Zion Stanford snaps Temple’s six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion vs. South Florida

The month of February has been anything but smooth for Temple, which, entering Wednesday, had lost its last six games and fallen l from fifth to eighth in the American Athletic Conference standings. Much like February, the final play of the Owls matchup against South Florida was anything but smooth.

Tied at 71 apiece with 11 seconds to play, Temple turned to Zion Stanford coming out of a timeout. After Stanford’s initial shot was blocked, the ball somehow fell back into his hands just in time for him to put up a shot as time expired. He knocked it down and head coach Adam Fisher slammed the scorers table with a sense of joy and relief, as the Owls (15-14, 7-9 AAC) defeated South Florida (13-16, 6-10 AAC), 73-71, at the Liacouras Center.

The victory was Temple’s first since Feb. 1.

“I think I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds there,” Fisher said. “So if I hit the table, I apologize. As a coach, the greatest feeling you can have in a team sport is seeing your student athletes have success, and you want it for them. They work so hard. For me [hitting the table] was just joy for these guys.”

Stanford led the Owls with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. Matteo Picarelli and Aiden Tobiason added 11 and 10, respectively. Former Temple forward Jamille Reynolds dominated the paint for the Bulls. He finished with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds.

“In the moment it’s definitely fun,” Stanford said. “Having my teammates run on the court, and everybody in the crowd cheering for me is a good feeling. Being able to win the game for my team is a good feeling. I’m happy.”

» READ MORE: Reports: Temple’s connection to a probe into unusual gambling activity may be part of wider ring

The Owls have had to deal with a fair share of injuries amid their struggles. Leading scorer Jamal Mashburn Jr. has missed six of the last seven games with a toe injury and guard Quante Berry has missed the last two games with a hand injury. Temple was also without forward Steve Settle against the Bulls due to illness.

Without three of its usual starters, Temple turned to players like Dillon Battie and Picarelli for extended minutes on Wednesday. While both had their moments, it was clear that the Owls missed their starters on both ends of the floor.

“I’m really proud of our team’s resiliency,” Fisher said. “So many guys were out. We started three freshmen, and needed guys to step up. Who would have [thought] that [Stanford] would be the second oldest guy playing as a sophomore. They just stayed with it.”

Without their top rebounder in Settle, and facing one of the toughest big men in the conference in Reynolds, the Owls needed players to step up on the glass.

They got just that from guards Stanford and Shane Dezonie. Dezonie grabbed a team-high nine, while Stanford pitched in with eight.

“Just playing hard,” Stanford said. “Just knowing that playing hard on defense, we got to finish the play every play. So, we don’t want to have a great defensive possession and end it off on the other team getting an offensive rebound. So we just played good defense and focused on boxing out.”

Dezonie and Stanford combined for eight of the Owls’ 15 offensive rebounds, including several key ones down the stretch. The Owls finished with 13 second-chance points.

The Owls next head to Oklahoma to take on Tulsa (13-15, 5-10 AAC) on Tuesday (8 p.m. ESPN+).