Temple's Fernandez hopes to get touch back against Akron

Turn back the calendar to Dec. 13, 2009, and Juan Fernandez was lighting up the then third-ranked Villanova Wildcats.

The Temple guard made a career-best 7 of 9 three-point attempts en route to scoring a career-high 33 points in 75-65 upset victory over the Wildcats.

Fernandez went on to lead the Atlantic Ten in three-point field-goal percentage (45.3 percent) for the season.

But at 3 p.m. Sunday against Akron, the 6-foot-4 junior will head onto the Liacouras Center court a somewhat different player.

The marksmanship he displayed last season for Temple (6-2) is gone. Fernandez is shooting just 22 percent (8 of 36) from three-point range. Overall, he's shooting 34 percent (31 of 90).

"My shooting, it didn't go away and it's not coming back, either," said Fernandez, who shot a combined 0 for 6 on three-pointers in Temple's last two games after making 4 of 7 against Central Michigan on Dec. 1.

"I have been having pretty bad percentages, so far," he added. "But it's just part of my coming back to play that point-guard position."

The loss of Luis Guzman from last season's team left the Owls without a true point guard this season. As a result, Fernandez was forced to go back to his natural position as opposed to lining up at shooting guard.

As result, the Argentina native often wonders if he should shoot or pass in key situations. That uncertainly has led to a lack of rhythm and untimely and off-balance shots.

"It's a mind-set thing," said Fernandez, who is averaging 10.9 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.8 turnovers a game. "Last year, playing the two-spot, the ball was coming to me and my job was to score.

"I'm trying to do both things this year, and trying to find those moments. Hopefully, it will come with games and with time."

Fernandez would love for it to come against the Zips. However, Temple might not need for him to break out of his slump.

Though 4-2, Akron's victories have come against NCAA Division III Millikin and mid-major programs - Youngstown State (4-3), Detroit (5-5), Illinois Chicago (4-5) - with a combined 13-13 record going into Saturday's games.

Akron is led by Nikola Cvetinovic, the reigning Mid-American Conference East Division player of the week.

The 6-8, 230-pound junior from Serbia averaged 18.5 points, six rebounds, four steals and 1.5 assists in last week's games at Detroit and against Illinois Chicago.

For the season, Cvetinovic is averaging a team-leading 14.8 points to go with 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals.

Notable: Temple declared Sunday's contest the "Allen's Town" Game in reference to Owls senior power forward Lavoy Allen, an all-American candidate. Any fan with the first or last name of Allen or Alan will receive group pricing tickets (as much as $7 off the ticket price) at the box office with identification.