GAME NOTES: The Massachusetts Minutemen have made their way to Philadelphia for an Atlantic 10 Conference clash with the Temple Owls. UMass has won two of its last three games to move to 15-7 overall and 4-4 in conference action. The Minutemen are coming off a thrilling 78-76 decision over Rhode Island on Thursday, and they can even their road record at 5-5 with a win today. As for Temple, it entered Wednesday's tilt against Richmond having won two straight games and five of the last six. Unfortunately, the Owls dropped a 64-58 decision to the Spiders, watching their league record dip to 4-3 in the process. Temple won the first 21 times that it played UMass, but the series has evened out since. The Owls are 39-19 all-time versus the Minutemen.

UMass is scoring 83.0 ppg this season while limiting the opposition to 78.0 ppg. Gary Forbes is the top offensive performer for the Minutemen, as he is generating 20.6 ppg to go along with 7.3 rpg. Ricky Harris is close behind with 19.0 ppg, and Chris Lowe adds 12.5 ppg and 103 assists. The fourth and final double-digit scorer for the squad is Etienne Brower with 11.7 ppg. In the two-point victory over Rhode Island last time out, Forbes poured in 26 points to go with 13 rebounds, but he did attempt a staggering total of 30 shots from the floor. Lowe scored 23 points, Harris added 13, and Brower finished with 10 points and 17 rebounds. Strong defense was key to the win, as the Minutemen limited the Rams to 33.8 percent shooting from the field.

Temple shot just 7-of-26 from three-point range against Richmond on Wednesday and finished with eight assists against only 13 turnovers. The Owls limited the Spiders to 38.9 percent shooting from the floor, but the strong defensive performance wasn't good enough to avoid defeat. Chris Clark scored 18 points for Temple on 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range. Dionte Christmas pitched in 14 points, and Luis added 11 points. Christmas is one of the most explosive scorers in the A-10, as he is posting 20.1 ppg to go along with 6.4 rpg. Mark Tyndale, who has started every game alongside Christmas, adds 15.5 ppg. Unfortunately, the supporting cast is rather weak, as Christmas and Tyndale account for more than half of the team's output.

Expect Temple to do just enough to win today. The Owls are 6-3 at home, and the duo of Tyndale and Christmas will bounce back strong from a rather weak showing against Richmond.