Temple fully earned its court storming after upsetting Villanova ... this was big

An older man escaped from Friday night’s on-court scrum at the Liacouras Center and simply said, “That was bedlam.”

Court-stormings may be a young person’s game, but all Temple fans inside the arena on North Broad Street reveled in this full release. A rare double court-storming: Temple students rushed the court as the clock hit 0.0, Villanova vanquished, except officials ruled a ‘Nova foul had been committed with 0.2 seconds left.

It took some minutes to clear the delirious court mob. Foul shots were taken, a pass thrown into the air … the court mobbed again, just as delirium 2.0, players engulfed, Owls officially a 68-64 winner.

» READ MORE: Temple jumps out to a big lead and tops No. 16 Villanova for first time since 2012

Make no mistake: Temple earned both the win and the right to celebrate it. This was easily the biggest victory of the Aaron McKie era, starting its fourth season. You could argue there have been no other big ones, since the Owls haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament in his time. What else matters?

A comparison of sorts … for years as Temple’s football team gained ground on the field, but not quite in the hearts of even most Temple alums, there was an obvious way to change that dynamic: Beat Penn State. That happened in 2015 and suddenly Matt Rhule’s Owls were relevant for a time in this city.

Well, Temple basketball is always relevant in Philadelphia. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say local college hoops feels deprived when the Owls aren’t in the NCAA mix, that Philadelphia basketball is simply better when Temple is good. Sure, that’s true for St. Joseph’s, Penn, La Salle, and Drexel as well. At their historic cores, they’re all basketball schools. But Temple is the big school in the city.

To make a statement that this group of Owls matters — other than getting back to March Madness itself, there was one obvious way going into this season …

Beat ‘Nova.

“I want to leave a mark,” 21-point scorer Khalif Battle said later, sitting next to backcourt mate Damian Dunn, who had 22 points, including the last drive that produced a foul and the winning free throws with 1.1 seconds left. “I know Dame wants to leave a mark. I don’t want to be the team that’s like, ‘Yeah, they had some good players, but they didn’t win anything.’ ”

A decade of Big 5 dominance, only one defeat (to Penn in 2018-19) in all that time, plus those two NCAA titles, Villanova, coming off another Final Four, has dwarfed the other locals. It’s cute that Temple students rolled out their banner pointing out that Villanova’s campus lies some place other than the city, 17 miles from North Broad. Less relevant when Villanova is the program able to sell out the bigger building down off South Broad.

» READ MORE: Photos of Temple's historic upset of Villanova

Villanova fans try to point out that two presumed starters — Justin Moore and Cam Whitmore — maybe the two top NBA prospects on the team — are still out injured. But ‘Nova, with Kyle Neptune now in charge, still put out three starters from a Final Four team. The Wildcats came in ranked 16th nationally. Even at less than full strength, they are an NCAA team, with vets Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels combining for 37 points against the Owls.

What Temple did expertly on this night was both deny the three-point line — holding Villanova to two threes in just seven tries — and help well enough defensively that ‘Nova players didn’t have continual open lanes to the hoop.

A big factor there is Temple’s new big man, Central Florida transfer Jamille Reynolds, who is every bit of his listed 6-foot-11 and 280 pounds and showed all sorts of spring in his step during his 23 minutes, treading past foul trouble on his way to 14 points and 12 rebounds, including five boards at the offensive end.

At the defensive end, the presence of Reynolds allowed Temple’s guards to step out farther knowing there was help behind them. On offense, Battle said, “He gives teams something to worry about. So now, if I drive, teams are not just going to leave the big and come help. Now, it’s one on one. Now, I just have to make the right decision, finish the layup or I can drop it off to him.”

Battle, a transfer from Butler himself, said of Reynolds, “He’s got a chip on his shoulder because he feels like UCF didn’t use him as well as he wanted to be used. Everybody that comes here, they always have a chip.”

» READ MORE: Khalif Battle returns to Temple after an offseason of recovery — on and off the court

This game always was circled as the big local one of the month, the two top teams in the city in the preseason KenPom.com computer rankings. With the game at Temple, it felt like a great litmus test for whether the Owls were ready for prime time.

Then Temple laid an egg in its opener, losing a late lead to Wagner at home. Suddenly, this was bigger. Maybe not a must-win, but a really-need-to-win, especially when Temple jumped out to an early lead and built it up to 31-18.

No possibility for a moral victory, after Villanova closed within 34-29 at halftime, the schools then traded the lead back and forth for seemingly the whole second half.

This one just never felt like the Owls were barely hanging on. If Temple could get the ball in the hands of Dunn and Battle, get them shots within the offense, not just ask them to play hero ball, the Owls had every chance to do what they ultimately did.

“Me and him together, we’ve always talked about what we could do when we play our best basketball together,” Battle said of himself and Dunn. “I don’t think we’ve played our best basketball together still.”

Two scoring guards like that … a team can either need two basketballs or meld talents together, putting extreme pressure on opponents.

“It’s a good start,” Battle said. “When we put a whole 40 [minutes] together, it’s going to be a scary sight.”

Maybe that double court-storming is consolation for ‘Nova fans. A local team knocking off the Wildcats — it’s a big deal. Owls old-timers might tell you Temple is only fully back when Villanova fans storm the court after beating the Owls. Hey, baby steps.

“I can’t put it into words,” Battle said of being engulfed in the Liacouras Center bedlam right afterward. “Temple is one of the big-time programs. We’re just trying to bring it back to that.”