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No. 21 Temple beats Saint Joseph's 73-46

Jan 7, 2010 - 2:54 AM PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- Temple coach Fran Dunphy punished starting forward Lavoy Allen for being 10 minutes late to a required team film session on Tuesday.

After sitting for the opening 8:03 on Wednesday night, Allen went out and punished city rival Saint Joseph's with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the 21st-ranked Owls' 73-46 victory over the Hawks in the Atlantic-10 opener for both teams.

Ryan Brooks added 13 points for Temple, which was coming off its most lopsided loss in 17 years.

"The way he played, we might want to make him late every day," Dunphy said of Allen, who was tardy leaving an academic meeting and getting to the film session on time.

"I don't think it makes a difference whether I start or not," said Allen, who was 8 of 15 from the field, had seven offensive rebounds and blocked three shots.

Michael Eric had a career-high 13 points for the Owls (12-3), who responded nicely at their on-campus arena after an 84-52 loss to No. 1 Kansas last Saturday. Temple hadn't lost by that many since falling to Wake Forest 106-69 on Feb. 7, 1993.

Brooks, Temple's leading scorer, was ill before the game, but still started.

"It feels pretty good to come back after a tough loss to Kansas and get back going in the right direction," said Brooks, who received fluids before the game and played 36 minutes. "We feel it's a new season for us."

Chris Prescott and Carl Jones scored eight points each for the Hawks (4-9), who have lost nine of 10 since starting the season 3-0. Saint Joseph's is 0-3 against ranked teams, also losing to Purdue and Villanova.

"We weren't good enough across the board," Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said.

Temple began the game by hitting its first three shots for a 7-0 lead. The Owls never trailed and were ahead 34-24 at halftime.

Temple kept up its defensive pressure in the second half and continued to show why its ranked fourth nationally in points allowed (56.4). Only Kansas has scored more than 70.

"It can really dictate the outcome of a game," Brooks said of his team's defense. "It's something we hang our hat on."

A layup by Allen gave the Owls a 51-33 lead with 9:55 remaining. While Temple was extending its lead, the Hawks hit only three field goals over the first 11 minutes of the second half.

Saint Joseph's, which entered the game allowing more than 78 points per game, dropped its conference opener for only the third time in 15 years under Martelli.

The Hawks were outrebounded 49-25 and shot 32 percent from the field.

"The game is in the numbers," Martelli said. "No double-figure scorers, 2-to-1 rebounding and 46 points allowed in the paint."

Temple leads the all-time series 84-65, and the Owls have won six straight. This was the largest margin of victory in the series since Temple won 77-45 on Jan. 3, 1985, at the Palestra.

The teams will meet again on Feb. 20 at the Palestra with that game being billed as the Big 5 matchup in the city series.