By CHASE SENIOR
Philahoops Staff
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After a nine-day layoff, Temple came out of the gates lethargic, but finished the game strong.
A facet of the game that was debilitating Temple earlier on in the season has become a strength in the team’s last three games.
The Owls missed their first eight shots from the floor and connected on just 14-36 attempts in the first half, including a 4-13 mark from 3-point range. But like every other game this season, Temple entered the locker room with a cushion.
In each of Temple’s first five games, the Owls lost halftime leads at one point or another-most of which came in the final 10 minutes.
In the last three matchups, though, Temple has sealed the opposition’s fate down the stretch and has a three-game winning streak to work with heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Texas Longhorns at the Wells Fargo Center.
Temple and Saint Joseph’s would exchange punches in the second half, but the Owls knuckled up down the stretch, resulting in a 77-69 victory over the Hawks.
A stingy defensive attack, a clean offense and ability to knock down free throws were the factors in Temple coming out on the winning end, which are three categories the Owls struggled with to start the season.
“We did a good job closing it out,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “We got stops at one end and we figured out a couple of things we could do on the offensive end and guys stepped up and made foul shots too, which was a huge part of it and then the one we missed, Anthony Lee was lucky enough to get the extra possession for us,” he added.
-Lee’s rebound: The play of the game occurred with 28 seconds remaining and Temple holding onto a 71-67 lead. Lee missed his second free throw attempt on the double bonus and with four Hawks stacking the box, Lee was short on the shot, but somehow came up with the critical rebound to put the game out of reach.
Lee was then fouled and knocked down both shots from the stripe.
-Doing little things: Temple forced 15 Saint Joseph’s turnovers to its nine and connected on 8-10 free throws in the final 90 seconds.
Temple is doing the little things necessary to close out games, whereas earlier on in the season, that was not the case.
It’s still early, but the Owls are learning how to finish as a unit.
“I think we’re just paying a little more attention to detail and it’s an inexperienced group, who’s starting to figure out how to play with one another,” Dunphy said. “We’re seven games in and we’re getting a little bit better. We still have a long way to go,” he added at his post game press conference.
-Expectations talk: Expectations are always high surrounding a Dunphy coached team, but Temple entered the season with a very young and inexperienced team that had not played much basketball together. Was that a factor to the late game struggles?
“Yea I would say so,” junior point guard Will Cummings said, who finished with 16 points, 7 assists and just two turnovers in 34 minutes of action. “Just those first three games that I think we didn’t close out in the end, just kind of made us refocus. I think when we won the first game the younger guys are [like] ‘we’re winning games, so we don’t have to prepare as much’ but now that you take a couple [losses] and you’re kind of not feeling good about yourself, you make sure you refocus and make sure you’re closing out games and that brings more focus down the stretch. Just because you get a ten-point lead in the second half doesn’t mean anything in college basketball. It’s a game of runs,” Cummings added.
Dunphy knows there is a ton of season left, but he has to be pleased with his young group of players finding a way to buckle down and finishing games.
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Chase Senior can be reached on Twitter @Chase_Senior, through email at [email protected] or leave a comment below.
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