Temple spent the entire second half of Friday’s game trading blows with Wichita State. Neither team was able to find separation and the Owls trailed by four points with eight minutes left and were in desperate need of a spark.
Guard Quante Berry and forward Steve Settle III gave the Owls the spark they needed and Temple suddenly went on a tear. Temple went on an offensive surge highlighted by back-to-back threes and Settle delivered a layup to cap off a 8-0 run.
Wichita State looked to cut into the lead, but Berry found guard Zion Stanford on an island and he drilled a three. The bucket was Stanford’s only make of the game but proved to be the dagger and the Owls picked up a win in their conference opener.
Temple (9-5, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) escaped against Wichita State (10-4, 0-1 AAC) 91-85 on Friday night at The Liacouras Center. The Owls have now scored 90 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “We’ve talked about it all season, we want to protect home court. Being able to open conference play at home was big for us. Our ability to try to wear teams down, and other guys got to step up, and we saw it tonight”
Temple’s slow start on offensive to begin games continued Friday and the Shockers took control early. The Owls misfired on two of their first seven attempts from the field, allowing Wichita State to an 11-5 lead. Guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. was the lone bright spot to start, scoring Temple’s first five points.
Following a layup from Shocker guard Corey Washington, the Owls’ offense erupted and quickly cut into the deficit. Temple rattled off a 10-0 run headlined by its defense. The Owls’ success of reading passing lanes disrupted the Shockers’ offensive process and forced eight turnovers in the first half.
In the Owls’ last game against Buffalo on Dec. 29, their offense began to flow when the offensive load was taken off Mashburn’s shoulders. Five Owls reached double digits in scoring against the Bulls, but on Friday it was Mashburn who took charge with 13 points. Temple forward Elijah Gray gave him some relief, notching seven first-half points off the bench.
“It’s great having [Gray] as a closer,” Fisher said. “He’s an older guy. We like the energy he brings. His ability to rebound and make free throws too, which was great. He had a good outlet against the press tonight. He’s done a lot of good things.”
Temple snatched the lead but the score stayed too close for comfort for the rest of the first half. The Shockers imposed their will in the paint and the Owls had no answers. Twenty six of the Shockers’ 39 first-half points came from the paint as they thrived inside the arc. Wichita State was able to snatch nine offensive rebounds compared to Temple’s seven.
The Shockers spawned a 14-8 run to take their first lead since the 12 minute mark of the first half at 33-31. Wichita’s backcourt duo of Xavier Bell and Justin Hill combined for 19 points at halftime. Temple was able to take the lead again before Wichita State closed out the half on a 6-0 run and went into halftime up 39-37.
Temple jumped out to a 47-43 lead sparked by a 8-4 run to open the second half, headlined by guard Quante Berry. A pesky Owls’ defense strung together a plethora of stops, which allowed them to push tempo on offense. Mashburn and Berry strung with a pair of above-the-break threes that the Shockers failed to contest.
“We have so many guys that can make a play at any given moment,” Mashburn said. “We all have to stay ready and be able to hit guys in their moment.”
However, Temple’s defense woes continued to plague it in the second half of play. Wichita State tore through the Cherry and White’s perimeter defense, leading to Temple being exposed in the paint. Temple went into a zone in an attempt to stop the Shockers barrage, but it backfired. The Shockers scored five unanswered points to take a 62-58 lead.
The Owls didn’t back down and took their largest lead of the game at 81-71 amid a 21-7 run. The Owls entered the double bonus and coasted to their ninth win of the season as Wichita State played the foul game to no avail.
“Just staying together,” Gray said. “We know basketball is just a game of runs at the end of the day. “You know all you do is take your hit, stay together as a team, communicate with each other, and stay together.”
Temple had five players reach double figures in scoring for the second straight game, as Mashburn led the way with 24. Berry and Settle both dropped 15, as seven of Settle’s points came in the late run. Berry finished the game with five assists, surpassing his season high from just two games ago against Rhode Island on Dec. 21.
The Owls will look to make it back-to-back conference wins when they face off against East Carolina (8-6, 0-1 AAC) in Greensboro, North Carolina on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.
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