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Dunphy likes Temple's late start

    by Keith Pompey
    Published 

Some coaches would dislike playing in the last NCAA tournament second-round game.

Not Fran Dunphy.

"I kind of like sitting back watching everybody else get real nervous before I'm real nervous," said the Temple coach, whose squad opens the tourney at 9:55 p.m. on Friday.

The fifth-seeded Owls (24-7) will face the winner of Wednesday's California vs. South Florida game in a Midwest Regional second-rounder in Nashville, Tenn. It will be the last of the 32 second-round games played during Thursday and Friday.

"Again, we played a lot of games in this thing and at a lot of different times," said Dunphy, who's leading the Owls to their fifth consecutive tourney appearance. "I don't think there's a plus or minus. But if you are asking me, I would rather play on Friday instead of Thursday just to take another step back and prepare your team a little bit more."