Owls ride momentum for win against Tulane

Temple Men’s Basketball secured its third straight win with a 80-77 victory on Thursday afternoon.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored a season-high 32 points in the Owls 80-77 win against Tulane. | HAYNIE KIM / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Entering the second half, Temple led Tulane by just one point and was searching for ways to create separation. The Owls eventually ballooned the lead to 11 and thought they found the separation they needed. However, Temple’s lead evaporated to just three with 30 seconds left and they were clinging on in hopes for a win.

The Owls had a chance to seal the deal off an inbound in the closing seconds. Guard Shane Dezonie held the ball with an opportunity to deliver the final blow, but instead, a near disaster ensued.

Green Wave guard Rowan ​​Brumbaugh stole the ball from Dezonie and proceeded to sprint the length of the court hoping to send the game to overtime. Brumbaugh had a chance to play spoiler, chucking a desperation three-pointer in the final moment. Instead the shot clanked off the rim and harmlessly onto the floor as Temple held on for its third straight win.

Temple (12-6, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) held on against Tulane (10-9, 4-2 AAC) 80-77 Sunday afternoon at The Liacouras Center. With the win, the Owls are now tied for first in the AAC and are 8-0 at home.

“You can get caught up in the hype,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “We told [the team], read all your press clips after the Memphis game, go online, go on social media, see how great you are and then we come in the next day. We gotta get back to work.”

Temple came out flat after taking down No. 18 Memphis 88-81 on Jan. 16 for an emotional upset victory. Tulane shot out to an 8-2 lead behind guard Kam Williams, who scored all eight of the Green Wave’s points to start. The Owls were unable to find their footing offensively with Tulane’s full-court pressure and zone coverage stunting them, as they missed three of their first four attempts from the field. 

Temple’s defensive intensity remained intact despite its offensive woes. The Cherry and White forced 10 turnovers in the first half and turned the extra possessions into seven points. Tulane committed five turnovers in a three-minute stretch but the Owls couldn’t find a spark to pull away. 

Temple finally got a lifeline from guards Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Zion Stanford, who jump started the offense. The duo’s scoring ability was too much for the Green Wave to handle as they accounted for 11 of Temple’s first 13 points. But it wasn’t enough to take the lead and nobody else was able to step up. Tulane took a 16-13 lead following strong perimeter shooting where it began 4-4 from downtown. 

Temple momentarily took its first lead of the game at 18-16 following a putback layup from guard Quante Berry. It was short-lived as Tulane’s offensive engine continued to roar, snatching the lead back with a 6-0 run to go up 22-18.

The Green Wave converted on 54% of their shot attempts through the first 20 minutes. Temple struggled to defend the paint with 14 of Tulane’s 33 first half points coming from within the restricted area. Still, the Owls showcased their resilience, and forward Steve Settle III tied the game at 24 all with a strong finish at the basket. 

Temple then erupted from beyond the arc. The Owls took their largest lead of the first half at 33-29 after cashing in on three consecutive triples as a product of sound ball movement. However, Tulane cut the deficit to 34-33 to conclude the first half. 

The Owls switched their approach after finding success from three-point range in the first half. The Cherry and White aggressively attacked off pick-and-rolls, especially Mashburn due to the Green Wave being unable to stop his shiftiness. 

“Tulane is a really good defensive team,” Mashburn said. “They do a lot of switching and that matchup zone messes up a lot of teams. I was just trying to take what the defense was giving me and then letting it fly.”

An electric throw-down from Dezonie in transition gave Temple much-needed separation. The dunk capped off a 7-0 run where it connected on five consecutive shot attempts to take its then-largest lead of the game at 51-42.

However, the Owls still weren’t able to pull away. Tulane’s scorching shooting from deep continued into the second half. The Green Wave buried their first five attempts from beyond the arc to make the score just 55-54.

Temple’s offense deteriorated when Mashburn took a rest. Nobody was able to match his output and the Owls didn’t get off a shot attempt for a two-and-a-half minute stretch. Despite Temple’s stagnant offense, it still kept Tulane at arms distance for its third straight win. 

Mashburn scored a season-high 32 points on 12-16 shooting and connected on all eight of his shot attempts in the second half. He drilled a jumper with 49 seconds left in the game, which ended up being the dagger.

“[Mashburn] is just a calming presence,” Fisher said. “He never gets too high, he never gets too low, it’s not about him. He’s just fantastic, his leadership, his poise, just a steady hand throughout the game.” 

Temple will look to take sole possession of first place in the conference when it travels to play first-placed North Texas (13-4, 4-1 AAC) on Jan. 22 at 8 p.m.

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