2011–12 Temple Owls men's basketball team

2011–12 Temple Owls men's basketball
A-10 Regular Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
AP	No. 23
2011–12 record	24–8 (13–3 A-10)
Head coach	Fran Dunphy
Assistant coach	Dave Duke
Assistant coach	Dwayne Killings
Assistant coach	Shawn Trice
Home arena	Liacouras Center

2011–12 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Temple	13	–	3		.813			24	–	8		.750
Saint Louis	12	–	4		.750			26	–	8		.765
Xavier	10	–	6		.625			23	–	13		.639
St. Bonaventure†	10	–	6		.625			20	–	12		.625
UMass	9	–	7		.563			26	–	11		.703
La Salle	9	–	7		.563			21	–	13		.618
Dayton	9	–	7		.563			20	–	13		.606
Saint Joseph's	9	–	7		.563			20	–	14		.588
Duquesne	7	–	9		.438			16	–	15		.516
Richmond	7	–	9		.438			16	–	16		.500
Charlotte	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
George Washington	5	–	11		.313			10	–	21		.323
Rhode Island	4	–	12		.250			7	–	24		.226
Fordham	3	–	13		.188			10	–	19		.345
† 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner As of March 13, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011–12 Temple Owls men's basketball team represented Temple University in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at the Liacouras Center, which has a capacity of 10,206; as well as one game each at the Palestra and Wells Fargo Center. They are in their 30th season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. In their previous season, Temple compiled a record of 26–8 and reached the NCAA Tournament. The team returned four starters from the previous season, but lost power forward Lavoy Allen to graduation. He is replaced by incoming recruit Will Cummings and transfer Dalton Pepper. Anthony Lee will be eligible after red shirting last year.

Preseason

Temple played their home games at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia

In 2011–12, the Temple Owls men's basketball team were in their 30th season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.^[1] Since 1997, the team has played their home games at the Liacouras Center, which has a capacity of 10,206.^[2] In the previous season, the Owls went 14–2 in Atlantic 10 play, earning a two seed in the 2011 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament, where they lost in the semifinals to Richmond.^[3][4] The team earned an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a seven seed, and defeated Penn State in the round of 64 on a last-second shot by guard Juan Fernandez. The win snapped coach Fran Dunphy's 11-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament, the longest on record.^[5] Temple's season ended with a double overtime loss to San Diego State in the round of 32 as the Owls compiled a record of 26–8.^[6]

Temple lost starting power forward Lavoy Allen to graduation. As a senior, Allen placed third on the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 8.6 rebounds per game. He was a three-time All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team honoree and a two-time All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection. He finished his career as the school's all-time leading rebounder with 1,147 boards and ranks 24th on the career scoring list with 1,421 points.^[7] In the 2011 NBA Draft, Allen was selected with the 50th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.^[8] Reserve center Dutch Gaitley also graduated.^[9] After redshirting the 2010–11 season with foot injuries, forward Craig Williams transferred to Texas Christian University and was eligible to compete immediately.^[10]

Temple assistant Matt Langel accepted the Colgate head coaching job on April 28, 2011.^[11] Langel had coached at Temple since Fran Dunphy was hired in 2006.^[12] Langel was responsible for recruiting Juan Fernandez to Temple, once driving ten hours in a compact car to find him.^[13] He was replaced by Boston University assistant Dwayne Killings. Killings served as assistant director of basketball operations at Temple from 2006 to 2009. In his only season at Boston University, Killings helped the team win the 2011 America East Men's Basketball Tournament and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.^[14]

On October 13, 2011. Temple was predicted to finish second in the Atlantic 10 behind Xavier and received four first-place votes. Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez were Preseason First Team All-Conference selections, Scootie Randall was a Preseason Third Team All-Conference selection, and Anthony Lee was a Preseason All-Rookie Team selection.^[15] Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports named Temple Owls the second best team in the Atlantic 10 and highlighted the development of Michael Eric and Anthony Lee as factors for a successful season.^[16]

Recruiting

Incoming signees

The sole member of the Owls' 2011 recruiting class was Will Cummings, a point guard from Jacksonville, Florida who committed on September 4, 2010.^[17] He averaged 18.1 points, 8.1 assists, 4.0 steals per game as a senior at Providence School, in addition to carrying a 4.0 grade point average. The Jacksonville Times-Union named him the high school boys basketball player of the year.^[18] Cummings drew attention from Stanford, Miami (Fl.), and Boston College, but chose Temple because of their winning tradition.^[19]

In addition to Temple's recruiting class, the Owls signed transfer Dalton Pepper from West Virginia. Due to NCAA rules, he will be forced to sit out the 2011–12 season as a redshirt and will have two years of eligibility remaining. In his career at Pennsbury High School, Pepper scored a school-record 2,207 points, grabbed 962 rebounds, and garnered 2009 Pennsylvania Big School Player of the Year recognition from the Associated Press. In 62 games with the Mountaineers, Pepper averaged 3.5 points and 10.1 minutes per game and helped West Virginia reach the 2010 Final Four.^[20]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Will Cummings PG	Jacksonville, Florida	Providence School (FL)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sep 4, 2010
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Temple 2011 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2011 Temple Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011.

Roster

#	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Position	Class	Hometown		High School
1	Khalif Wyatt	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 pounds (95 kg)	G	Jr.	Norristown, Pennsylvania	U.S.	Norristown HS
2	Will Cummings	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 pounds (75 kg)	G	Fr.	Jacksonville, Florida	U.S.	Providence School
3	Anthony Lee	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 pounds (93 kg)	F/C	Fr.	Orlando, Florida	U.S.	West Oaks Academy
4	Juan Fernandez	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 pounds (82 kg)	G	Sr.	Río Tercero, Córdoba	Argentina	Dr. Alexis Carrel HS
10	Ramone Moore	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 pounds (82 kg)	G	Sr.	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	U.S.	South Philadelphia HS
11	T.J. DiLeo	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 pounds (88 kg)	G	Jr.	Cinnaminson, New Jersey	U.S.	Cinnaminson HS
15	Jimmy McDonnell	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	190 pounds (86 kg)	F	Fr.	Jackson, New Jersey	U.S.	Jackson Memorial HS
22	Aaron Brown	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 pounds (95 kg)	G	So.	Newark, New Jersey	U.S.	St. Benedict's Prep
25	Nick Pendergast	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 pounds (79 kg)	F	Fr.	Bridgewater, Connecticut	U.S.	Kent School
31	Jake Godino	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 pounds (77 kg)	G	Sr.	Chester, Pennsylvania	U.S.	Delaware County Christian School
32	Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 pounds (91 kg)	F	Jr.	Chester, Pennsylvania	U.S.	Chester HS
33	Scootie Randall	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 pounds (93 kg)	F	Sr.	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	U.S.	Communications Tech HS
50	Micheal Eric	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 pounds (110 kg)	F/C	Sr.	Lagos	Nigeria	Church Farm School
–	Dalton Pepper	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	230 pounds (100 kg)	G	Jr.	Levittown, Pennsylvania	U.S.	Pennsbury HS

Schedule

2011–12 game log
November Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 November 14 Penn W 73–67 (OT) Juan Fernandez – 19 Micheal Eric – 10 Juan Fernandez – 5 The Palestra, Philadelphia, PA 1–0 2 November 17 Western Michigan W 69–55 Ramone Moore – 15 Eric – 15 Fernandez – 6 José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, San Juan, PR 2–0 3 November 18 Purdue L 85–77 Moore – 27 Eric – 8 Moore/Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson/T.J. DiLeo – 3 José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, San Juan, PR 2–1 4 November 20 Wichita State W 78–74 (OT) Moore – 23 Eric – 12 Khalif Wyatt – 4 José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, San Juan, PR 3–1 5 November 27 Bowling Green L 67–64 Wyatt – 19 Anthony Lee – 9 Wyatt/Moore – 4 Stroh Center, Bowling Green, OH 3–2
December Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 December 3 Central Michigan W 86–74 Wyatt – 23 Moore – 8 Wyatt – 9 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 4–2 7 December 7 Toledo W 77–58 Aaron Brown – 19 Lee – 9 Moore – 7 Savage Arena, Toledo, OH 5–2 8 December 10 Villanova W 78–67 Moore – 32 Hollis-Jefferson – 14 Fernandez – 4 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 6–2 9 December 17 Texas L 65–77 Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX 6–3 10 December 19 Rice W 77–70 Tudor Fieldhouse, Houston, TX 7–3 11 December 28 Buffalo W 87–85 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 8–3 12 December 30 Delaware W 66–63 Bob Carpenter Center, Newark, DE 9–3
January Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 13 January 4 Duke W 78–73 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA 10–3 14 January 7 Dayton L 87-77 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 10-4(0-1) 15 January 11 Saint Louis W 72-67 Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, MO 11-4(1-1) 16 January 14 Richmond L 76-65 Robins Center, Richmond, VA 11-5(1-2) 17 January 18 La Salle W 76-70 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 12-5(2-2) 18 January 21 Maryland W 73-60 The Palestra, Philadelphia, PA 13-5(3-2) 19 January 25 Charlotte W 79-57 Dale F. Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC 14-5(4-2) 20 January 28 Saint Joseph's W 78-60 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 15-5(5-2)
February Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 21 February 1 Fordham W 78-60 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 16-5(6-2) 22 February 4 Rhode Island W 73-56 Ryan Center, Kingston, RI 17-5(7-2) 23 February 8 George Washington W 79-72 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 18-5(8-2) 24 February 11 Xavier W 85-72 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 19-5(9-2) 25 February 15 St. Bonaventure W 76-70 Reilly Center, Olean, NY 20-5(10-2) 26 February 18 Duquesne W 78-59 Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 21-5(11-2) 27 February 22 La Salle W 80-79 OT Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, PA 22-5(12-2) 28 February 25 Saint Joseph's L 82-72 Hagan Arena, Philadelphia, PA 22-6(12-3) 29 February 29 UMass W 90-88 OT Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA 23-6(13-3)
March Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 30 March 3 Fordham W 80-60 Rose Hill Gymnasium, Bronx, NY 24-6(14-3) 31 March 9 UMass L 77-71 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ 24-7 32 March 16 (12) South Florida L 58-44 Nashville, TN 24-8 2011–12 team schedule

Season

Preconference season

Behind Juan Fernandez's 19 points, Temple began their season with a 73–67 overtime victory over Penn on November 14, 2011.^[21]

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Final
AP [22]	28	26	33
Coaches[22]	29	28	33T

Awards and honors

Juan Fernandez

• Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team^[15]

Ramone Moore

• Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team^[15]

Scootie Randall

• Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team^[15]

Anthony Lee

• Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team^[15]

References

1. "Temple" (PDF). ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
2. Kern, Mike (November 11, 2010). "Temple basketball at a glance". Philadelphia Daily News. Philly.com. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
3. "2011 Atlantic 10 Tournament". CBS Sports. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
4. "Richmond beats 3-time defending A-10 champion Temple to advance to final". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. March 12, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
5. "Juan Fernandez drains late jumper to lift Temple to third round". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. March 17, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
6. "San Diego State needs two overtimes to put away Temple". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. March 19, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
7. "Lavoy Allen Named Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player". Temple Owls. Temple University. April 6, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
8. Cooney, Bob (June 24, 2011). "Sixers select Temple's Allen". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
9. "Dutch Gaitley Added To Men's Basketball Roster". Temple Owls. Temple University. October 14, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
10. "Temple power forward Craig Williams transfers to TCU". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. August 18, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
11. "Matt Langel takes over at Colgate". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. April 28, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
12. "2009–10 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff: Matt Langel Assistant Coach". Temple Owls. Temple University. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
13. Weiss, Dick (December 31, 2009). "Temple's Juan Fernandez conjures memories of another Owls great from Argentina". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
14. "Dwayne Killings Named Assistant Men's Basketball Coach". Temple Owls. Temple University. June 6, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
15. "Xavier Picked A-10 Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite". Atlantic 10 Conference. October 13, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
16. Goodman, Jeff (October 23, 2011). "Conference Countdown: No. 9 – Atlantic 10". CBS Sports. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
17. "Scout.com College Basketball Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
18. Elliot, Jeff (April 16, 2011). "All-First Coast: Best to come for Providence's Will Cummings". Jacksonville Times-Union. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
19. Pompey, Keith (November 28, 2010). "Temple recruit Will Cummings a true student-athlete". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
20. "Dalton Pepper transferring to Temple". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. June 2, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
21. "Temple 73, Penn 67". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. November 14, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
22. "2011–12 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved October 21, 2011.