Looking back at Nova-Temple

Looking Back

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Here is a look at some of the Temple-Villanova men's basketball thrillers:

Jan. 5, 1966 at the Palestra. Temple 57, Villanova 56: An obscene sign unfurled during a recent TV game caused Big Five officials to prohibit the iconic banners. Regardless, Temple edged Villanova on a pair of Clarence Brookins free throws with 21 seconds left.

March 7, 1970 at the Palestra. Villanova 77, Temple 69: In the only NCAA meeting between these ancient rivals, the Wildcats prevailed, winning the second game of a first-round East Region doubleheader.

Feb. 26, 1971 at the Palestra. Villanova 67, Temple 65: The Wildcats, who would lose to UCLA that March in the NCAA championship game, barely got by the Ollie Johnson-led Owls.

Dec. 1, 1984 at the Palestra. Villanova 68, Temple 65: In their third game of a season that concluded with a national championship, the Wildcats barely squeaked by Temple, which itself reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Dec. 13, 1995 at the Spectrum. Temple 62, Villanova 56: The Wildcats might have reached their first No. 1 ranking 21 years sooner, but, at 7-0 and No. 2 in the polls, they were upset by the Owls on a barrage of late jumpers by Eddie Jones.

Dec. 8, 2001 at the Palestra. Villanova 70, Temple 66: Derrick Snowden scored the deciding final four points as the Wildcats won in new coach Jay Wright's first Palestra game. Lynn Greer had 29 points for Temple.

Nov. 21, 2003 at the Liacouras Center. Villanova 73, Temple 48: Scheduling conflicts caused the teams to schedule this meeting at 12:01 a.m. on the first day the NCAA permitted games. Villanova brought 17 buses of fans to Temple's arena for the midnight meeting and won easily.

Dec. 4, 2004 at the Palestra. Temple 53, Villanova 52: Curtis Sumpter's three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, and the Owls, whose narrow margin had come on a Dustin Salisbery three 1 minute, 7 seconds earlier, hung on.

Dec. 13, 2009 at the Liacouras Center. Temple 75, Villanova 65: Juan Fernandez scored 33 points as Temple upset the unbeaten and third-ranked Wildcats. By winning, the Owls improved to 8-2 and later moved into the top 25 (at 21) for the first time since 2001.

- Frank FitzpatrickEndText