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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It seemed Villanova coach Steve Lappas had
the right idea: Let Temple's Quincy Wadley shoot.
After all, the senior guard had scored 28 points all season on
7-for-46 shooting.
|  | | Villanova's Malik Allen looks toward the hoop for two of his nine points. |
Well, another great idea died an early death as Wadley scored all 17 of his points in the first half Wednesday night to help the Owls (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) beat Villanova 69-66.
"I had just been shooting bad. I was trying to force the
action," said Wadley, who averaged 8.0 points as a sophomore and
9.2 last season. "Mark (Karcher) and Lynn (Greer) had been
carrying us and I felt I had to step up and my teammates'
confidence got me in the flow of the game."
Lappas wasn't second-guessing himself.
"We decided to test him. It was my fault it didn't work out,"
he said. "We made some adjustments in the second half and did a
better job."
The Owls (4-2) won again despite not having senior point guard
Pepe Sanchez in the lineup because of a sprained ankle. Sanchez,
who has played in one game this season, is expected to be out
another 3-4 weeks and Temple showed it needed his court leadership
down the stretch.
"I had to call two timeouts in the last minute because they
were running around with their heads cut off and they didn't know
what they were doing," Owls coach John Chaney said. "I don't have
to do that when Pepe is out there. Pepe can deliver breakfast,
lunch and supper to everyone in this room."
Temple extended a 40-33 halftime lead to 59-46 on a 3-pointer by
Greer with 8:18 to play. The Wildcats (3-2) then went on a 17-5 run
with all but the last two points coming on 3-pointers against
Temple's matchup zone.
Senior forward Brian Lynch, who finished with career highs of 22
points and six 3-pointers, had four consecutive 3s during the run
that ended with Malik Allen's short jumper that made it 64-63 with
2:37 to play.
"They did a great job of spreading out Lynch with long passes
and that really hurt us," Chaney said.
Lamont Barnes' three-point play with 1:58 left gave Temple a
67-63 lead and Jermaine Medley, who came into the game 1-for-15
from 3-point range, nailed his second 3 of the second half to make
it 67-66 with 1:52 left.
Greer, who finished with 14 points, then scored on a drive with
one second left on the shot clock for the final margin with 1:13 to
play.
Medley missed two 3-pointers -- the second one forced with eight
seconds left -- around a shot clock violation by the Owls. Temple's
Karcher missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with six seconds left and
Villanova's last chance was a 3 at the buzzer by T.J. Caouette that
bounced off the rim and sent the sellout crowd of 10,206 at The
Apollo of Temple home happy.
"Bobby Smith made a great decision to get the ball to T.J. and
the shot looked pretty good," Lappas said. "With six seconds left
I think we got a pretty good shot."
Wadley was 6-for-9 from the field in the first half, including
3-for-5 from 3-point range. He missed three shots in the second
half.
"That's the first time he's had a representative game for us," Chaney said.
Barnes finished with 12 points and Karcher had 11.
Freshman Gary Buchanan had 14 points for Villanova, all but two
on 3-pointers as the Wildcats finished 14-for-30 from 3-point range.
Lynch and Allen both had to get stitches for facial cuts they
received during the game.
The game was the first for both teams in the Big Five series, which returns to a full round-robin this season for the first time since the 1990-91 season.
"It was very exciting, my first time on the floor for a Big Five game," Buchanan said. "It's going to mean great competition in this great city."
The Owls tied La Salle atop this season's Big Five standings. La Salle beat Pennsylvania 83-76 in the only other Big Five game to date, on Dec. 7.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Villanova Clubhouse
Temple Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Lynn Greer launches a jumper with one second left on the shot clock.
avi: 1037 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Lamont Barnes powers to the rim against Villanova.
avi: 660 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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