Both teams combined to shoot 30 percent (34-for-113). They turned it over a combined 31 times. And there were 39 fouls called, even on a night when it seemed like the officials were letting guys get away with a lot of contact.

Your final: St. John’s 55, Temple 48. Thud.

Our first question is, where was everybody? The announced Palestra crowd was 3,469, but it seemed like less than that. We know it’s Thanksgiving weekend, but still. And a good number of those who were here were Johnnies fans who came down from Noo Yawk.

Temple was simply beaten at its own game here tonight. Which is to say the Owls lost ugly. That’s because they couldn’t get anything to fall, especially from in close: Temple really did have 17 offensive rebounds but only 19 second-chance points. It’s pretty much the only way to lose to a team that has just four assists and 17 turnovers, which is what the Johnnies had. Coach Fran Dunphy said several times, in describing several different sequences, that the Owls were “out-toughed.” The game got away early in the second half, when the Redmen Red Storm went on a 13-2 run in the first five minutes to take a 34-24 lead, a stretch in which Dwight Hardy made a layup and a pair of 3-pointers. Temple closed to within four twice after that, but that was it.

A highlight was Redmen Red Storm coach Norm Roberts crushing a cup full of water out of frustration and tossing it into press row. It landed on our laptop. We weren’t amused. But this is the business we’ve chosen, as Hyman Roth said in The Godfather, Part II.

The Owls (4-2) play at Western Michigan on Tuesday night.