Win over St. Louis suggests Owls are back

ST. LOUIS - Temple fans will argue that the Owls are back on track. And they might have a legitimate argument after what happened Wednesday night here at the Chaifetz Arena.

Temple pulled a game behind first-place La Salle atop the Atlantic Ten standings after beating St. Louis, 72-67.

The Owls (11-4, 1-1 A-10) may have also proved that their victory over Duke on Jan. 4 wasn't a fluke.

The Billikens (13-4, 1-2) came into Wednesday's much-anticipated matchup with a 9-0 home record. St. Louis also received seven votes in the recent Associated Press Top 25 rankings.

"We had to prove that we are a competitive team," Temple guard Khalif Wyatt said. "We just had to get back on track in league play."

That's because after beating the Blue Devils, the Owls had a letdown in a conference-opening loss to Dayton at the Liacouras Center. That setback broke Temple's 25-game winning streak in its home arena.

It also left questions about whether the Owls are legitimate conference contenders.

"We really needed this win," said forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, whose team avoided starting conference play 0-2 for the first time since the 2006-07 season. "We got away from ourselves against Dayton.

"So going into [Saturday's game at] Richmond, this is definitely a great win for us."

On a night when Juan Fernandez struggled, the Owls received a huge lift from backcourt mates Wyatt and Ramone Moore.

Moore, a fifth-year senior, scored seven of the Owls' last 12 points in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds. The South Philadelphia native (18 points, seven rebounds) had a key assist to Hollis-Jefferson during that stretch.

Wyatt, a junior guard, scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He was 3 for 3 on three-pointers and finished with three steals and two blocks.

Hollis-Jefferson, a 6-foot-6 junior, made 6 of 7 field goals to finish with 12 points.

Fernandez, a senior point guard, finished with two points on 1 for 8 shooting, his worst offensive performance this season. The preseason all-Atlantic Ten selection also missed his lone foul shot and finished with four assists and two turnovers.

But even with a slowed Fernandez, the Owls held the lead the entire second half.

"We can feed off of this and hopefully play well against Richmond," Hollis-Jefferson said.

Temple owns a 10-8 all-time advantage over Richmond (10-7, 1-1). The Spiders defeated the Owls in last season's A-10 tourney semifinals in Atlantic City.

Richmond, however, lost four starters from a team that reached the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.

Notes. Temple center Micheal Eric could return as early as Jan. 21 against Maryland at the Palestra. The 6-foot-11 graduate student missed the last 11 games with a right kneecap injury. He averages 10.5 points and 11.3 rebounds.

Contact staff writer Keith Pompey at 215-854-2939, kpompey@phillynews.com, or @pompeysgridlock on Twitter. Read his blog, "Owls Inq," at www.philly.com/owlsinq