Temple knocks off No. 16 Villanova for first time since 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Damian Dunn drew a foul on a driving layup with 1.1 seconds left and made each free throws as Temple beat No. 16 Villanova 68-64 on Friday night time, sending the Owls’ followers right into a court-storming frenzy — twice! — at Liacouras Heart.

The 14 lead adjustments within the second half helped this one form up right into a Massive 5 basic. All that was lacking was the Palestra.

Dunn sank the primary free throw for a 65-64 lead and Villanova referred to as timeout to ice the sophomore guard. Temple safety guards lined the court docket in anticipation of the mayhem forward — and Dunn delivered.

He hit the second, Temple’s Zach Hicks intercepted the in-bound cross and tons of of followers immediately swarmed the court docket. The general public deal with announcer ordered followers to clear the court docket — “the sport will not be over!” — whilst 0.0 remained frozen on the scoreboard.

Turned out, a foul was referred to as on Villanova’s Eric Dixon and Hicks went to the free-throw line with 0.2 on the clock and a tons of of Temple college students crammed behind the opposite basket.

Hicks made each and Villanova referred to as one remaining timeout. Temple gamers high-fived impatient followers and in addition tried to maintain the peace safely contained off the court docket. The sport lastly ended and it was Temple Court docket Storm, Take 2!

Solely minutes aside, the sequel felt simply nearly as good as the unique.

Temple coach Aaron McKie, Allen Iverson’s outdated working mate on the 2001 76ers, earned his signature win in his 4 seasons on the bench.

Dunn led the Owls (1-1) with 22 factors and Khalif Battle had 21.

Caleb Daniels led Villanova (1-1) with 19 factors and Dixon had 18.

Saint Joseph’s, Villanova, La Salle, Penn and Temple had its rivalry video games intertwined within the material of Philadelphia sports activities for greater than 60 years. The Massive 5, although, misplaced its shine during the last decade because the Wildcats became a nationwide energy and the opposite 4 groups couldn’t maintain tempo. Many of the 4 might barely sustain with the highest groups of their conferences.

The Owls have made solely two NCAA tournaments since 2013, none since 2019 and a season-opening OT loss Monday towards Wagner put them on the ropes for a possible at-large bid within the first week.

The pandemic worn out the annual matchup every of the final two seasons and this was the primary recreation between the 2 groups since a Villanova win on Feb. 16, 2020. The Owls hadn’t received within the collection since Dec. 5, 2012, when Fran Dunphy was nonetheless the coach. Coming into Friday, Temple had misplaced its final seven conferences vs. Villanova, with a median margin of defeat of 18.0 PPG.

The Owls hit the court docket fired-up for the upset.

Battle, wholesome after lacking almost all of final season with a damaged foot, hit a 3 after which transformed a four-point play for a 24-11 lead. Temple followers — lean seasons left loads of empty seats on the Liacouras Heart — erupted.

The Wildcats had been had been off their recreation in coach Kyle Neptune’s second recreation since he changed retired Corridor of Famer Jay Wright. Villanova made only one of 5 3-pointers within the half however closed on an 11-3 run and trailed 34-29.

Friday’s consequence tied the earliest right into a season that Villanova has misplaced to an unranked opponent as a ranked crew. The Wildcats suffered this identical destiny twice earlier than, within the second recreation of the 1994-95 season (misplaced 85-64 vs. Minnesota) and in recreation 2 of the 1988-89 season (misplaced 102-81 vs. Southern Illinois).

The Wildcats performed with out anticipated starters Justin Moore (out indefinitely, torn Achilles) and preseason Massive East freshman of the 12 months Cam Whitmore (proper thumb).

None of that mattered as followers ignored the PA pleas and danced and snapped selfies with Hooter after the ultimate horn.

ESPN Stats & Data and The Related Press contributed to this report.