A10 Basketball blog

2009 NCAA Tournament - South Region - Miami
No. 6 Arizona State (25-9) 66, No. 11 Temple (22-12) 57
Key Moment: Sun Devil guard James Harden’s only basket, a 3-point field goal, helped the Sun Devils hold off the Owls.
High Point Scorers: ASU — Jeff Pendergraph, Derek Glasser 22  Temple — Lavoy Allen 11
Analysis: Probably the good thing about this is that Sun Devils showed their diversity without relying on the Pac 10 player of the year. He scored only nine points. But Pendergraph was his usual productive self. The Sun Devils usually don’t beat themselves and don’t mind grinding out games with opponents.They only had 11 turnovers.
What’s Next: The Sun Devils advance to the second round on Sunday and will meet No. 3 seed Syracuse. They will have some issues with Orangemen’s quickness especially point guard Jonny Flynn who may be the most well conditioned athlete in the tournament. Flynn scored 16 points in the win over Stephen F. Austin.

By Kevin Lonnquist
DFN Sports Staff Writer

By LoudaGuru

Temple’s Allen is a keeper.

The Temple University freshman may just be the best player on the men’s basketball team. Since beginning organized basketball in the eighth grade in the Pennsbury School District in Bucks County, Pa., Allen has grown and developed into a 6′9″ power forward who has his best on court days ahead of him. Inserted into the starting lineup from the first game this season, Allen is the only member of Coach Fran Dunphy’s first full recruiting class to gain significant playing time. A tireless work ethic allows Allen to improve literally from one game to the next.

Allen hails from Pennsbury High School in Fairless, Hills, Pa. Blessed with size, he spent his freshman high school season confronted by critics who expected a finished product hitting the floor. Pennsbury Coach Frank Sciolla worked with the soft-spoken kid six days a week during the summer. Allen learned what he should do on the court to make his teammates better. A good passer, rebounder and defender, Allen developed his post-up game by his senior year. Playing the national AAU circuit on the Philly MJC team allowed Allen to face the top big men in the country.

Allen prides himself on his hard work ethic. Becoming more aggressive might allow comparisons to another young phenom, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. Only 18 years old, Allen has gotten over the nervousness of playing Top Ten teams like Tennessee, Florida and Duke. “Lavoy has exceeded our expectations,” said Coach Dunphy. A big statement for a player who is trying to measure up to expectations his freshman season in college. Playing before family and friends, Allen delivered a career high on February 3 with 19 points in a 93-80 victory over George Washington. You can be sure we’ll be seeing more of that as the season progresses.