Before last night, Craig Williams had scored two points in his career at Temple. And Juan Fernandez had just recently enrolled at the school. But both guys triggered the Owls to a 73-58 win over Kent State that had folks at the Liacouras buzzing.

Williams, a 6-9 sophomore from the Virgin Islands, found out just before the game that he’d be starting for Sergio Olmos. He wound up scoring Temple’s first eight points and finished with 16. Fernandez, a 6-4 freshman from Argentina, had eight points, four assists and three turnovers off the bench. Last week, Brendan F. Quinn wrote a story for The (New) Bulletin detailing the possibilities Fernandez presents, including the comparisons to Pepe Sanchez.

And from Dick Jerardi’s story in today’s Daily News:

The fans made some noise when Fernandez got off the bench for the first time with 14 1/2 minutes to go in the first half. Actually, he got off the floor near the baseline, as the bench was too crowded with people in suits. When the freshman point guard from Argentina entered the game, he was greeted as something less than savior, but definitely more than just some guy coming off the bench. He played more like savant than savior.

All of this is positive if you’re a fan of the Cherry and the White, but the trick will be consistency. That said, the Owls have played the nation’s strongest schedule, according to collegerpi.com, so they figure to be ready for the A-10. Temple is now 6-6 and it plays at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday night.

Links: Look what they found at Temple last night [Daily News]
Who is Juan Fernandez? [The Bulletin]
Photo credit: [Daily News]

Click here to return home

Comments Off