Temple-Miami Preview
NIT SEMIFINAL
Temple (26-10) vs. Miami (24-12)
When/Where: Tuesday, 7 p.m. Madison Square Garden, NY.
TV/Radio: ESPN/WPHT-1210 AM.
Coaches: Miami, Jim Larranaga (31st season, 560-382; 4th season at Miami, 90-48); Temple, Fran Dunphy (26th season, 503-270; 9th season at Temple, 193-107).
All-time series: Temple leads, 2-1. The Owls won the most recent meeting, 73-56 on Nov. 27, 2005 at home.
Road to the NIT: Miami beat N.C. Central, 75-71; Alabama, 73-66 and Richmond, 63-61.
Temple beat Bucknell, 73-67; George Washington, 90-77 and Louisiana Tech, 77-59.
Probable Starters
Miami (24-12)
G Davon Reed, 6-6 So., 8.0 ppg., 3.9 rpg.
G Sheldon McClellan, 6-5 Jr., 14.4 ppg., 4.5 rpg.
G Manu Lecomte, 5-11 So., 8.3 ppg.
C Tonye Jerkiri, 7-0 Jr., 8.7 ppg., 10.1 rpg.
F Ivan Cruz Uceda, 6-10, Jr., 5.3 ppg., 3.4 rpg.
Key reserves:
G Ja'Quan Newton, 6-2 Fr., 3.6 ppg., 1.1 rpg.
G Deandre Burnett, 6-2 Fr., 7.1 ppg.
G Angel Rodriguez, 5-11 Jr., * 11.9 ppg., 3.9 apg.
G James Palmer, 6-5 Fr., 3.7 ppg., 1.4 rpg.
G/F Joe Thomas, 6-7, Sr., 1.3 ppg.
F Omar Sherman, 6-8 Fr., 4.7 ppg., 2.2 rpg.
*Has missed the last two games with a wrist injury
About Miami: Angel Rodriguez, a transfer from Kansas State, who missed the last two games after re-injuring his wrist, isn't expected to play. "He is not likely to even be in uniform," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said on Monday. "He hasn't practiced."…The Hurricanes rallied from a 36-18 deficit early in the second half to defeat host Richmond, 63-61 in their NIT quarterfinal win…Ja'Quan Newton is a freshman from Neumann-Goretti. He had 11 points, five rebounds and two assists against Richmond... Manu Lecomte, is averaging 13 points in the three NIT games, while Tonye Jerkiri is averaging 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds…. Ivan Cruz Uceda is a transfer from Harcum (Junior) College in Bryn Mawr… Davon Reed played high school basketball at the Princeton Day School.
Temple (26-10)
Probable starters
G Will Cummings, 6-2 Sr., 14.9 ppg., 4.2 apg.,, 4.1 rpg.
G Jesse Morgan, 6-5 Sr., 12.1 ppg., 3.2 rpg.
G Quenton DeCosey, 6-5 Jr., 12.4 ppg., 4.6 rpg.
C Devontae Watson, 6-11 Jr., 2.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.
F Jaylen Bond, 6-8 Jr., 7.7 ppg., 8.0 rpg.
Key reserves
F Obi Enechionyia, 6-9 Fr., 5.0 ppg., 3.5 rpg.
G Josh Brown, 6-2 So., 6.3 ppg., 3.0 rpg.
F Daniel Dingle, 6-7 So., 3.7 ppg., 2.7 rpg.
G Devin Coleman, 6-3 Jr., 3.7 ppg., 2.4 rpg.
About Temple: Quenton DeCosey is coming off the first double-double of his career, 21 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Louisiana Tech…Temple is making its fifth appearance in the NIT semifinals and first since 2002…Will Cummings is averaging 22 points in the three NIT wins and has shot 55 percent from the field, while making all 17 of his free throws…Temple won NIT titles in 1938 and 1969 and finished in third place in 1957 and 2002…The Owls are making their 18th NIT appearance and have a record of 23-15.