Temple up against Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse
LAWRENCE, Kan. - A small number of college arenas are mentioned in pregame conversations and emerge as characters all their own.
LAWRENCE, Kan. - A small number of college arenas are mentioned in pregame conversations and emerge as characters all their own.
Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse, named after legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen, who coached there for 39 years, is a storied basketball cathedral here. The 16,300-seat gym with red-and-blue bleachers is part Smithsonian and part basketball mecca.
It is regarded as one of the most intimidating venues for visiting teams.
With 29 consecutive wins at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas has the nation's second-longest active home winning streak. The sixth-ranked Jayhawks' home winning streak against nonconference competition is 62 games. And Temple is next to stick its neck into KU's nest of doom.
"I think [Allen Fieldhouse] is unique in and of itself," said Owls coach Fran Dunphy, whose squad (10-2) faces Kansas (11-1) in Sunday's 4:30 p.m. matchup. "It's 16,000 people that are right on top of you. It's loud. It's aggressive.
"But it's what you want your kids to go through. It's a phenomenal experience."
Make that a phenomenal experience for the athletic, deep, and up-tempo Jayhawks, who feed off the home crowd.
That's why Temple knows it must manage the game and the crowd to get a second victory over a top-10 opponent this season. The Owls upset then- third-ranked Syracuse, 83-79, at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22.
"In that place, if they get on a little run then the floodgates are open," said T.J. DiLeo, an Owls reserve guard and defensive specialist. "So I think we have to manage the game, not take quick shots, know when you have an open shot to take, and know when to pull it out and run a little offense," said the graduate student with fifth-year senior eligibility.
Part of the field house experience is the KU history lesson visitors get.
The Booth Family Hall of Athletics, a 26,000- square-foot museum, flanks the east side of the field house. The hall is divided into six exhibit areas and celebrates KU athletics.
Inside the arena, the pregame excitement starts when the fans, arm-in-arm, sing the university's alma mater, "Crimson and the Blue." Then they proceed with the famed "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" chant.
"My freshman year when I was hurt, I went out there. It was crazy," DiLeo said of the 71-59 loss on Dec. 20, 2008. "I compare it to Duke. But this place holds more people than Duke. I honestly thought it was a better atmosphere than Duke."
Temple at Kansas
When: Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
TV/Radio: CBS3; WPHT-AM (1210)
Records: Temple, 10-2; Sixth-ranked Kansas, 11-1
Coaches: Temple, Fran Dunphy (seventh season, 144-67): Kansas, Bill Self (10th season, 280-54)
Series: Kansas leads, 7-3. The Jayhawks won the last two meetings. - Keith PompeyEndText