FORT WORTH, Texas – Temple looked like it was going to easily advance to the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament after taking a 14-point first-half lead against Tulsa. However, the second half quickly turned that dream into a nightmare.
The Golden Hurricane couldn’t connect from deep to start the game while the Owls were doing so with ease. However, the roles were reversed in the second half and Temple inherited Tulsa’s three-point woes.
Tulsa connected on four shots from beyond the arc with three coming from forward Jared Garcia. His final make gave the Golden Hurricane a four-point lead with one minute left in the game. The Owls’ offense could not produce a response after that and Tulsa’s comeback ended Temple’s season.
Temple (17-15, 9-9 AAC) fell to Tulsa (13-19, 6-12 AAC) 75-71 Thursday evening at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. After winning four games in five days at the AAC tournament last season, the Owls will exit Fort Worth winless this season.
“Great credit to Tulsa,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “They made more plays than we did and dominated the second half. It’s hard to win when you shoot 24%, 0-10 from the three, then allow someone to shoot 56% [in the second half]. But I’m really proud of this team.”
Temple has struggled defending down low all season and Tulsa made it known that was going to be the case again when forward Ian Smikle scored the first points of the game in the paint just 27 seconds in. The Owls then had to figure out who was going to stop him after forward Babatunde Durodola picked up two fouls in the first 74 seconds.
Temple couldn’t find an answer and the Golden Hurricane took advantage. Tulsa scored 14 of its first 20 points in the paint, with the other six coming from the free-throw line. The attack down low was partly due to it missing on all seven three-point attempts in the opening frame — an issue Temple did not have.
The Owls made three consecutive triples four-and-a-half minutes in to take a five-point lead that they didn’t let go of until they got into foul trouble.
Golden Hurricane guard Keaston Willis shot five straight free throws and connected on four of them to give his team the 18-17 lead at the mid-way point of the first half. However, Temple started to find its form and that’s the largest run it allowed in the opening 20 minutes.
The defensive spark translated to the other side of the floor. Forward Steve Settle III and guards Zion Stanford and Shane Dezonie fueled an 18-6 run, capped off by an and-one from Settle to take the 35-24 advantage. The Owls didn’t let off the gas and forward Elijah Gray added two free throws before Settle knocked down a triple to take a 14-point lead with two minutes left before halftime.
The Owls, who were already without guards Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Quante Berry, almost lost another one of their top scorers when Settle went down with 16 seconds left in the opening frame. Settle was fouled at the baseline and when he finally got up, he limped toward the bench. The Temple band started chanting his name and he turned around to sink both free throws and the Owls went into the locker room up 42-30.
“Just trying to be aggressive,” Settle said. “I feel like when I’m aggressive for this team good things happen. Just trying to do what I could to put us in a chance to win the game.”
Tulsa looked to take control of the game immediately to start the second half as Willis made a layup just 17 seconds in. Temple managed to stand its ground for the first six minutes until things started to fall apart.
The Golden Hurricane went on a 9-0 run to cut their deficit to just 54-53 with less than 11 minutes left in the game. Temple held Smikle to just seven points but didn’t have an answer for Garcia, who contributed 20 points with 14 coming in the second half.
Temple couldn’t get its offense flowing and its inefficiency seeped into the defensive end as well. The Owls’ season-long defensive struggles emerged as they continued to give the Golden Hurricane free scoring opportunities at the line. Tulsa scored 11 points from the free throw line in the second half but it wasn’t able to stay disciplined either and Temple went 15-21 at the charity stripe in the frame.
Settle and Stanford were the primary scorers in the absence of Mashburn and Berry and that trend continued Thursday. The two recorded 15 and nine points in the first half, respectively, but couldn’t repeat their performance in the second half to close out the game.
Settle ended the night with a game-high 22 points but only made one field goal in the final 20 minutes as five of his points came from the free throw line. Stanford went 2-11 from the field and missed both three-point attempts in the second half. They each looked to extend the game — and their season — but missed their attempts from deep in the final seconds.
“We allowed missing shots in the second half to dictate our defense,” Fisher said. “That’s where I was disappointed because you’re not going to make shots all game.”
The loss brings Temple’s season to an end, barring an invitation to another postseason tournament. The Owls will now head into the offseason set to lose five seniors, headlined by Settle and Mashburn.
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