The 11th-seeded Owls beat No. 6 Wichita State, 72-59, on Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, to advance to the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Staley, who coached the Owls from 2000-08 and grew up in North Philadelphia, guided the University of South Carolina to an 87-60 win on Thursday at the Liacouras Center.
Temple needs to win at least four of its next seven games to achieve bowl-eligible status, but coach Geoff Collins said teams ‘fall apart’ when they start weighing importances of games.