Junior guard Ramone Moore posts a career-high 30 points to give coach Fran Dunphy his 400th win.
On junior guard Ramone Moore’s right arm, the words “True baller” are tattooed into his skin and on Thursday night, he lived up to the label as he dropped a career-high 30 points in a 68-65 upset over No. 9 Georgetown.
“As a kid, you dream about being on the big stage in big games hitting big shots,” Moore said. “I think tonight my dream came true playing in one of these types of games in this atmosphere in front of great fans,”
The Owls opened the game with a 6-0 lead and never lost the lead as Moore’s performance kept Temple ahead of the Hoyas. The Owls had a solid night defensively as they held the Hoyas to shooting 44 percent from the floor, put up a combined 10 steals and junior center Michael Eric and junior forward Lavoy Allen combined to block six shots.
Temple kept Georgetown’s balanced scoring attack in check as well as Hoyas junior guard Jason Clark led the team with 15 points. Senior forward Julian Vaughn and senior guard Austin Freeman each had 14 points and senior guard Chris Wright also chipped in 10 points.
“I thought our defense overall was good, to hold them to 44 percent is good and they didn’t get anything early in the shot clock, I thought we made them work for just about everything they got.” Coach Fran Dunphy said.
On the offensive end of the floor, junior forward Scootie Randall played in every minute of the game and scored 10 points, which included two shots from three-point range, which brings him to a total of 10 three-pointers on 27 attempts, making him the top three point shooter on the team. Sophomore forward Rahlir Jefferson was the only other Owl to score in double digits with 10 points, six of which came at the free throw line.
The win also carried some significance for the Owls in other ways. The win would be the 400th win for Dunphy as a head coach, which spans from his time as at Penn from 1989 to 2006 and through what is now his fifth season at Temple.
“I think it’s all about [the players] and how good a people they have been,” Dunphy said. “They’ve been great players, but they really have been great people and that’s the reason why you do what you do and I’m so lucky to be a college basketball coach in this city and I appreciate what Penn gave to me and now I’m appreciative of what Temple has given me,”
“I’ve been around some great people, on and off the court and as I take a look around, I don’t see anyone that is luckier than me, so I appreciate what has been given to me.” He added.
Brian Dzenis can be reached at brian.dzenis@temple.edu.
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