Temple poured in four straight three-pointers, two by leading scorer Dionte Christmas and one each by Mark Tyndale and Luiz Guzman. The Owls jumped out to a 12-0 lead and went on to throttle the inexperienced Quakers, 80-64, last night at the Liacouras Center in front of a crowd of 5,233. It was the third straight victory for the suddenly rejuvenated Owls (9-8 overall, 1-1 Big 5).

"It just kind of happened that way," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said of the barrage of three-pointers. "I wish I could say it was by design and that I drew it up that way but it just happened."

It was a nice win for Dunphy, who beat his old program for the first time since leaving Penn and replacing John Chaney at Temple last year. In keeping with the way he has always downplayed any rivalry he now has with Penn, Dunphy conceded that he does feel a certain tingle "before and after the game." He won 310 games at Penn and took the Quakers to nine NCAA Tournaments.

"I had 17 fantastic years at Penn," said Dunphy, who added that he tends to "get lost" in his own team once the game begins. "I am relegated to yelling at Dionte and Mark to play better."

Christmas and Tyndale both had big games for the Owls, who connected on eight of 12 three-pointers in the first half to open a 19-point lead at the half. Christmas scored 24 points, including five threes, and Tyndale added 18. Dunphy did some yelling in the second half, but only to keep the Owls from losing focus. He said Penn played "a great second half" and said "they are going to be a very good basketball team very soon."

That could not happen soon enough for Penn coach Glen Miller, whose team dropped to 5-12 and 0-4 in Big 5 play. Miller took solace in the fact that Penn did play aggressively in the second half, and that could be something to build on as they now begin their Ivy League schedule. While Miller said he was "not into moral victories," he hoped the way the Quakers played in the second half would "ramp us up another notch and maybe we can win some games."

Freshman forward Jack Eggleston echoed that. "We played 13 solid minutes against North Carolina and a solid second half tonight," said Eggleston, who scored 15 points. "So we have shown we can do it in stretches."

Freshman teammate Tyler Bernardini agreed. "I think the schedule has prepared us [well]," said Bernardini, who led the Quakers with 16 points. "We have competed."

While Penn did play better in the second half, it was not enough to close the gap the Owls had opened. In fact, the closest the Quakers came was cutting the lead to nine points, and that occurred in the first half. They trailed 19-10 with 10:33 remaining in the half. But the Owls began to ease away at that point, running their lead to 21 with 1:07 left in the first half. Along with Christmas and Tyndale, the Owls received a solid performance from Ryan Brooks, whose 15 points included three three-pointers. While Temple did not relinquish its double-digit lead, Dunphy said his team could have played better in the second half.

But good things are happening for Temple. Last week, the Owls upset No. 20 Xavier and followed that with an overtime victory over Saint Louis. Is it a sign that the program Dunphy inherited from Chaney is taking shape?

Dunphy said he would know more after Saturday: The Owls play Saint Joseph's.

"They are a really good basketball team," said Dunphy. "And it will be a phenomenal challenge."

Christmas said the game could not be coming at a better time, that the Owls are playing with "momentum and energy." But last night, he was just happy to beat Penn, even if his coach downplayed its significance.

Christmas smiled and said, "We wanted to get it just as bad as he did." *