Owls not intimidated by opponent

NASHVILLE - After watching South Florida play Wednesday night, a lot of fair-weather Temple fans have been leaping off the bandwagon.

The Bulls dominated California in an NCAA tournament first-round game and suddenly are being mentioned on Twitter as basketball's version of the Steel Curtain.

"We can't really react to it too much," Owls guard Ramone Moore said.

Fifth-seeded Temple (24-7) faces the 12th-seeded Bulls (21-13) at 9:50 p.m. Friday in the second round of the Midwest Regional at Bridgestone Arena.

"We just have to go out there and let our play speak for itself," Moore said. "I'm sure South Florida is pretty hyped up. They'll want to come in against us and show that they can win."

Playing in pink? Moore said there's a chance the NCAA will allow him to wear his bright-pink sneakers in Friday's game.

The senior has worn them this week during practice as a way to honor his late family members.

The tongue of his sneakers readS "RIP Zaire" for his younger cousin, Zaire Moore, who died in an auto accident last summer.

The pink is to honor his great-grandfather, Edward Moore; his grandmother, Olivia Moore; and aunts Pearl Moore and Shirley Moore. All died of cancer.

Making an impact at Texas.

Texas freshman Jaylen Bond is expected to play quality minutes when the 11th-seeded Longhorns face sixth-seeded Cincinnati in a 12:15 p.m. East Regional second-round game here Friday.

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Plymouth Whitemarsh High product has played in all 33 games and made five starts. He averages 3.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in 15.6 minutes a game and is shooting a team-best 53.1 percent from the field.

The Norristown native's best performance came when he finished with career highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds against Nicholls State on Dec. 13. He followed that by recording 12 points and eight rebounds on 6-for-7 shooting against Temple four days later.

Gathers name lives on. Born in December 1991, Jordan Gathers wasn't alive when his uncle, Hank Gathers, died on March 4, 1990.

But the St. Bonaventure freshman guard, whose father Derrick was Hank's brother, can talk for days about his uncle and the day he died.

While a star at Loyola Marymount, Hank Gathers collapsed during a basketball game and died of a heart ailment. The all-American forward was a Dobbins High product.

"I've learned that my uncle was a great person off the court," said Gathers, whose 14th-seeded Bonnies face third-seeded Florida State here Friday afternoon in an East Regional second-round game. "He was always telling jokes and just a great guy to be around."

Gathers, who grew up in Los Angeles, has the Twitter handle @44LivesOn. Hank Gathers' jersey number was 44.

Taking on the giants. Temple has a 3-2 record against teams from power conferences. The Owls defeated Duke, Maryland, and Villanova, and lost to Texas and Purdue. South Florida is a power-conference team, playing in the Big East. Temple will become a Big East member in 2013.