Temple took the subway to the Wells Fargo Center and then ran over Kansas like a freight train.
The Owls drilled the No. 10 Jayhawks, 77-52, prompting the fans to storm the court.
For Temple, it was the kind of win that could ultimately help them make the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we have to build on this and say we’re good enough to play with a lot of teams in the country but we can’t do it without being terrific on the defensive end and making really good choices on the offensive,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said on ESPN. “So tonight we got that done.”
It was also a much-needed win for the American Athletic Conference, which had been 1-10 against ranked opponents this season.
“Everybody played well,” Dunphy said. “In order for us to do what we did tonight, everybody’s gotta play great.”
Temple (8-4) controlled the tempo on both sides of the ball and got a combined 54 points from Will Cummings (19), Quenton DeCosey (18) and Jesse Morgan (17).
It was Kansas’ second blowout loss this season, the other being a 32-point beatdown by No. 1 Kentucky in the Champions Classic.
Whether those are just two isolated games or a pattern of evidence that this Kansas team may not be good enough to win its 11th Big 12 title in a row remains to be seen.
As for Temple taking the subway, Dunphy said he wanted to pay “homage” to Temple students past and present.
“I think really what we’re doing is paying homage to all those people that went to Temple University for all those years and that’s how they had to go to school, was on the subway,” Dunphy said. “Get out of the subway, go to class. Get back on the subway, get to their part-time jobs so they can afford the money to go to school and get back home again. That’s what this school is, it’s a hard-working blue-collar school. It’s a really good group of people that I’ve known for a long time.”
Photos: Matt Norlander from ESPN / Ryan Feldman from ESPN
