La Salle @ Temple preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2017 ) Temple 83, La Salle 87

Temple and La Salle dive head-first into the 2018-19 season Tuesday with a Big Five matchup on the Owls' home court. The Big Five is a round-robin between five Philadelphia area schools, including this pair of former Atlantic 10 rivals.

Temple was picked to finish sixth in the 12-team American Athletic Conference in the final season for coach Fran Dunphy, who is retiring following the campaign after 30 seasons as a Division I coach. “It’s Dunph’s final year, my final year, Shizz’s final year,” senior co-captain Ernest Aflakpui told reporters. “We want to make something special." Shizz Alston Jr., the other co-captain, averaged 13.3 points last season while shooting a career-high 39.7 percent from 3-point range and likely will be expected to carry a heavier scoring load in 2018-19. Temple had won three straight meetings before La Salle posted an 87-83 home win last season.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT LA SALLE (2017-18: 13-19): The Explorers no longer have the services of B.J. Johnson, who averaged team highs of 20.8 points and 8.3 rebounds last season. Pookie Powell (16.9 points, 4.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds) was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team, but he'll have his work cut out for him with the Explorers picked to finish 12th in the 14-team league. Isiah Deas averaged 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season, ranking third or fourth on the team in each category.

ABOUT TEMPLE (2017-18: 17-16): The Owls lost to eventual champion Penn State in the first round of the NIT in March and only have reached the NCAA Tournament once in the previous five campaigns. Quinton Rose returns for his junior year after averaging a team-high 14.9 points last season, while Alston was not far behind at 13.3. Third-leading scorer and top shot-blocker Obi Enechionyia graduated, putting more pressure on Aflakpui - a 6-10 center who blocked only 10 shots in 637 minutes in 2017-18.

TIP-INS

1. Temple leads the all-time series 76-42.

2. Alston (946 points) and Rose (815) both are on pace to reach 1,000 career points early in the season.

3. La Salle G Saul Phiri would like to improve upon his shooting percentages (32.4 percent overall, 28.8 percent from 3-point range) from a season ago.

PREDICTION: Temple 79, La Salle 60