Temple and Columbia will meet for the first time in a men’s basketball game when the Owls host the Lions Saturday afternoon at the Liacouras Center.
The 2-2 Lions, whose two wins have come against Division III opponents Bard and SUNY-Delhi, were predicted to finish last among eight Ivy League teams in the preseason coaches poll. The lost by 11 to Providence back on Nov. 6 in their season opener and by three to Albany on Nov. 11.
So on paper, at least, Temple figures to be in a good spot to grab its first 4-0 start since the 2019-2020 season.
Columbia does bring one of the Ivy League’s better players into the Liacouras Center Saturday in junior guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, who is averaging 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the Lions first four games. He shot 5 of 8 overall and 2 of 5 from three-point range en route to scoring a season-high 17 points in Columbia’s win over Albany, and he’s shooting 13 of 14 from the free-throw line after he led the Ivy League in free-throw percentage last year at 88.8 percent.
Beyond De La Rosa, the Lions are not without some young talent.
Starting forward Blair Thompson is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds, having posted season highs of 15 points and six rebounds in Columbia’s loss at Providence. The 6-foot-8, 205-pound sophomore chose Columbia over offers from Penn, Yale, Harvard, Bucknell, Xavier and Rice. Fellow sophomore guard Avery Brown, who led the team with 79 assists last season, also had offers and recruiting interest from several high-major programs before choosing to play in the Ivy League. He’s averaging 10.3 points and 2.5 rebounds and scored in double figures against Providence (11) and Albany (13), but he’s also emblematic of a Columbia team that has struggled shooting from three-point range so far (30.4 percent), having shot just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.
The Lions can bring some size off the bench in forward Zine Eddine Bedrio, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. The 6-10 sophomore from Algeria, however, has struggled in Columbia’s two games against D-I opponents, shooting a combined 3 of 14 in the losses to Providence and Albany.
As for Temple, the Owls nearly squandered late leads in wins at Navy and Drexel, but they are getting some well-rounded contributions, particularly from their newcomers.
Although he’s shot just 5 of 21 from the floor so far, 6-10 Howard transfer Steve Settle is averaging 8.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists while blocking six shots in the Owls’ first three games. And in Temple’s win at Drexel Tuesday night, 6-5, 280-pound forward Sam Hofman, a transfer from Houston Christian, collected eight points, seven rebounds and three steals while doing the bulk of the defensive work on 6-10 Drexel forward Amari Williams, who managed just eight points on 2 of 8 shooting.
UMBC transfer Matteo Picarelli is shooting nearly 37 percent from three-point range and has also shown the ability to drive to the basket and draw contact, knocking down 14 of his 17 foul shots.
Guards Hysier Miller and Jahlil White, Temple’s top two returning players, still have some work to do, but both have helped lead the way through the Owls’ first three games. Miller is shooting just 16 of 50 from the floor and 7 of 27 from three-point range, but he’s managed to get to the foul line 16 times and knocked down 12 free throws, scoring 17, 18 and 19 points against Maryland Eastern Shore, Navy and Drexel while driving to the basket with more confidence and frequency.
White, who was just named the Big 5 Player of the Week, is averaging 14.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting nearly 47 percent from the floor, and he started the season with a pair of double-doubles against Maryland Eastern Shore (15 points and 14 rebounds) and Navy (18 points, 10 rebounds.)
