Temple takes on Villanova at the Liacouras center at 3pm on Saturday. This is Temple's first Big 5 game of the year. The Big 5 is a tournament involving all five Philly teams: Temple, Villanova, St. Joe's, Penn and La Salle. Villanova already beat every other team and looks to beat Temple for its fourth sweep of the Big 5 in 5 years. Temple however proves to be a formidable opponent. Temple is 7-2 on the year and both losses were by single digits to Georgetown and St. Johns. 7-2 is Temple's best start since 1994. Villanova is 9-0 and looks to go 10-0 for the first time since 2005. Temple proves to continue being a tough defensive team. Temple ranks in the top ten in three point defense and opponents PPG defense. They also rank 24th in field goal percentage. Temple holds teams to 53 ppg. They will look to keep that statistic going vs Villanova. Temple will have to shoot better as Villanova is very good at scoring on a constant basis.
Villanova is top ten in the nation in scoring. They will look to push the tempo of the game and get a lot of fast break opportunities on Temple. Villanova will look for their scoring leader Scottie Reynolds to make clutch shots and set up other players for easy points. Scottie Reynolds is the key to Villanova's success on offense.
Prediction
It will be a much closer game then many people may think. It is a rivalry game and rivalry games are always closer than a normal game. Temple is also home so they should get a boost from the home crowd. This game will come down to whether Temple's defense can stop Villanova's offense. If not Villanova will look for an easy win.
Final Score
Villanova 79
Temple 73
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