Game Info: Saturday, December 6, 2025 - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena - Philadelphia, Pa.
Tickets | TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes | Temple Game Notes

Social Media
Twitter/X: @sjuhawks_mbb | Instagram: @sjuhawks_mbb

Opening Tip
The Saint Joseph's takes on one of its oldest rivals, facing the Temple Owls in the Big 5 Classic on Saturday, December 6. Tipoff from Xfinity Mobile Arena is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. with the game airing on NBCSP.

Rivalry Renewed    
The Big 5 Classic features the most frequent and one of the oldest rivals for Saint Joseph's as it faces the Temple Owls. Saturday is the 162nd all-time meeting between the schools. It is the second time the teams are meeting in the Big 5 Classic, having previously met in the 2023 championship game. Half of the games between the Hawks and the Owls have been neutral site games. In addition to the prior Big 5 Classic game, 44 have been at The Palestra, 20 at Convention Hall, one at Philadelphia Arena and the remainder coming in MAC and A-10 Conference tournaments.

One Away    
Justice Ajogbor is on the precipice of making St. Joe's history as he currently sits at 99 blocked shots as a Hawk. With one more rejection, he will become the 12th player in SJU history with 100 career swats. The Benin City, Nigeria native is 17 away from cracking the Saint Joseph's top-10, currently held by Ronald Roberts (2010-14) with 116. Combined with the 97 he had at Harvard, Ajogbor enters Saturday's game third on the Division I active career blocks list with 196, trailing only Justin Abson (210) of Georgia and Felix Okpara (205) from Tennessee. His 86 rejections last season were fifth nationally in NCAA D1.

Towering Over The Competition.
With Justice Ajogbor (6'10"), Jaden Smith (6'11") and Steven Solano (7'0"), the Hawks' roster is loaded with height. Only eight opponents for St. Joe's have three or more players who are 6'10" or taller, led by five on Duquesne's roster. Three teams – Princeton, Coppin State and Rutgers-Camden – do not have a player on their squad that is taller than 6'9". Temple has one player taller than 6'10", senior Mohamed Keita at 7'1".

Temporarily Swiss    
Saturday is the second of back-to-back neutral site games for Saint Joseph's, previously played Princeton at CURE Insurance Arena on November 30. The games are the only two neutral site games on the SJU regular season schedule. St. Joe's played four regular season neutral site games in 2024-25.

Hey, I Know You!    
When the Hawks and Owls meet on Saturday, former teammates will face each other for the first time. Derek Simpson and Gavin Griffiths each were members of the 2023-24 Rutgers team that included a win against No. 11 Wisconsin. As a sophomore that season, Simpson appeared in all 32 games for the Scarlet Knights, starting 25 and averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Griffiths came in as a highly-ranked recruit and averaged 5.8 points and 2.2 rebounds a game.

The Road Not Taken    
The 2025-26 non-conference schedule sees St. Joe's board planes, trains and automobiles more than it has in recent memory. SJU travels 6,021 miles for its road and neutral site games this season, not counting games within the city of Philadelphia. Last year, the Hawks traveled just 192 miles in non-conference play, taking on Texas Tech and Texas in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn. The 6k+ miles Saint Joseph's checks in at for non-conference games this season are more than the past three seasons combined.

Scouting Report    

• Temple enters play 4-4 overall and is coming off a 74-56 setback against Villanova on Monday night. The Owls kept it close early as it was a two-point game at halftime. TU was selected ninth of 13 teams in The American preseason poll.
• Three players average double figures in scoring for Temple, led by Derrian Ford at 16.5 points per game. Former Delaware State Player of the Year, Aidan Tobiason, has taken some big steps forward and is netting 15.2 a night after scoring just 4.8 per game last year. Jordan Mason rounds out the trio, tallying 10.5 an outing. Gavin Griffiths is pulling in 4.6 rebounds a game. Mason has 29 assists
• As they have in years past, the Owls will take a lot of three-pointers as 34.7 percent of their shots come from beyond the arc. They are making more than previous seasons under the current coaching staff, ranking in the top-100 nationally at 36.4 percent. Even with all the treys, Temple has found its way to the line a lot, ranking 36th nationally at 26.5 free throw attempts per game. TU has held on to the ball as well, sitting third in the country with just 8.8 turnovers a contest.
• Temple needs to value the ball as they do not force a lot of miscues, ranking 352nd out of 361 NCAA D1 teams at just 9.25 turnovers forced per game. It also allows opponents to shoot 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. Rebounding has also been tough as it is 12th of 13 teams in The American at 33.1 boards per contest.
• Adam Fisher is in his third season as the head coach of the Owls with a record of 37-39 on North Broad Street. He led Temple on a magical run to the title game of the 2023 conference tournament where the Owls became just the third team in NCAA history to play five games in five days in its conference championship.

All-Time Series    
Saturday is the 162nd all-time meeting between Saint Joseph's and Temple with the Owls holding a 90-71 series advantage. The 161 previous games played are the most against any opponent in school history and mark one of only three teams SJU has played 100 or more times (La Salle - 145; Rhode Island - 112). The teams first met in the 1912-13 season, a 35-24 St. Joe's win.

Last Time Against Temple    
Rasheer Fleming scored a then career-high 22 points, pulled in nine rebounds as Saint Joseph's claimed the first Big 5 Classic championship with a 74-65 win against Temple on December 2, 2023. Erik Reynolds II and Cam Brown each scored 11 in the contest. Brown had six rebounds. Reynolds dished five assists. The Hawks led wire-to-wire, scoring the first five points, eventually going up 27-15 with 4:16 left in the first half before taking an 11-point advantage at the break. Temple pulled as close as four in the second half, but SJU went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 34 seconds to seal the win.

Starting the Holiday Season Early    
The Hawks have been in a giving mood early as for a second consecutive game, the Hawks delivered 25 assists with its performance against the Scarlet Raptors. SJU also had 25 assists at UNLV on November 20. The 25 dimes against the Runnin' Rebels came on 26 made baskets. The 96.2 percent assist rate is the highest in NCAA Division I this season, topping the 96.0 percent (24-of-25) by Niagara against Delaware State on November 10. Three St. Joe's players rank in the top-25 in the A-10 in assists per game. At 16.6 helpers per contest, the Hawks are in the top-85 nationally.

Next Up    
St. Joe's returns to Hagan Arena, facing the Coppin State Eagles on Tuesday, December 9. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.