Temple looking for payback against ECU
Temple has plenty of incentive entering the American Athletic Conference tournament. The main one is survival. A loss will likely end the season for the Owls (16-15, 7-11 AAC). If the Owls advance to the final, it's possible they could receive an NIT bid. But anything short of winning the tournament will keep them from returning to the NCAA tournament.
Temple has plenty of incentive entering the American Athletic Conference tournament. The main one is survival.
A loss will likely end the season for the Owls (16-15, 7-11 AAC). If the Owls advance to the final, it's possible they could receive an NIT bid. But anything short of winning the tournament will keep them from returning to the NCAA tournament.
First up is No. 9-seeded East Carolina (14-17, 6-12), which the eighth-seeded Owls will face in the opening AAC tournament game at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
Besides having the goal of survival, the Owls feel they owe payback to East Carolina. After earning a convincing 81-62 home win over the Pirates on Jan. 7, Temple lost the rematch at ECU, 78-64, on Feb. 15.
That was the last clunker the Owls played. After that, they lost home games to Connecticut and Central Florida by a total of three points before closing out the season with wins over the AAC's two bottom-dwellers - 86-76 in overtime over visiting Tulane, and 72-60 over host South Florida.
In the loss at ECU, Temple led at halftime, 38-37, before being outscored, 41-26, in the final 20 minutes.
"That second half was a wake-up call for us," senior forward Daniel Dingle said.
In the second half, Temple shot just 10 for 32 (31.2 percent) and 4 of 15 from three-point range (26.6 percent).
"We know we didn't play our best basketball that game and have to come out stronger this game," said sophomore guard Shizz Alston, who is averaging a team-high 14 points.
ECU is the lowest-scoring team in the AAC (62.3 ppg.), but the Pirates have a defensive difference- maker in 7-foot-1 Andre Washington, a graduate student transfer from Wake Forest. With 92 blocked shots, he owns the single-season school record.
"We went from being primarily known as a three-point-shooting team, and, with the addition of Andre Washington, we are one of the top defensive teams in the country percentage-wise," said ECU acting coach Michael Perry.
Backing that point, ECU began the week 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense, holding teams to 38.7 percent.
Perry has coached the last 12 games for Jeff Lebo, who is recovering from hip surgery. Perry has gone 5-7.
In the win over Temple, Washington had 15 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots in 24 minutes.
"Washington in the second game at East Carolina was almost dominant in so many different ways," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "He obviously protects the rim greatly, but he scored against us and hurt us badly."
If the Owls beat East Carolina, they will face top-seeded Southern Methodist at noon Friday. Temple lost its two games this season to SMU by a total of 30 points.
The Owls can't afford to look past ECU. And, of course, there will be the rallying cry that will be echoed by all lower-seeded teams in the conference tournaments - extending the season for the seniors as long as possible.
"This is it," said Dingle, who is averaging 12.7 points and 35.7 minutes per game. "I don't get a sixth year after this. I was blessed to get a fifth year."
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