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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Lynn Greer and Quincy Wadley put their
opening-night shooting problems behind them in a hurry.
|  | | Temple's David Hawkins, left, steals the ball from New Mexico's Wayland White and gets off and running on the break. |
Greer had 18 points and Wadley added 15 as Temple advanced to
the semifinals of the Preseason NIT with a 61-49 victory over New
Mexico on Wednesday night.
Two nights earlier, the two guards combined to shoot 2-for-22 in
Temple's first-round victory over Delaware.
"The game is really played by guards now," Temple coach John
Chaney said. "I don't like to have too many big guys out there. I
went with four guards so we could increase the tempo."
The Owls (2-0) will meet the winner of Friday night's
Indiana-South Alabama game in the semifinals next week in New York.
Greer is adjusting to the point guard position after playing
most of his college career at shooting guard.
"Making my first shot was a real confidence builder," said
Greer, who has just two turnovers in the first two games. "But I'm
not going to stop shooting even if I'm missing."
David Hawkins added 11 points for Temple, and Kevin Lyde had 10
points and 10 rebounds. The Owls were just 22-for-67 (33 percent)
from the field.
Eric Chatfield had 16 points for New Mexico (1-1), and Wayland
White had his first career double-double, 12 points and a
career-high 10 rebounds along with five blocks.
The Lobos struggled with Temple's matchup zone.
"The matchup gave us some problems, we didn't have time to
practice against it," New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla said. "We
were a little sloppy because we've got an inexperienced team but we
battled all night."
New Mexico had 17 turnovers, which led to 17 Temple points.
"You've got to get rid of the ball real quick or they'll knock
it away," White said.
Temple did not score in the first 5:16 of the second half as New
Mexico ran off eight straight to tie it at 29. But the Owls
countered with a 12-2 run, fueled by three Lobos turnovers that led
to seven points. The spurt was capped by a layup by Hawkins, who
had five points during the run.
The first half featured big runs by each team. After Temple
scored the first five points, the Lobos went on a 14-0 spurt. The
Owls finished with a 22-5 run to make it 29-21 at the half.
Although many wondered about the decision to send New Mexico
away from The Pit, where the Lobos draw more than 16,000 fans a
game, Fraschilla wasn't upset about the trip.
"I have no complaint at all with the NIT," he said. "This
game will help us a lot. It gave us an opportunity to improve."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
New Mexico Clubhouse
Temple Clubhouse
Texas holds off Cal in final minute, reaches Preseason NIT semis
New-look Hoosiers win in Davis' debut
S. Alabama clamps down on Marquette; faces Indiana next in NIT
NIT at a glance
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