By: RICH FOGEL
Philahoops Staff
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Temple’s eight game losing streak started on New Year’s Day against Rutgers and now 29 days later it ends against Rutgers.
In arguably their worst month as a basketball program where they lost more games in a row (8) then they did in the last 39 years, Fran Dunphy and his team can finally celebrate their first win in the American Athletic Conference.
When asked how important the first conference win was for the team, Dunphy replied, “Very…very…we need to build on this; we have a tough game Saturday and then well have a tough weekend going to Texas with SMU and Houston. We needed it very very badly and I was proud of our guys.”
After six straight trips to the NCAA tournament, the Owls had a down year coming eventually. This down year just so happened to concur with Temple’s first season in the American Athletic Conference. The new league is a big step up from the Atlantic 10. Factor in a few injuries to key players, and Dunphy is enduring his toughest season as a coach at Temple yet.
December 21st, 2013, Temple beats LIU Brooklyn 101- 65. An offensive explosion that seemed would spring Temple on it’s a way to a decent season. Well, astonishingly, that was Temple’s last win. Temple’s basketball program is not use to going a full month without a win. Temple has the sixth most wins in NCAA history and has not been on many losing streaks of this nature.
“It feels really good,” both Dalton Pepper and Will Cummings said after the game. Both players played the entire 40 minutes and combined for 41 points, (Cummings: 21, Pepper: 20).
“I’m tired,” Cummings mentioned when asked about playing the whole game. “That’s what you want to do as a competitor, to be able to play the whole game and get the win for the team is a good feeling,” Cummings added.
Dunphy’s team is shorthanded, as they have dressed only seven scholarship athletes five times this season which is why Pepper and Cummings are forced to play the whole game sometimes. Dunphy has been mixing and matching, trying to find the right grouping of players from the limited amount he has to choose from. It’s a hard job when competing against the ranks of Cincinnati, UConn, Memphis, LaSalle, and Louisville coming up.
Like many games this season, Temple was up at halftime and surrendered the lead in the second half. This time they were up 13 at the break and looked to be in position to break the streak but the Scarlet Knights did not go down without a fight.
“A part of you is just saying not again,” Cummings said. “We kind of just had to dig deep and make sure that it didn’t happen again,” he added.
It didn’t happen again and Temple is finally in the win column in the American Athletic Conference. It was a 39 year gap in between eight game losing streaks, when we will see the next one? Dunphy and the his coaching staff sure hope it’s never under their watch.
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