You'd figure that his 22-point performance, which spurred Temple past fifth-ranked Duke, 78-73, Wednesday night, would rank as a personal highlight for Khalif Wyatt.

And you'd be right.

But what ranks right behind that Temple victory - in Wyatt's book - might surprise you. Here's what Wyatt, a junior at Temple and a Norristown product, had to say to reporters after the win:

"This is probably my biggest performance, right behind beating Chester High. Nah, this is probably the biggest win, biggest performance, biggest win, biggest stage I had in my career."

Wyatt's Norristown team defeated Temple teammate Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson's Chester team in a 2008-09 District One Class AAAA quarterfinal game, which ended the Clippers' unprecedented (and, frankly, never-to-be-matched) 38-game winning streak in district-tourney play.

So maybe Wyatt's comment was a little poke at Hollis-Jefferson ... or maybe a humorous way of levying to fans just how big Wednesday's win over Duke really was.

(Photo: By The Associated Press)

Providing this blog post is my colleague, Matt DeGeorge, who covered St. Joseph (Metuchen, N.J.) vs. Penn Wood Wednesday at the Jameer Nelson Classic:

St. Joseph’s (N.J.) got quite a scare from Penn Wood Wednesday night in the Jameer/Pete Nelson Holiday Classic at Widener University, eking out a 58-57 win.

But for Temple signee Quenton DeCosey, it was an introduction to the Philadelphia basketball season that the 6-5 guard/forward cherished.

DeCosey, a native of Metuchen, N.J., who said he had only played in the Philadelphia area “once or twice” in AAU ball, enjoyed the atmosphere.

“I wanted to try to show Philly what it’s going to be like next year,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere, it was really exciting.”

DeCosey’s game got off to a slow start, as he picked up two fouls in the game’s first 90 seconds and sat for the rest of the first half, a somewhat surprising hiatus given that the Falcons only use around six players in their regular rotation. He finished with 13 points thanks to a strong second half in which he was a calming influence on the Falcons in withstanding the Patriots' late charge.

In the third quarter, when Penn Wood cut the lead to five, it was a spinning, off-balance jumper by DeCosey that briefly stemmed the tide of the Patriots’ run. He had three baskets in the final six minutes of the game, including a three that stretched the lead to nine with 2:01 to play.

And on the Falcons’ final possesson, it was DeCosey’s hands in which head coach Dave Turco placed the ball, allowing him to create his own shot and draw a foul from Quardiar Sewell. He made one of two from the line, enough for the win.

“I just tried to come out in the second half and be aggressive,” DeCosey said. “I wasn’t able to help my teammates in the first half, so I was just trying to get good shots.”

“Q’s a gamer,” Turco said. “He knows that for us to win, he has to do the little things. He’s getting better at trusting his teammates and getting them the ball in the right positions, and he knows not to force it.”

(Photos: By The Star-Ledger)

Twice, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson was at the scoring end of a tip-in Saturday. Both buckets ended Villanova spurts. Both buckets bolstered Temple's advantage over the Wildcats in the Owls' 78-67 Big 5 win.

'Big' doesn't do Hollis-Jefferson justice. The Chester All-Delco has played bigger than his 6-6 frame for Temple (6-2 overall, 2-0 Big 5), which is missing 6-10 center Micheal Eric due to injury.

"Since Rahlir has been here, he's played the four man (position)," said Temple's Ramone Moore, who had 32 points. "...On any type of big man, he does a good job."

“He had two great tip-ins and they were critical tip-ins at the right time for us," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy of Hollis-Jefferson. "If there's a finer human being than Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, I haven't met him anyway. Any time you can see that kind of performance by him, it adds to his way. He's a tremendous guy and he could care less about himself. It's all about the team and it's delightful to watch him succeed.

After scoring 11 points (on 5-for-8 shooting) with 14 rebounds and three assists, Hollis-Jefferson spent some time catching up with me on a variety of topics ... including his alma mater, Chester High:

Q: Ramone talked about your team needing you to play bigger than you are. Is that OK with you?
A: I play with my heart, so my heart makes up for my size. When I play, I'm not 6-6. I'm bigger than that.

Q: Everyone always called you Rah-long back in Chester, right?
A: Oh, wow. I haven't heard that in a while. I still hear it when I go home, but … wow. It don't really mean anything to me anymore because I have a lot of big guys around me now.

Q: Where do you see this team a month from now?
A: If we keep working hard, I see us going far. That's about it, really.

Q: You played for a state champion (in 2007-08), what some people call the best Chester team ever. Some people said that about last year's (state championship) team. Where does this year's team rank with those two?
A: I mean, last year's Chester team was good. Now they have almost all of their players back. They're more mature, so they should be able to handle things much better than they did last year. They should be able to do some damage this year.

Q: Is there anybody in the state that can beat them?
A: Anybody on any given night. That's how it is. We didn't feel like we could lose, so we came to play every night.

Q: How do you like how your brother (Rondae Jefferson, a Chester junior getting solid Division I looks) is progressing?
A: I like the way he's coming along. He's still got a lot more room to grow, and he's going to continue to do so. He's going to keep working hard at his craft.

Q: Have you tried to convince him to come to Temple?
A: No, I can't do that. Wherever he wants to go, I'll support him. That's how it is.

(Photos courtesy Associated Press/H RUMPH JR.)

It's getting tougher to argue with the sheer numbers … and Juan'ya Green is putting up big ones.

The junior guard/forward scored 21 points, had five rebounds and handed out four assists in Archbishop Carroll's 64-51 PIAA Class AAA second-round victory Tuesday over Danville.

Temple assistant coach Matt Langel was spotted outside Carroll's locker room after the game.

When asked what that meant to him, Green had this to say:
“It's exciting, but I can't give it too much thought right now. I guess it's the way I play that people like. And I think I'm getting better every day, in practice and in games. I'm just playing hard.”

It's worth noting two additional things, for those Temple fans out there: Green, who lives in Conshohocken, grew up in North Philly. The other is that Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk played for Temple coach Fran Dunphy while both were at Penn.

Green said he has offers from Temple, Saint Joseph's, Maryland, George Mason and Boston University. He has gotten interest, as well, from Georgetown, Marquette and Providence.

As for Ben Mingledough, the Patriots' 6-4 senior forward ... If I had to take a guess, I'd say he's headed to St. Peter's (N.J.) The Peacocks' assistant coach, John Morton, made the trek to CD East from their New Jersey campus to see Mingledough. Does that mean a commitment is imminent?

“I haven't made a decision," said Mingledough, who also has an offer from St. Francis (Pa.) "You could say I'm close.” How close? “I don't know," he added. "I can't tell you yet.”

Oh, the intrigue of college recruiting...

For those counting at home, that would bring Carroll's Division I count to three. Senior guard D.J. Irving is headed to Boston University. And, if we're talking total D-I kids from last year's state-title team, the Patriots have four: Kasheef Festus is a freshman at Coppin State.

NOTE: The fifth and final starter from that 08-09 title team - the only one yet to be mentioned in this long, long blog post - was in attendance at Tuesday night's game. Andre Wilburn, who plays at Delaware State, joined the team in the locker room during postgame.