McKie, Temple aiming for unprecedented share of City Series title
Aaron McKie played for John Chaney and later coached with Fran Dunphy, two of the greatest coaches in Temple history.
Yet when the Owls step on the floor against No. 15 Villanova Sunday (1 p.m.) at the Liacouras Center, McKie has a chance to do something no Temple head coach has done in the 65year history of the Big 5: Win a City Series title in his first year at the helm.
Chaney won the first of his 15 Big 5 championships in his second season at Temple. Dunphy captured the first of his four City Series titles at Temple in his second season. Dunphy also won four Big
5 crowns at Penn.
The Wildcats (18-6 overall, 3-0 Big 5) have already clinched a share of the title, their 27th overall. They can claim their 15th outright City Series title with a victory over the Owls (1311, 2-1).
Temple, though, can grab a share of the crown, too, which would be its first since 2013 and 28th overall, with a win over the Wildcats. McKie is no stranger to winning Big
5 titles. He was a part of three championship teams (two shared, one outright) during his three-year playing career with the Owls
(1992-94).
“It’s always good,” McKie said Friday. “It’s great for bragging rights. It’s great for the history of our Temple
LEADING THE CHARGE:
The dynamic Quinton Rose has put up 16.2points, 4.9rebounds and two steals to lead the way for the Owls. Complementing Rose is Nate Pierre-Louis, who is putting up 11.2points, 8.1rebounds and 2.1steals per game. The Wildcats have been led by Collin Gillespie, who is averaging 15.6 points and 4.6assists.
Gillespie has directly created 46percent of all Villanova field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 19field goals and 14assists
KEY FACILITATOR:
program and it’s great for me to be a fan, one, to be a player in the Big 5, two, and to now be a head coach in the Big 5 and to have a share of it.
“I would like to be playing for being the (outright) champion of it but that’s not the case here, but it’s always great.”
To win the title, the Owls have to beat a team they haven’t defeated since 2012, and one that has won 28 of its last 29 Big 5 games. Villanova has won the last six meetings by an average of 17.7 points per game.
“They’re really good, well coached, shoot the ball really well, solid defensively,” McKie said, “so they’re always a problem. They’re always in the conversation in those games.
SCORING THRESHOLDS:
Temple is 8-0 when it limits opposing offenses to 62or fewer points, and 5-11when opponents exceed 62points. Villanova is
13-0 when holding opponents to
69points or fewer, and 5-6on the year when teams score any more than 69.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO:
The Owls have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Wildcats. Temple has 52assists on 81field goals (64.2 percent) over its previous three outings while Villanova has assists on 37of 72field goals (51.4 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW:
Temple is rated second in the AAC with an average of 71.4possessions per game. The uptempo Owls have raised that total to 73.6possessions per game over their last three games. for a national title, so we have our hands full with them.”
After a 9-3 start, Temple fell on hard times, going
2-8 over its next 10 games before bouncing back with wins over SMU (97-90 in overtime) and Tulane (7268) in its last two outings. Temple had to erase large deficits in both games. The Owls climbed out of a
17-point, second-half hole against SMU and wiped out a 13-point, second-half deficit versus Tulane.
“I’ll take the win, but I don’t like the idea of fighting from behind,” McKie said. “The numbers don’t serve you well over a long period of time when you’re trying to fight from behind all the time. I’ll take the win, but I talked to the guys, we have to stop digging holes for ourselves.”
Guard Quinton Rose spearheaded the comeback each time. He scored 10 of his 25 points in overtime against SMU (18 in the second half and OT), and had 17 of his 23 points in the second half against Tulane.
The Wildcats are well aware of what Rose can do. The 6-8 senior is averaging 16 points in three career games against Villanova, including a 27-point outburst as a sophomore in which he shot 9-for-12 overall and 5-for-6 from 3-point range. He also had eight rebounds and four assists.
“He killed us and now he’s a senior,” Wright said. “It’s scary.”
Rose isn’t Wright’s only concern. Temple went to a smaller, guard-heavy, lineup to storm back against SMU and Tulane.
“Those lineups have hurt us, the smaller teams like Creighton, Marquette,” Wright said. “That concerns us because we used to have those kinds of teams, but we have a big team and a small lineup is going to be tough for us.”
The game is sold out, so it’s shaping up to be an interesting matchup on North Broad Street. McKie and the Owls are looking forward to the challenge.
“I expect it to be great,” McKie said.” It’s a Big 5 game and we have an opportunity to have a piece of it, so it’s always a battle since the days before I got here playing, and even now it’s an exciting atmosphere to play in these Big 5 games.”