M. Hoops | Dunphy's Temple squad preps to take on Penn Wednesday night

Jan. 13, 4:01 p.m.

With 310 victories as Penn men's basketball coach, Fran Dunphy knew the taste of victory in the Palestra.

But two years ago, in his first opportunity to savor success as a visiting head coach, Dunphy and his current team - Big 5 rival Temple -- blew an early 19-point lead and lost to Penn, 76-74, on a trio of Mark Zoller free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining.

Now Dunphy has a second chance to beat his old team in his old gym when the Owls (8-6, 1-1 Big 5) take on the Quakers (3-7, 0-1) at 7 p.m. tonight.

"For me personally, at this point, because I spent so many years at Penn, the place was so good to me, and the people there are still very, very close to me, it's a difficult game to prepare for to be honest . for a lot of different reasons," Dunphy said. "One, I think they're a good basketball team. And two, just the emotions that you're playing for as you go back to the Palestra."

Preparation is easier when you can rely on a prolific scorer like Temple guard Dionte Christmas. The last time they matched up at the Palestra, Christmas lit up the Quakers for a game-high 34 points on a scorching 73.3 percent shooting. Now a senior with 10 career 30-point games on his resume, the All-America candidate and possible first-round draft pick leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring for the third consecutive season with an average of 21 points per game.

"We've played against some good players," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "But I don't know if we're going to play against too many players as good as or better than [Christmas]."

See Wednesday's Daily Pennsylvanian for more information.

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