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McKie leads Temple to Big 5 win over Dunphy, La Salle

12/01/2022, 1:00am EST
By Ty Daubert

Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)

UNIVERSITY CITY — In a battle of Philadelphia basketball royalty, coaches Fran Dunphy and Aaron McKie were unsure of how to feel about facing off.


Aaron McKie (above, on Nov. 17) guided Temple to a win over former Owls coach Fran Dunphy on Wednesday. (Photo: Jack Verdeur/CoBL)

Dunphy — a 31st-year head coach in his first season at his alma mater, La Salle — had the chance to take on a Temple team that he coached from 2006-2019 on Wednesday night for the first time since leaving the program. Of course, now at the helm for the Owls is McKie, Dunphy’s successor and former assistant.

“Unsettling,” McKie said of matching up against one of his mentors. “I guess I could say I don’t know why it was unsettling because I like the competition. But I do know why: Because I was playing against him.”

“I don’t like it,” Dunphy said. “I don’t want to coach against Aaron McKie, because I’m rooting for him like crazy.”

Tipping off the first Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra since 2016, both sides got out to an ugly start before Temple surged late to secure a 67-51 win. The Owls used a 22-point night from Khalif Battle and key 8-0 run with under 10 minutes remaining to take and build a lead, which only grew larger as the team earned the win for McKie over Dunphy and La Salle.

“We both said after the game,” McKie remarked, “‘I’m glad this is over.’”

Temple (4-4) has now won two in a row over City 6 opponents Drexel and La Salle after dropping their previous two in the Empire Classic at the Barclays Center. The Explorers (3-4) fell back under the .500 mark with the loss following a win over Binghamton in their last matchup.

While Dunphy and McKie may not have been thrilled about going against one another, the pair of coaches were both pleased that their teams could play in the Big 5 event at the “Cathedral of College Basketball.”

“I thought the energy was good,” McKie said. “I thought it was exciting, and our guys had a chance to play here at the Palestra. It’s a historic place, and I thought the opportunity was good.”

The stands were far from full, but the Philadelphia crowd brought it during the big moments in the game. During the first half, the La Salle fans in attendance were excited as the Explorers put together a lead.

Fran Dunphy (above) was on the Temple bench for 13 seasons; this is his first as head coach at his alma mater. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

“It’s always special to be here,” Dunphy said, “whether all the corners are filled or not. … There’s nothing quite like it. And the competition, we live for that. You want your guys to live with that, too. That’s what you want to give them — understanding of how special this place is and how special playing in the city of Philadelphia is as a college basketball player.”

Khalil Brantley was making things happen with the ball early, scoring nine points before the break. Freshman big Rokas Jocius also gave the Explorers solid minutes, scoring eight of his career-high 11 points in the first. Shooting just 37% itself, La Salle limited Temple to a 32% field goal percentage in the first, leading 29-21 at halftime.

The start of the second half was a lot of the same, but, with around 10 minutes to go, Temple turned it on. 

Battle scored 17 points in the second half, and the players around him gave the Owls the boost needed to pull away. Trailing 45-43, Temple went on to score on three straight possessions as big Jamille Reynolds converted an and-one, Zach Hicks nailed one of his three second-half 3-pointers and Damian Dunn hit a floater to go ahead 51-45 with 7:10 remaining.

“I thought we did some good things for a stretch,” Dunphy said. “Then in the second half, Battle was terrific, Hicks made three 3s that hurt us badly and we just couldn’t get anything going at the rim.”

Temple continued to extend the lead as the Explorers struggled to score, finishing the game in a convincing fashion. Sure, the Owls did not get out to the best start or play their prettiest basketball, but, ultimately, they did what they needed to in a game with a lot of significance and history for their coach.

“Hearing coach McKie and the rest of the coaches just talking about how much it means to them,” Dunn said, “I think we took that personally and kind of wanted to go out there and win as many Big 5 games as we can — for them mostly.”

Temple will play VCU next on Saturday at the Liacouras Center, looking to build off an uncomfortable win for its coach over a friend. Meanwhile, La Salle will continue with Big 5 competition following its loss, returning to the Palestra on Saturday to take on another one of Dunphy’s former teams in Penn. 

“The good thing about it is,” Dunphy said, “when the ball goes up, you’re just worried about your guys. It’s not about the guy on the other end, who’s a good friend.”


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