Temple’s defense fuels second-half rally to defeat SMU, advances to AAC quarterfinals

FORT WORTH, Texas — The last time Temple played SMU, it found itself in a 15-0 hole to open the Jan. 16 contest.

The Owls rallied back from that deficit — several times, in fact. But they failed to score another field goal over the final 4 minutes, 36 seconds and lost by 13 points.

So when SMU mounted an early 12-2 run on Thursday in the second round of the American Athletic Conference tournament to take a 17-7 lead at the 13:15 mark of the first quarter, Temple was undeterred.

The Owls’ (14-19) comeback came steadily — and then all at once in a 75-60 win. They’ll play No. 3 seed Charlotte at 9 p.m. Friday (ESPNU).

“We’ve just been emphasizing tight huddles and just playing for each other,” junior forward Steve Settle III said. “This is March. And knowing what we need to do, we just [have] to stick really together. Everything has to be tight. Our huddles have got to be tighter. We’ve got to communicate louder and just have each other’s back out there. And it’s showing.”

After chipping away over the latter half of the first half and opening salvo of the second, Temple grabbed its first lead since the game’s opening seconds on a Steve Settle III three-pointer at the 11:08 mark. The three was part of a 14-3 run that saw the Owls’ lead grow into double figures with 4:59 left. SMU (20-12) tried to mount a comeback, getting as close as eight points, but Temple’s leadership, namely junior guard Hysier Miller, steadied his flock. Miller led all scorers with 21 points and six assists, Settle finished with 14 points and four rebounds, sharpshooter Shane Dezonie had 12 points, and Jahlil White added 10. The Owls were efficient, shooting a season-best 51.9% from the floor and outscored SMU, 43-27, in the second half.

“I just want to give credit to my teammates,” Miller said. “They played a heck of a game tonight, and they allowed me to make some plays. Coach allowed me to make some plays. … It was a full team effort. It wasn’t just about me, but I was happy to make some plays tonight.”

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Chuck Harris led SMU with 10 points but went down with an ankle injury late in the first half. He only played four minutes in the second half.

SMU boasts one of the top defenses in the AAC, but Temple proved it could be disruptive, too, forcing 16 Mustangs turnovers. Miller led the charge with a season-high six steals, and Settle notched a season-best five blocks. SMU shot 39.3% from the floor and made just 9-of-27 shots in the second half.

Temple also forced the Mustangs into ice-cold stretches, minutes passing between buckets from the field, which allowed it to climb back in. The Owls cut SMU’s first-half lead to one point at the 7:26 mark, thanks to a modest 7-0 run powered by back-to-back threes by Miller and Dezonie. Lengthy scoreless stretches proved to be the Mustangs’ undoing in the second half, too, as they were shut out over a 4:13 stretch during the Owls’ go-ahead rally.

But SMU kept the Owls at arm’s length in the first half, until Sam Hofman halved a six-point lead and Miller banked in a floater as the shot clock expired to make it a 33-32 game at halftime. After falling into that 10-point hole, Temple outscored SMU, 25-16, as it notched seven steals and forced nine SMU turnovers in the first half.

“The locker-room stuff didn’t change,” Fisher said. “I think we were really strong with the basketball. I think you saw the trust the players had in each other. … Today I think we just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to empty the tank. We’re going full gas here.’ These guys attacked, attacked, and made big-time plays.”

Temple again struggled offensively following halftime and needed more than two and a half minutes to score its first points. But SMU wasn’t finding much success, either, and that gave Temple the chance it needed.

And unlike that January night about 40 miles away in Dallas, the Owls took that chance.