In its last eight games, Temple (14-10, 6-5 American Athletic Conference) has followed the same pattern — two big wins at home, and then two underwhelming losses on the road to beatable conference opponents.
The Owls beat then-No. 18 Memphis and Tulane at The Liacouras Center on Jan. 16 and Jan. 19 but then lost to North Texas and a bottom-of-the-conference UTSA team on the road. The same thing happened when they returned to North Philly on Jan. 29. The Owls snuck past Charlotte and East Carolina before hitting the road again and falling to South Florida and No. 14 Memphis.
Temple holds a 2-7 record on the road this season despite being a perfect 10-0 on its home floor. Now, the Owls have seven games remaining until their fate is decided during the AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. The team will spend that time frame trying to gain some sort of momentum in games away from The Liacouras Center.
“I think we have really smart fans,” said Temple head coach Adam Fisher, “ They know when to get loud and then when not to and then when to get excited. I hope that again, they can keep coming back. We want to protect home court and that’s been a big thing for us this year.”
Temple proved it can beat anyone on its home floor but has dropped games to very beatable teams on the road. With the team’s NCAA Tournament at-large chances out the window, winning multiple games in a row in Fort Worth is now their only path to postseason basketball.
Before falling to nationally-ranked Memphis, Temple suffered a double-overtime loss to South Florida — a team it has outperformed most of the season. Temple still has three road games left on its schedule which will play a big factor in where the team will be seeded in the AAC Tournament.
The silver lining for the Owls was that Mashburn was out in their loss to USF with a lower-body injury. But Temple still kept pace with USF despite Mashburn’s absence and guard Quante Berry not scoring a single point.
Temple had just four field goals in both overtime periods and narrowly lost. However, that play will have to improve from here on out — with or without Mashburn.
While Mashburn being out in Temple’s last two losses hurt, they stayed competitive in nearly every match. Mashburn’s absence became evident when games went into crunch time. The team was still able to connect and didn’t appear to have any less confidence, but Mashburn’s role as a scorer was sorely missed.
“I try my best to stay composed at all times,” Mashburn said. “Not just with basketball, with life. Life is going to throw things at you.”
Even with Mashburn, Temple’s road struggles have been common throughout the season. The Owls lost a winnable game against Boston College on Nov. 15, where they shot 33% in the second half despite holding a lead. Temple then was in a similar position against La Salle on Nov. 30, where they squandered a chance at a Big 5 Classic championship game appearance.
Both of Temple’s road wins have come against less-than-stellar competition. The Owls’ road opponents hold a combined record of 24-25, with Rice losing eight of its last nine games. Temple’s upcoming home matchup against UAB is one of its last attempts to prove itself as one of the best in the conference before the AAC Tournament from March 12-16.
Temple then has a matchup against UAB on Feb. 23 in Birmingham, Alabama — the team that routed the Owls in the AAC Championship game last season. A win will continue Temple’s quest for a top-four seed and double-bye in the conference tournament.
The matchup will be a litmus test for what to expect from the Owls once they travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for the AAC Tournament. Temple has dropped its last four conference road games and just two were to teams in contention for a double bye in the conference tournament.
Temple is currently slotted in as the six seed, a number that could rise or fall depending on how it finishes the season. If the season was to end today, the Owls would receive a bye in the first round and face Rice in the second round. If they were to win, they would get North Texas, who handed Temple a loss on Jan. 23 and shut down Temple’s offense for all 40 minutes. The Owls would currently be the fourth seed had they defeated USF or ECU on the road, giving them a double-bye and an easier path to a championship.
“We showed it in spurts, but we really talked about that’s gotta be our identity, and you gotta do it at home,” Fisher said. “ You gotta be gritty, tough. We need all guys to rebound.”
Temple has one more shot at North Texas in the season finale on March 9 at home, and it has one last home matchup against USF two weeks prior. If Temple is able to at least split the matchups against those four schools, then fans can go into the second week of March hopeful for a postseason run.
“The season doesn’t end on January 16,” Fisher said following the Owls’ upset win against Memphis. “This is our approach. This is what we do. We’re very consistent with it. What we show on what day is always the same, so that no game becomes too big or too low, because, again, they’re all gonna go in one column.”
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