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Saint Joseph's: Roster | Schedule | Stats
Temple: Roster | Schedule | Stats
Saint Joseph's takes on Temple in the inaugural MHS Lift Big 5 Classic title on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m., with the contest airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus and Peacock, with audio available on SJUHawks.com.
• St. Joe's secured a spot in the championship game by going 2-0 in Pod 2 with Wednesday's 78-65 win over #18/15 Villanova, and a 69-61 win over Penn on November 10.
• The Hawks, who are 134-120 all-time in Big 5 play, have captured 20 titles, with their most recent coming in 2011-12 as they shared it with Temple.
• Saint Joseph's captured the top seed in Pod 2 of the MHS Lift Big 5 Classic on Wednesday as the Hawks topped #18/15 Villanova, 78-65, at Finneran Pavilion.
• Wednesday's victory marked St. Joe's first win over the Wildcats since a 74-58 win on December 17, 2011 at Hagan Arena, and the Hawks' first win at Villanova since a 74-67 decision on February 2, 2004.
• Erik Reynolds II notched his second 20-point performance of the season, finishing with 24 points on 8-13 from the field, including 5-8 from behind the arc and 3-5 from the line against the Wildcats.
• Xzayvier Brown added 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including 4-5 from distance, and added three assists.
• Lynn Greer III tallied 15 points to go with a game-high seven assists and seven rebounds.
• Rasheer Fleming posted his first career double-double pouring in 12 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
SAINT JOSEPH'S VERSUS TEMPLE
Temple holds a 93-70 edge in the all-time series, but the two programs share a discrepancy in the all-time series as Temple includes a 1901-02 contest in its series history, while St. Joe's doesnot as its first official season as a collegiate program did not begin until 1909-10 ... Saint Joseph's and Temple previously played seven contests at the Spectrum, with Temple going 7-0 in those matchups ... The Owls won last year's matchup, 70-60, on December 6 at the Liacouras Center despite a career-high 25 points from the Hawks' Cameron Brown ... St. Joe's Lynn Greer III is the son of Temple Hall of Famer Lynn Greer II (1997-02).
SHARING THE BALL
Through seven games, Saint Joseph's has averaged 18.1 assists per game, and ranks 19th nationally. The Hawks enter Saturday having assisted on 127 of 194 made field goals (65.5 percent) so far this season.
REYNOLDS II AMONG NATION'S TOP SCORERS
One of the top scorers in the nation, Erik Reynolds II entered the 2023-24 season ranked 14th among returning scorers from a season ago. Averaging 19.6 points per game as a sophomore in 2022-23, Reynolds II currently ranks 10th in Division I in career scoring at 16.2 points per game, and over 70 career games, he has scored in double figures 58 times, including 34 straight entering Saturday.
HAWKS CONNECT FROM DEEP
Three-point shooting has been a staple under Head Coach Billy Lange, the Hawks have shown their ability to connect from three-point range in 2023-24 as they rank sixth nationally in makes per game (11.4).
