GAME NOTES: A pair of Big 5 foes coming off losses collide on Saturday afternoon when the La Salle Explorers battle the Temple Owls at the famed Palestra.

The Explorers fell at home to 10th-ranked Villanova, 84-70, on Wednesday night. The Owls also played on Wednesday and suffered a heart-breaking 58-56 defeat at Saint Joseph's.

Temple holds a 73-41 advantage in the all-time series with La Salle. The Owls have captured 16 of the last 20 matchups. This will the second encounter for the two teams at The Palestra since Jan. 4, 1989, a game the Owls won, 67-57. The last time these teams met was on Jan. 18, 2014 when the Explorers posted a 74-68 victory at The Palestra. That snapped Temple's eight-game winning streak in the series.

La Salle was no match for the Wildcats on Wednesday, despite the effort of Jerrell Wright who tallied a game-best 19 points for the Explorers. Khalid Lewis added 17 points and Jordan Price had 10 in La Salle's third consecutive loss.

Price (16.6 ppg) and Wright (12.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) are the only double-digit scorers on the team. Wright, though, is making only 36 percent of his shots from the field. Steve Zack, a 6-foot-11 senior center, paces the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg) to go along with 8.6 ppg. Despite his effort on Wednesday, Lewis is averaging only 7.0 ppg. Senior guard D.J. Peterson (3.0 ppg) represents the other starter, and he paces the team with nine steals. The Explorers are averaging only 61.4 ppg on offense.

The Owls nearly rallied from a 12-point deficit on Wednesday before falling to the Hawks. Temple held Saint Joseph's to 6-of-24 shooting in the second half. That included the Hawks not making a single field goal over nearly the final nine minutes. The Owls suffered 14 turnovers, while forcing only nine from the Hawks. Quenton DeCosey scored 22 points and Will Cummings tallied 13 for Temple.

Cummings, a senior guard, leads the Owls in scoring (14.9 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg) and assists (3.4 apg). DeCosey had just two points in the season- opening victory against American, but in the last six games he is averaging 15.3 ppg. Josh Brown (8.9 ppg) sees big minutes off the bench, while Mark Williams (8.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is in the starting lineup despite shooting 34 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe. Temple's defense, which allowed 78.1 ppg in 2013-14, has limited foes to 60.6 ppg this season. Temple's opponents are making only 37.8 percent from the field. On the other side, though, the Owls are making only 36.1 percent of their attempts

Temple head coach Fran Dunphy, a 1970 La Salle graduate, is 25-7 against his alma mater. That includes a 12-3 mark as head man of the Owls. Meanwhile, La Salle has won four straight and six of its last seven games at The Palestra since Nov. 26, 2011.

The Philadelphia city series always brings top-notch competition and Saturday afternoon should be no different, but what will likely push the Owls over the top is their defense.