It’s just too easy to make a reference to the Christmas season or a Christmas gift or any and all things yuletide when talking about this game—espn, cbssportsline, cnnsi all do. I’ll shy away from the clichés: Dionte Christmas is good.
Really good.
This is exactly the type of game Fran Dunphy was looking for; a game where perhaps his Owls turned a corner. Last year’s run through the A-10 tournament established Temple as a force to be reckoned within the A-10 but this victory was a much bigger statement. The team is finally learning to truly run what can be a stifling match-up zone, one that totally took an extremely athletic and dynamic Tennessee team out of their game. The Vols shot only 36.5% from the field—including a paltry 6 of 26 (23.1%) from behind the arc—while being held to their lowest point total of the year (15 points below their average).
The defense was one of the two big reasons the Temple student body was partying at mid-court when the clock hit zero. The other of course was Dionte Christmas. You can’t say enough about this kid. Defenses are keying in on him this year with the graduation of last year’s running mate Mark Tyndale and he continues to deliver. In the second half he threw up THIRTY POINTS and blew the game wide open with three-point bombs on three consecutive possessions. Mark my words, he will be mentioned when they’re listing All-Americans come April.
The media outlets will all give Christmas the headlines for winning this game—and don’t get me wrong, he totally deserves. But everyone knew this guy was a stud. The real story here is the evolution of Temple’s defense. The match-up zone just smothered one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA. This win conjures up memories of the days when Pepe Sanchez ran the point and Temple could lock down the best teams in the country on any given night.
Dionte and the defense that backs him up are delivering the Owl faithful a gift they’ve yearned for: a return to relevance.
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