Entering the day on a three-game losing streak, Temple was hoping to use its matchup against Florida Atlantic to bounce back and gain momentum as the regular season winds down. Instead, Temple’s defensive woes continued on Sunday.
Temple’s self-caused came back to bite them. The Cherry and White tallied 26 personal fouls, which resulted in Florida Atlantic shooting 28-35 from the foul line. Temple had four players commit at least four fouls and forward Dillon Battie was the only player to go without one. Temple’s lackadaisical defense was too much for its offense to overcome as it dropped its fourth straight game.
Temple (14-12, 6-7 American Athletic Conference) lost to Florida Atlantic (15-10, 8-4 AAC) 83-81 Sunday afternoon at The Liacouras Center. Temple went cold in the second half, being outscored 13-6 in the final three and a half minutes of the game.
“Obviously not the result we want, but we competed and played hard in spurts of this game,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “We got to try to eliminate some mental lapses on the defensive end. We just got to keep improving and getting better. We’re in February, we’ve hit a little adversity. Nobody is going to feel bad for us. We’ve got to stay together, we’ve got to be better.”
Temple came out with a sense of urgency on the defensive end, which has been a weak spot for much of the season. However, the Cherry and White’s aggression was undisciplined as they committed three personal fouls less than four minutes into the game. Both teams got to the foul line four times within the stretch but Temple led 9-7.
FAU misfired on its first six attempts from beyond the arc, allowing Temple to put all of its attention to picking up stops in the paint. The defensive efforts couldn’t translate to the offensive end as it constantly settled for contested shots. Temple missed eight of its first 12 attempts from the field as Florida Atlantic gained a 15-13 lead.
Temple struck back with improved ball movement and spacing, hitting four consecutive shots to take a 24-19 lead. Forward Steve Settle III’s versatility was on full display as he got to the rim, converted on a pull-up three pointer and created open shots for others. Settle had nine points at halftime but foul trouble kept him on the bench for 13 minutes of the half. The forward led his squad in the game with 18 points on 50% shooting.
“I think [the foul trouble] was a combination of [aggressiveness and poor composure],” Fisher said. “We wanted to be a little bit more aggressive, but then we were trying to manage guys. All of our frontcourt had two [fouls] early in the game.”
Temple’s defense tightened its grip, holding FAU to 13% shooting from deep in the first half. The Cherry and White received offensive sparks from guard Quante Berry, who resiliently attacked the rim. Berry finished with nine first half points to send Temple into halftime with a 38-35 lead.
Berry was able to stabilize Temple’s offense as he picked apart FAU’s defense off pick-and-rolls. He drew the defense into the paint to create weakside threes for the likes of Settle and guard Aiden Tobiason. Behind the efforts of Berry and an elite collective defense, Temple cracked open a 51-41 lead.
However, FAU cut its deficit to 61-58 as its defensive edge began to soften. Florida Atlantic buried four consecutive attempts from the field with forward Kaleb Glenn catching fire from long distance, thriving off spot-up triples created off drives. He led Florida Atlantic in scoring with 17 points on 7-11 shooting and five rebounds.
Temple lost its composure on both ends down the stretch between avoidable turnovers and costly personal fouls. Florida Atlantic jarred the ball loose from forward Elijah Gray, resulting in a transition layup for guard Leland Walker that gave it a 76-75 lead. Florida Atlantic took its first lead since the five minute mark of the first half while Temple went cold for a three and a half minute span.
Settle had a chance to cut the deficit to one point with 18 seconds left but he split a pair of free throws, which gave Florida Atlantic possession with a 78-76 lead. Berry went on a personal 5-0 run as Temple played the foul game, but it wasn’t enough as Florida Atlantic guard Niccolo Moretti buried two decisive free throws.
“[Defense] is something we’re trying to get better at to get to where we’re trying to go,” Settle said. “Finishing out these last few weeks of the regular season, that has to be our main focus.”
Temple will look to bounce back on the road when it faces Charlotte (9-17, 2-11 AAC) on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
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