Marquette gets a chance to steal state spotlight

Special to The Journal

Philadelphia, Pa. Temple University senior point guard Rick Brunson doesn't know a great deal about the Marquette University basketball program.

He does know, however, that the Golden Eagles are one of the tough non- conference foes on the Owls' schedule this season.

Leading a team that lost two honorable mention All-Americans in Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie to the National Basketball Association, Brunson expects Temple (4-1) to have its hands full against the Golden Eagles (8-1) on Thursday at the Kiel Center in St. Louis in the Busch Atlantic 10 / Great Midwest Battle on ESPN.

Brunson also feels a game of this magnitude will help position the winner for a return trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

"Marquette should be a good test for us," said Brunson, a 6-foot-4-inch playmaker who averages 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. "In fact, the non-conference games are very important to us. We like to play well against the teams from other leagues. If we can win a few of them, that should help us come tournament time."

Brunson can't rattle off Marquette's starting lineup, but, he said, "I know they were in the NCAA tournament last year and they're off to a pretty good start this year."

It has been a shaky start for John Chaney's Temple Owls, whose one loss was to Cincinnati, 60-41, in the Tournament of Champions in Charlotte, N.C. But Temple has registered victories over Southern California (65-54), South Caro- Temple

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lina (49-44), Texas Tech (67-64) and St. Bonaventure (70-57 on Tuesday night).

"We're playing a lot of new guys," Brunson said. "Lynard {Stewart} and Johnny {Miller} are both freshmen. Levan {Alston, a junior} is a transfer {from the University of New Orleans} and it's his first year. So everybody is getting acclimated to Coach Chaney's system. Our biggest problem has been shooting."

The Owls are converting a lackluster 35.5% from the field, while averaging just 55.5 points a game. Their free-throw shooting woes run deeper, however, with the team shooting a dismal 52.9%.

"We have to find somebody to put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis," Chaney said. "We can't win games, 2-0. We need some players to step up offensively. Ricky is not a shooter. He's a scorer. But we've got to have him . . . and some of the other guys to pick up the scoring load. We have to shoot a better percentage, too."

So far, the key to Temple's success has been its vaunted matchup zone defense. The Owls have limited their opponents to 38.9 shooting from the field. In addition, Temple is has turned the ball over only 7.7 times per game.

Typical numbers for a Chaney team.

"Defense is going to be a big factor," Brunson said. "We have to continue to play good defense in order for us to stay in the games. We have to create scoring opportunities from our defense. We've got to come up with steals and interceptions to get some points off turnovers.

"Speaking of turnovers, we have to keep them down to a minimum. We want to make every possession count. We've got to pull on all of our resources. This is a team that literally has to work hard to get things done. Overall, we don't have a lot of talent on this team."

It's quite evident Temple has missed the outstanding play of Jones and McKie, last season's stars. Both were selected in the first round in last June's NBA draft, Jones at No. 10 by the by the Los Angeles Lakers and McKie 17th by the Portland Trail Blazers.

McKie was the team's leading scorer with a 20.1 average. He was named first-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference. Jones was the Owls' second-leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points, but he, not McKie, was named Atlantic 10 Conference player of the year.

"Aaron and Eddie were great players for us," said Chaney, who is in his 13th season as Temple's head coach. "They scored, played good defense and rebounded extremely well. They did everything that we asked of them. But they're gone now and we've got to get some production from the other guys.

"Right now, for our young players this is a growing process. I would like to see some of the other players give us something on a consistent basis. We need something to hang our hat on."

Up front, the Owls will be counting on 6-9 junior Derrick Battie (6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game), 6-7 junior Jason Ivey (9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds) and 6-8 freshman Lynard Stewart (7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds). Brunson feels his penetration is very important in creating opportunities for Temple's big men.

"Every time I penetrate there's usually somebody open in the middle," Brunson said. "If I can get the ball to Jason, Lynard and Derrick 8 to 10 feet from the basket, they should be able to score. But I've got to make it happen."

Brunson is the only senior on the team.

The former McDonald's All- American, who grew up in Syracuse, N.Y., and played his high school basketball in Salem, Mass., has been to three consecutive NCAA tournaments. He understands Chaney's basketball philosophy.

"It's important for me to show some leadership abilities on this team," said Brunson, who is considered a solid pro prospect by some NBA scouts. "We play one of the toughest schedules in the country. You have to be ready to play every game. I want everybody to stay on top of their game. I want our team to go as far as we can this year."

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