Temple’s not lacking in resilience, just wins, as skid stretches to three in loss to SMU
It’s not that the conference competition is vastly superior. The Owls have simply had a tough time beating the average teams.
Temple is at the crossroads of where inconsistency meets equal opportunity.
It’s not that the competition it faces is vastly superior, it’s just that the Owls simply have had a tough time beating the average teams — and in the American Athletic Conference, there are but a handful of above-average programs.
In the second of a two-game Texas road swing, Temple faced an SMU collective quietly punching above average. The Mustangs entered the game with a 7-2 record inside Moody Coliseum — and extended that streak with a 77-64 win over the Owls on Tuesday night.
Temple, meanwhile, was out to snap a two-game skid in losses to East Carolina and North Texas, the latter an 18-point road defeat to the Mean Green on Saturday.
Against SMU, the final wasn’t much closer. Shane Dezonie and Jahlil White led the Owls with 14 points apiece. Chuck Harris led SMU with 18 points.
The biggest takeaway that wasn’t on the stat sheet was how resilient the Owls can be, and, when they are, it tends to bode well for them. The Owls’ familiar matchup zone was played like a fiddle in the early moments, to the tune of an early 15-0 first-half deficit.
But an 11-2 run, coupled with a 6-0 run about three minutes later, saw Temple (8-10, 1-4 AAC) claw back to knot the score at 28 just before the half. It was a pair of monster three-pointers from senior transfer Sam Hofman that tied the game, and the Owls trailed by just two going into the break.
“We were just running 10 minutes late to the party,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said jokingly before the start of the second half.
The second half mimicked the first as SMU (12-5, 3-1) again pulled away, but an offensive edge and clutch shooting from senior guard Matteo Picarelli, who finished with 10 points and was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc, kept the Owls close. He hit a three to pull the Owls within two at the 12 minute, 15-second mark. Dezonie then tied it at 47 after a big bucket from distance and then hit another less than a minute later to put the Owls up by one with 10:36 left.
What would then follow that, you ask? A pair of Temple turnovers.
Again, inconsistency.
Back and forth this one went, but SMU just wasn’t allowing the Owls to get any satisfaction — or momentum to kick-start another run.
Stanford makes the most of his minutes
In his limited minutes, Zion Stanford’s super-quick first step was on display, as he twice burned his defender off the dribble to the tune of four points on 2-for-2 shooting.
The West Catholic alumnus impressed against SMU, and it was evident why he’s already a two-time conference freshman of the week. However, Fisher has remained cagey on Stanford, saying recently that as “a freshman, [Stanford] has to learn what it takes to compete at this level.”
Looking at his play on Tuesday, after having seen him battle back from an ankle injury and missed time, it appears he’s well on his way.
Next up
The Owls return to North Broad to prepare for a pair of conference foes. First up, it’ll be an all-Owls affair when Rice heads to the Liacouras Center on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+). AAC newcomer Rice (6-11, 0-4) is still searching for its first conference win and will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
South Florida (9-5, 2-1) follows for a night game on Jan. 24 (7 p.m., ESPN+). After another two-game road trip, the Owls will face No. 10 Memphis and former Villanova guard Jahvon Quinerly on Feb. 8 (7 p.m., ESPN2).
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