The Open Thread: No. 21 UConn at Temple, 9pm, Liacouras Center, ESPN2

The Huskies are in Philadelphia tonight to face Fran Dunphy's Temple Owls in their second match-up this season. The first time these two teams played, UConn won 90-66 in spite of Ryan Boatright's absence.

UConn's last game was five days ago, in the XL Center, where they grabbed a much-need overtime win against Memphis to complete the season sweep against their new conference foe (welcome to real basketball). Shabazz Napier has been putting the team on his back all season, but this one was an absolute masterpiece. Napier scored 34 points, including a crucial 3-point play to tie the game towards the end of regulation. Ryan Boatright had a great game as well with 21 points, going 11-12 from the free throw line.

Lately UConn has been using these games against the AAC's inferior competition. The Huskies need to continue to dominate these teams, especially with a big game against SMU on Sunday. Even with Temple at 7117 and 2-10 in AAC play, Don't expect UConn to overlook them. As Shabazz Napier said last Saturday when asked about basketball in the month of March, "I am not thinking about that, I am thinking about Temple" (SNY's John Silver).

A 9:00 o'clock tip on national television with UConn unquestionably playing some its best basketball of the season is just a fantastic way to start the weekend (NO FRIDAY CLASSES!!!!!). Time to play some "Eye of the Tiger" and prepare for a beat down in Philadelphia.

Prediction: UConn 85 Temple 61