Soft Pretzel Logic

Off we go from the Palestra at what is simply a monstrous game for St. Joe's if the Hawks are to have any chance of making the NCAA Tournament.

But the Owls surely have that crushing last-second loss to St. Joe's at the Liacouras Center front and center in their memories, and will be out for revenge tonight.

This game counts as the Big 5 game for the season, in addition to its impact on the Atlantic 10 standings and which teams will get byes in Atlantic City.

It's a full house and then some, with the corners jammed well before tipoff. The St. Joe's student section is surprisingly small, though -- just section 120, and maybe a few rows of 220. It's certainly not the wall of crimson we're used to when the Hawks play on 33rd Street.

The Temple students and band are together in section 108. The brass players in the band have little cutouts of Phil Martelli's head in full scream attached to their music holders. Nice tough.

As always, check back here for all the rollouts, chants and so forth. The game is on CSN, so feel free to post comments as you watch.

The starting lineups:

Temple

F Fr 24 Lavoy Allen
C Jr 41 Sergio Olmos
G Sr 13 Mark Tyndale
G Jr 22 Dionte Christmas
G So 10 Luis Guzman

St. Joseph's

F Sr 52 Rob Ferguson
F Sr 12 Pat Calathes
C Jr 34 Ahmad Nivins
G So 13 Darrin Govens
G Jr 0 Tasheed Carr

15:57 1st, 6-4 St. Joe's: The first rollout of the night comes from Temple: "YOU HAVE ONE OF OUR ROLLOUTS."

Well now. Seeing as how the St. Joe's students snuck a "THE HAWK WILL NEVER DIE" rollout into the Villanova section at the Holy War (yes, that's my admission that I completely missed it during the game), let's see where that goes.

And here it is, as the Temple students chant "That's our rollout!" : "YOU CAN'T SPELL DIONTE W/O NIT"

I maintain, as I've been saying on the College HoopsCast for a while now, that an NIT bid would be a pretty nice accomplishment for Temple.

And if St. Joe's isn't careful, they might end up there too.

11:58 1st, 17-13 St. Joe's: I thought I just saw a Temple rollout coming, but it fell over. Oh, it was upside down. Here it is: "NBA SCOUTS TO CALATHES ... YAWN"

7:29 1st, 22-16 St. Joe's: Another Temple rollout: "FLAP YOUR WINGS IF YOU SUCK"

At the St. Joe's end, there's one unfurling slowly. Now it's just sitting there held up behind a row of students, and I can't tell if they're going to lift it. They finally do: "STUDENTS @ TU... TYPICAL UNDERACHIEVERS" The Temple students chant "Boring, boring..."

3:51 1st, 27-22 St. Joe's: Another Temple rollout, and I'm starting to wonder why they've got more than St. Joe's by some distance: "OUR FOOTBALL TEAM WON HOMECOMING... DID BC'S?"

Oh wow. Can I please take some credit for that? Seriously, I had the BC-St. Joe's football thing on here way before anyone else in the Philly media did. So I'm going to take credit for insipring that rollout, thank you very much.

HALFTIME, 31-27 St. Joe's Whereas the Liacouras Center game was an up-and-down, frenetic affair, this game has been much more deliberate and methodical.

I'm not too surprised, to be honest; it's the time of year where you don't want to make too many mistakes, and it's also the time of year when legs get a little weary as the regular season nears its end.

Here, then are the numbers.

For Temple: 9-for-25 from the field (36.0%), including 5-for-14 from three-point range (35.7%) and 4-for-11 from two-point range (36.4%), and 4-for-6 from the free throw line (66.7%). Four offensive rebounds, 11 defensive rebounds, eight assists, seven turnovers, two blocks, two steals and six fouls committed.

That adds up to 31 possessions and 0.875 points per possession.

For St. Joe's: 12-for-26 from the field (46.2%), and all the made baskets were inside the arc -- the Hawks were 0-for-8 from three-point range. They also shot 7-for-8 from the line (87.5%). Four offensive rebounds, 12 defensive rebounds, two assists, six turnovers, five blocks, three steals and six fouls committed.

That adds up to 32 possessions and 0.975 points per possession.

And it's not just that all the made baskets were from two-point range. St. Joe's scored all of their 24 points from the field in the paint. A lot of them came from driving guards, but Ahmad Nivins has stepped up with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Dionte Christmas leads Temple with 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three-point range.

Okay, time for the second half.

15:41 2nd, 41-29 St. Joe's: The Hawks jump out on a 10-2 run to start the half, five of the points coming from Tasheed Carr. A Temple rollout: "ST. JOE'S HAWK: FAILED 2ND GRADE ART PROJECT"

15:00 2nd, 43-29 St. Joe's: As Rob Ferguson hits a short jumper, the St. Joe's students unfurl a rollout during the run of play" ¡HOLA OLMOS! DONDE ESTA EL "POST GAME"? A few people behind me laughed, for what it's worth.

11:18 2nd, 49-38 St. Joe's: Another Temple rollout: "SJU BBALL ENDS IN 2 WEEKS X-MAS IS ALL YEAR LONG"

While I was reading the rollout, they had that contest where two students have to run down the floor and make a layup dressed in Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup costumes. Apparently the Temple student in the contest did something illegal, so the St. Joe's student won.

Public address man Brian Startare announced that the winner got "a great prize pack from Dunkin' Donuts because Temple didn't follow the rules." That drew one of the louder cheers on the night.

6:45 2nd, 52-42 St. Joe's: As the game just sort of rolls on, the atmosphere pretty muted by Big 5 standards, at least we get a Temple rollout with a little spice to it: "PHIL'S NEXT BOOK: HOW TO SET A MOVING PICK"

And I thought we were almost past that. I guess not.

5:08 2nd, 52-49 St. Joe's: Serves me right again. Chris Clark hits an open three at the left corner and Phil Martelli quite angrily calls a timeout. We have a game again.

3:59 2nd, 52-51 St. Joe's: Mark Tyndale almost coast-to-coast for a slam to bring the Owls within one point, but Lavoy Allen has picked up a pair of fouls in literally the last 10 seconds. After the media timeout, Pat Calathes will go to the line to shoot two free throws.

Another Temple rollout: "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: GET ONE"

1:44 2nd, 54-53 St. Joe's: With Pat Calathes trapped against the far baseline, Phil Martelli saves him by calling a timeout. The St. Joe's students bring down the "THE HAWK WILL NEVER DIE" rollout.

1:35 2nd, 56-53 St. Joe's: With a second on the shot clock, Calathes twists and turns his way for a tough bank shot in the lane.

1:24 2nd, 56-55 St. Joe's: Ahmad Nivins goaltends a Mark Tyndale runner.

0:44.6 2nd, 56-55 St. Joe's: After Calathes misses a long stepback two from the left corner, Temple gets the rebound and Fran Dunphy calls timeout after the ball crosses midcourt.

0:23 2nd, 57-56 Temple: With two on the shot clock, Tyndale turns on the jets for a nifty layup to give the Owls the lead. The Temple fans go nuts, including an a capella rendition of "Rock N' Roll Part II." Wow.

(And it's nice to hear the Hey Song at the Palestra again. It's been a while.

FINAL: TEMPLE 57, ST. JOE'S 56: Unbelievably, the Owls pull off the win and all but surely eliminate the entire Big 5 from NCAA Tournament contention for the first time since 1977.

The Hawks had the ball at the end, but Calathes, Carr and Ferguson all missed chances to win the game from close range.

The Temple students rush the floor, and after the security guards force them back to the sidelines they all start jumping up and down chanting "I believe the Hawk is dead!"

Meanwhile, most of the St. Joe's students are still here, and are standing around in one giant mass of stunned disbelief.

Back later with final stats and the press conferences.