Wichita St. @ Temple preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 6, 2019 ) Temple 85, Wichita St. 81

The Fran Dunphy Farewell Tour continues when third-seeded Temple meets No. 6 seed Wichita State on Friday in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at Memphis, Tenn. The Owls and retiring coach Dunphy are riding a three-game winning streak, and have won six of their last seven and eight of 10 after Saturday's 67-62 victory over Central Florida put an exclamation point on Dunphy's final home game.

“I said it to the guys in the locker room after the game, I’m just so happy for them and proud of them,” Dunphy, who is 270-160 in 13 seasons at Temple after going 310-163 in 17 years at Pennsylvania, told reporters. “We’re building memories here. I keep going back to my favorite Fred Shero quote: ‘Win today and we walk together forever'.” Senior guard Shizz Alston Jr. is confident the Owls will make the NCAA Tournament - “I think we’re in right now,” he told reporters - but his coach was a bit more reserved. “I love Shizz,” Dunphy said. “What’s he going to tell me, that this, this and this could all happen? He’s a good man and I hope he’s right. We’ve got a lot of games left to go and some basketball left to play.” The Shockers boast a season-high five-game winning streak and 10 wins in their last 12 contests after dispatching No. 11 seed East Carolina 73-57 on Thursday behind 14 points and nine rebounds from junior forward Jaime Echenique as they won the battle of the boards 46-32.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT WICHITA STATE (18-13): Senior forward Markis McDuffie (team-high 17.8 points) scored 15 on Thursday - 11 from the free-throw line - and was 0-for-4 from 3-point range, dropping him to 6-for-31 from beyond the arc in his last five games. Echenique records nine points and six rebounds per game after averaging 13.5 and 7.5 in his last two contests. Freshman guard Dexter Dennis (7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds) scored 13 versus ECU for his sixth double-figure point total in his last eight games.

ABOUT TEMPLE (23-8): Alston, a first-team All-AAC selection, averages a team-high 19.7 points after scoring 21 on Saturday and leads the conference by shooting 90.6 percent from the free-throw line. Junior guard Quinton Rose (16.5 points), an All-AAC second-team pick, scored 11 versus UCF after totaling 49 in his previous two games against Connecticut and Tulane. Sophomore guard Nate Pierre-St. Louis (13.4 points, 5.7 rebounds) won the AAC Most Improved Player Award after averaging 7.4 points as a freshman with Alston telling reporters: "He had a great season as a sophomore. I see a lot of similarities with us.”

TIP-INS

1. Alston is on pace to break the school record for free-throw percentage in a season (90.4) set by Nate Blackwell in 1986-87.

2. Temple prevailed in the last meeting with the Shockers, 85-81 in overtime on Jan. 6, after scoring the final 11 points of regulation with Alston scoring 22 and Pierre-St. Louis 21.

3. The winner will meet Cincinnati or SMU in Saturday's semifinals.

PREDICTION: Temple 76, Wichita State 70