last three games.

"It doesn't matter to me," Dunphy said, when asked whether he would keep starting Moore, now that Fernandez is almost fully back (seven points in 28 minutes). "They're all going to get their minutes. As long as when they're out there, they do their job. I'm not concerned with who starts. I am concerned with who finishes."

Now it's up to his guys to close strong, to see exactly what it can get them. They've won the postseason championship the last two seasons, so they obviously don't have to finish first to do the threepeat thing. But it's certainly something else to put on the resume. And the Selection Committee tends to take stuff like that into consideration at seeding time. Don't think the Owls aren't aware of RPIs and Bracketology.

"I think [Dayton] had a lot of opportunities in the first half and they just didn't go," Dunphy said. "So our [defensive] numbers probably looked a little better than they should have."

Some might say the same thing about the record. But the standings usually don't fib. *