It has been more than six years since Temple Men’s Basketball won a game in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, and many expected that streak to last even longer. After all, the Owls made the wrong kind of history this season, losing 10 straight games for the first time in 50 years less than a month ago.
Yet, the Owls have been on a roll, winning five of their last seven and even beating UTSA 64-61 on March 13 to move onto the second round of the tournament. Head coach Adam Fisher has the team playing as well as they have all year, which they need to do to continue making noise in the postseason.
“It’s a great credit to our guys,” Fisher said. “We’ve tried to stay as consistent as we can be all season. Get better with practice, get better with film, get better each game. During that stretch, it was, ‘Are we getting better?’ I thought we really were.”
The Owls will now play sixth-seed Southern Methodist for a chance to face the third seed, Charlotte, in the quarterfinals on March 15. Here’s everything to know before the Owls and Mustangs tip off at 9 p.m.
TALE OF TWO HALVES
Temple survived UTSA yesterday, but it wasn’t an easy task. The Owls started the game with a dominant 13-3 lead in the first six minutes and turned their momentum into a 14-point lead at halftime. Eight Owls registered points in the first half, and they played stifling defense to boot.
Then, the momentum shifted, and UTSA started to cut into Temple’s lead. The Owls went cold from the field, shooting just 31 percent in the second half, and the Roadrunners used several small runs and one 13-0 run to tie the game with six minutes left.
Guard Zion Stanford stepped up, finishing with 11 second-half points and 19 total, pushing his squad to the top. Stanford had struggled to find his footing in conference play and only scored more than 10 points three times against AAC opponents, so Wednesday was a much-needed breakout game for the freshman.
The Owls buckled down in the end, doing just enough to lead for more than 39 minutes and pull out the victory.
The first half was exactly what Temple needed to do, but the second half could be concerning against tougher opponents. The Roadrunners played without leading scorer Jordan Ivy-Curry and still found ways to generate offense by using the frontcourt.
Temple has struggled to guard scoring forwards this season because they don’t have as much size as several other teams. The AAC is well known for being a physical conference, and the Owls don’t necessarily fit in with the traditional style of the conference.
The Owls thrive on defense when pressuring ball handlers and getting their opponents out of sync. They will benefit greatly from another hot start in the first half and staying on the gas. Temple’s best chance to beat SMU is to play to its strengths: start fast, shoot often and play disciplined defense.
ON SMU
The Mustangs had an up-and-down closing stretch in the regular season. They won six games in a row to start February but then lost four of their last five to teams throughout the standings.
SMU took down Memphis, North Texas and UAB in that stretch, asserting they could hang with some of the better teams in the conference right before the tournament. Then, the team lost to Florida Atlantic, South Florida and UAB, ending its season on a sour note.
They will enter the second round on a bit of a cold streak, but the Mustangs have beaten plenty of strong teams this season. They had the third-best scoring defense in the conference and the best field-goal and three-point defense, holding opponents to just 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from three this year.
SMU’s offense hasn’t had the same success. The Mustangs shot below 40 percent in four of its final five games of the year and finished just above the 40 percent mark in the fifth. The team also shot well below its average from beyond the arc in that stretch.
Temple’s defense has been a strong point in the back half of conference play and could match up well with the Mustangs.
That was not the case in their only matchup this year when SMU won 77-64 on Jan. 16. The Owls launched a furious comeback from down 15 in the first half but couldn’t hit a field goal in the final seven minutes. Meanwhile, SMU outscored Temple 10-1 in the last three minutes and put the game on ice.
Guards Zhuric Phelps and Chuck Harris are the only two SMU scorers averaging double-digit points this year. Temple held Phelps to just seven points in January, but Harris led with 18 points on 50 percent shooting. Forward Samuell Williamson had one of his best games of the season, finishing with 17 points on 7-11 shooting.
The Mustangs are a solid team that can make a run in the tournament. The Owls will need to focus on continuing their offensive momentum from the first half of their game against UTSA while limiting the Mustangs on the other end.
SPOILER ALERT
Declan Landis, Sports Editor: “Temple has been on a roll lately, and SMU has gone cold. The Owls have found what works for them, and they have as good a chance as any team if they continue to play to their strengths.
However, the Mustangs are a very talented team, and their defense has shut down some of the best teams in the AAC this season. They may just be too much for this younger Temple squad at this point in the year.”
SMU wins 67-60.
Johnny Zawislak, Assistant Sports Editor: “Temple has played some of its best basketball recently and put together multiple games where its offense has actually looked consistent.
However, the Owls’ recent success has come against opponents that are towards the bottom of the conference. The Mustangs have a ton of talent, and their defense can bring the Owls’ offense back down to how they’ve played for the majority of the season.”
SMU wins 71-61.
Ryan Mack, Assistant Sports Editor: “Temple has played well recently, but the only problem is most of those wins are against teams in the basement of the AAC. While SMU has gone cold as of late, many of those losses were to the cream of the crop in the conference.
I’m still worried about Temple’s play against the top-tier schools. Even with UTSA’s best player out, they still struggled to put the Roadrunners away. This game could go the way their first matchup did, with the Owls keeping it close but failing to get in position to win.”
SMU wins 70-59.
Jaison Nieves, Sports Social Media Manager: “Temple has been able to find its stride late in the season, and already having a game won in Fort Worth combined with SMU’s cold streak to close the season makes the Owls a dangerous team.
With that being said, the Mustangs’ talent poses too many issues for the Owls. Temple’s offense is held scoreless for minutes at a time, and playing against SMU’s defense, which is third in the AAC in scoring defense, will cause the Owls trouble. This will be a lot closer than the previous matchup, but I think SMU’s talent will become too much for Temple.”
SMU wins 65-64.
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