Big 5 Battle Saturday Night - Temple And St. Joe's
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It should be fun on Saturday night on Hawk Hill as St. Joe's hosts Temple in a critical Big 5 and Atlantic 10 match-up.
The Owls are 14-6 on the season (3-3 in the A-10, 2-0 in the Big 5) and coming off a win over Richmond on Wednesday night.
The Hawks beat Fordham on the road on Wednesday, 66-62.
"Road wins are precious," St. Joe's head coach Phil Martelli tells KYW Newsradio. "Road, league wins are more than precious and we actually did what we had to do at the end of the game. We guarded real well and took the ball to the basket and ended up at the foul line."
Martelli talks about where his team sits after the win.
"We're 12-7 which is slightly better than average," Martelli says. "3-3 (in the A-10), which is average in our league. We have a lot of opportunities ahead of us and I think that we have a lot of growth ahead of us."
Temple is led by senior guard Khalif Wyatt and his 17.8 points per game. And over the last week, the Owls have gotten a boost from senior Scootie Randall, who has averaged 17 points the last two games after scoring at a clip of just over 8 in the previous 12 contests.
"They are a team that is very, very dangerous when they get a second and third option on the floor," Martelli says. "Because Fran Dunphy's teams are always going to be a challenge to score against."
The Hawks have four players averaging in double figures, led by senior guards Carl Jones and his 15.1 points a contest. St. Joe's are 1-1 in City Series action this season.
Temple and St. Joe's will tip-off at 6:00pm at Hagan Arena on Saturday night.
Phil Martelli Interview
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