Temple’s run falls short in 76-71 loss to Southern Cal

With 9.9 seconds left in the game, Temple was down by three with a chance to cut it to two. But after a missed free throw by Khalif Battle, the Owls ran out of time and visiting Southern California left the Liacouras Center with a 76-71 win.

“We’re showing flashes of what we could be,” Battle said “We came out slow.”

Because of Temple’s first-half foul trouble, the Trojans built a 19-point advantage. Despite the Owls clawing back in the second half with a 13-0 run, the early lead was enough to carry the Trojans.

Temple will take on Clemson in the first round of the Charleston Classic on Nov. 18 in Charleston, S.C. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

Temple outperformed Southern California in three-pointers made (7), field goals made (15), and rebounds (25) in the second half.

With 13 minutes left and the Owls down by 17, forward SageTolbert grabbed Battle’s missed shot and dunked it. The Owls were still down by 15, but the offensive rebound sparked the Owls.

About a minute later, Tolbert stole the ball off Trojans forward Isaiah Mobley and swung a pass to Battle, who drove to the basket for a dunk to cut the deficit to 10 points.

A minute later, Battle’s three-pointer cut the USC lead to 58-51. And another three from Tai Strickland got the Owls within 58-54. After that, Temple remained close the rest of the way, but could not overtake the Trojans.

The Owls, who made just one of 10 threes in the first half, came to life after intermission by making 7 of 12 shots from beyond the arc, keeping them within striking distance.

Battle, who led all scorers with 26 points, was 4-for-4 in three-pointers in the second half and freshman guard Zach Hicks made two.

Southern California finished the first half with 28 points in the paint and were held to just nine in the second half by Temple’s defense.

Now with forwards Jake Forrester, Tolbert, Nick Jourdain, and center Emmanuel Okpomo, who had his first Temple start on Saturday, working together in coach Aaron McKie’s rotation, they have added depth in their perimeter defense.

However, with players like Trojans 6-foot-9 forward Chevez Goodwin (19 points), who made eight of 10 shots from the field, and guard Isaiah White with 12 points, the Owls constantly got beat to the basket.

McKie knew Southern California was a physical team around the basket, which is why his emphasis all week was grabbing rebounds.

Foul trouble plagued the Owls in the first half.

“Just a lot of undisciplined plays, miscues that really got us in the hole,” McKie said. “I thought we came out with great energy, was playing hard, not playing smart. We got ourselves into foul trouble early.”

The Owls finished the first half with 15 fouls, which were drawn from nine different players, including three by Tolbert, two by Jeremiah Williams, and two by Damian Dunn.