CINCINNATI, OH-Temple (13-14, 10-6) was unable to overcome the hot shooting of host Xavier (24-4, 15-1) in a 96-65 loss to the No. 11 Musketeers before 10,250 fans at the Cintas Center on Saturday, March 8, 2003. Xavier shot 54.0 percent (27-50) from the field, including 53.8 percent (14-26) from behind the arc to snap the Owls' six game win streak while extended its own win streak to 15 games.
Xavier outscored Temple, 56-31, in the second half after a tightly contested initial stanza that featured 10 lead changes and five ties. The Musketeers held a 26-9 advantage in assists while shooting an impressive 87.5 percent (28-32) from the charity stripe. Xavier attempted 23 more free throws than the Owls, who committed a season-high 25 personal fouls.
Xavier opened up an early 5-0 lead before Temple went on a six-point run to take a 6-5 edge on an Alex Wesby lay-up at 17:10. The next five minutes featured four lead changes and three ties. A Brian Polk three-pointer gave TU a 17-15 lead with 12:15 on the clock. A David Hawkins fast break lay-up followed to give the Owls a 19-15 edge, their largest lead of the afternoon. The Musketeers responded to the challenge, establishing an eight-point lead (40-32) at 1:01 before entering the locker room at the midpoint with a 40-34 advantage.
After the break, the Musketeers were extremely inhospitable to the surging Owls, who entered the game having won eight of their last 10 contests. Xavier increased its margin to nine (43-34) before Temple hit consecutive treys, by Wesby and Hawkins, respectively, to reduce the advantage to three, 43-40, with 18:02 remaining. It would mark the closest the Owls would come. Xavier went on an 8-0 run to take a 51-40 lead with 15:47 on the clock and never looked back.
A Romain Sato slam dunk at 9:36 provided the Musketeers a 66-45 advantage and the margin remained at 20 points or better thereafter. The 96-65 final score marked the home club's largest lead of the afternoon.
Temple shot 38.2 percent (26-68) for the game and just 30.6 percent (11-36) in the second half. Wesby paced the Cherry & White with 24 points while fellow co-captain David Hawkins contributed 20 points.
Sato led all scorers with 29 points, pacing four Musketeers in double-digits.
Temple, the No. 2 seed in the East, begins post-season play on Thursday, March 13 versus Richmond, the No. 3 seed in the West, in an Atlantic 10 Conference Quarterfinal contest in Dayton, Ohio. Tip-off is set for 23 minutes after the conclusion of the 12:05 game, which features Xavier and the winner of the East No. 4/West No. 5 contest.
