An ‘emphasis on defense’ leads Temple past VCU, 83-73

In its third game against Atlantic 10 competition and its second doubleheader in a week, Temple defeated VCU, 83-73, inside the Liacouras Center on Saturday.

With the Rams being one of the final NCAA Tournament resume-builders on its non-conference schedule, Temple (5-3) adds what is expected to be a Quadrant 2 win.

With sophomore center Jamille Reynolds being held to seven points in 18 minutes, the Owls relied on contributions from their perimeter players, and significant minutes from sophomore Nick Jourdain at center. In his second game in that role, Jourdain gave Temple the flexibility to switch on pick-and-rolls and opened up driving lanes for Temple’s guards.

“Nick helps us a lot because he’s like a point forward,” said Temple guard Khalif Battle. “We can switch one through five if we have to, and that’s really why you go with Nick.”

Battle led all scorers with 27 points, six rebounds, and nine assists playing all 40 minutes. Forward Jalen DeLoach and guard Jayden Nunn added 16 each for VCU (5-3). DeLoach also had six rebounds.

VCU’s Ace Baldwin is one of the best perimeter defenders in the country and showed why on Saturday with four steals. Battle, who guarded Baldwin for most of the afternoon, also had four.

“I’m really proud of KB because last year, we used to say he couldn’t guard,” said Temple forward Jahlil White. “He sees how much we’re emphasizing defense as a team, and I feel like he’s really buying into that.”

For the third time this week, Temple’s offense was centered around movement with and without the ball. Prior to last Sunday’s win against Drexel, Temple’s offense had droughts caused by a stagnant offense. Players would stand around on the perimeter and would get caught playing isolation ball.

On Saturday, Temple tied a season-high with 17 assists with the whole team distributing the basketball.

“The way these guys play, they try to force you to play at a frantic pace,” said Temple head coach Aaron McKie about VCU. “If we kick it out, we’ll get good shots … it sort of took them out of being really aggressive against us.”

Temple went on an 11-1 run to take a 16-5 lead. VCU didn’t take a lead for the rest of the game and only tied it once after halftime.

It was a tightly contested game throughout the second half as Temple and VCU continued to trade buckets. The game got out of VCU’s reach, however, when Baldwin fouled out with 2 minutes, 28 seconds remaining.

The Owls and Rams combined to shoot 49.5% from the field. Both squads also had success spacing the floor as they shot a combined 43.4% from three.

Temple resumes Big 5 play on Tuesday when St. Joseph’s (3-4) comes to the Liacouras Center (7 p.m., ESPN+). The Hawks won the 2021 matchup in Temple’s first game after Battle’s season-ending foot injury.

The Owls went to the line 11 times in the fourth quarter, sinking eight, and turned a close game into a rout of the UMBC Retrievers, 68-53, at the Liacouras Center.

All knotted at 46 after three quarters, Temple used an 11-3 run through the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter to pull ahead for good. Neither team shot well in the final quarter, with the Owls (6-for-16, 37.5%) getting clutch baskets and six more free throws to hold off UMBC, which made just 2 of 14 from the floor (14.3%). Temple’s Tiarra East poured in nine of her 11 points over the final four minutes.

Tarriyonna Gary led all scorers with 15 points and Aleah Nelson added 14 points for Temple (3-5).

UMBC (2-5) had a 12-point game from Laycee Drake.

Temple remains home on Monday to take on La Salle in a City Series matchup at 7 p.m.