City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The last time Villanova traveled to North Broad, Temple students lined up for blocks to see the Owls take on the top-ranked team in the country.

With more than 10,000 people in attendance and the Liacouras Center nearly filled to the brim, the No. 1 Wildcats beat Temple, an eventual NCAA tournament team, by 16.

Two seasons later, both teams come into Wednesday night’s matchup in North Philly in similar spots. Undefeated Villanova (10-0, 3-0 Big 5) jumped to No. 1 in the national rankings earlier this week, making the leap from No. 4 thanks to losses by Duke and Kansas. Early in the season, Temple (6-2, 1-1) looks like a candidate to get back to the dance.

“It’s really a neat opportunity and it’s great for our guys and great for our fans,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “And hopefully the place will be rocking Wednesday night.”

Villanova was ranked in the Top 10 the last four times it played Temple. Wednesday’s meeting represents the third straight time Villanova is ranked No. 1 heading into its game against the Owls.

The Wildcats beat Temple 78-57 at the Pavilion last year. The Owls kept the game close early on, but a late run by Villanova to end the first half helped the Wildcats take control of the game.

Both teams are a bit different from last year’s group. Josh Hart, who scored 26 points in last season’s meeting, and Kris Jenkins are both gone for Villanova, but redshirt-junior wing Mikal Bridges (18.1 ppg) and junior guard Jalen Brunson (17.2 ppg) have shone in Villanova’s undefeated start.

Temple brings back four of five starters from last year's meeting. Junior guard Shizz Alston (17.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Quinton Rose (17.3 ppg) have become dynamic scorers for the Owls, who have wins against Auburn and Clemson.

“I think this year’s (Temple) team in particular has knocked off a lot of really good teams, and everybody on their team played in this game last year,” Wright said. “We’re missing three of our seniors that played in this game last year. So they’re good, and I know they’ll be ready.”

Rose said the Owls are naturally a little juiced knowing they are playing the No. 1 team in the country.

The Wildcats are no strangers to playing with the target on their backs. After first taking over the top spot in Week 14 of the 2015-16 season, Villanova has played 12 weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 during the past past three seasons.

“I remember the first time we were No. 1, I think my sophomore year, it was just a different feeling,” Booth said. “We’d never been No. 1 before. So to be No. 1, we’ve been there before, but we also know a lot of teams are coming out for us, so we’ve got to be ready to play.”

The matchup to watch within this game will be between Rose and Bridges. The long wiry guards have both drawn NBA eyes in breakout seasons.

Rose, a 6-foot-7 guard, is averaging 17.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and nearly two steals per game. Bridges, a 6-foot-7 wing, is similarly filling up the statsheet with averages of 18.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

“He’s really athletic, crashes the glass and plays really hard,” Rose said. “It’s going to be a tough matchup, but I’m up for it.”

La Salle took Villanova down to the wire on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center, but the Wildcats scratched out a 77-68 win for their 21st straight Big 5 victory.

Temple was the last Big 5 team to beat Villanova back when the Khalif Wyatt and Scootie Randall-led Owls picked up a 76-61 win against a Villanova squad led by James Bell on Dec. 5, 2012 at the Pavillion. None of the players in Wednesday’s game were around for that one.

“I think every game is individual,” Dunphy said. “Last time they lost, we were the team that beat them, at the Pavilion as I recall, and I think (Sunday) was the closest game that they’ve had since. They’ve had a tremendous, tremendous run. And every school has had their runs, but Villanova is in it, they’ve got a terrific program. But Wednesday night, it’s just Temple/Villanova and we need to play well.”