Temple forward Dre Perry looking to build on his strong showing against Missouri

Temple's three top scorers — senior Shizz Alston, junior Quinton Rose, and sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis — have been well established this season. After a 79-77 win at Missouri on Tuesday, 6-foot-7 sophomore Dre Perry showed he could be another threat.

Perry had a season-high 11 points, hitting 4 of 5 shots from the field including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc as the Owls improved to 6-1.

Temple faces another challenge Saturday in a Big 5 matchup at St. Joseph's (4-3).

"It definitely boosted the confidence in games like that, and playing in those environments can help us later in the season," Perry said Thursday before practice.

Temple has won two in a row since losing, 57-51, to Virginia Commonwealth at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Now the Owls face another Atlantic Ten team in the Hawks, who are coming off an 89-75 win over visiting Illinois- Chicago on Wednesday.

The biggest challenge for Temple is attempting to slow down the Hawks' 6-7 Charlie Brown Jr., a redshirt sophomore who leads the Atlantic Ten in scoring, averaging 24.1 points.

"He can shoot it long, can put it on the floor and get to the basket and he is pretty good, but I am up for the challenge," said Rose, a 6-8 junior who scored 18 points against Missouri and is averaging a team-high 17.4 points along with Alston.

What makes Brown especially dangerous is that he is shooting 22 for 41 (.537) from three-point range.

"Charlie's numbers are extraordinary, the way he is starting the year," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "He is making shots both from the three and inside the three and getting to the foul line and he is really a tough guy to guard."

Temple is averaging 75.1 points and the Hawks are averaging 81.

"They can really score the ball," Dunphy said about the Hawks. "They love to break you down and they drive the ball extremely well."

St Joseph's has the shooting edge, at least on paper. The Hawks are shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc, while Temple is shooting 31.3 percent.

"They have really good offensive players and we will be greatly tested right from the get-go," Dunphy said. "We are similar in many ways."

An X factor for Temple could be Perry, who is coming off the second double-figure scoring game of his career.

"It helps us out a lot if he is scoring," Rose said. "Me, Shizz and Nate are doing most of the scoring, and if we can get a guy like Dre to contribute, it just helps the team."