Temple men’s poor shot selection leads to loss

The Owls linked arms on the court and held a moment of silence today to honor the passing of the legendary former Temple men’s basketball coach John Chaney, who died of a short illness on Friday, The Temple News reported. 

Although it was difficult for the Owls to compete today, head coach Aaron McKie knew Chaney would have wanted the Owls to play, McKie said yesterday.  

Temple men’s basketball (4-5, 3-5 The American Athletic Conference) lost to Tulane (7-5, 2-5 The American) 81-64 after trailing for most of the game. Temple took ill-advised shots on offense and allowed Tulane easy paths to the hoop on defense.

The Owls’ shot selection was poor throughout the game, and they allowed the Green Wave to get to the free-throw line 18 times, where they made 83.3 percent of their shots. Temple fell short in the second half when they made just two-of-14 3-point-shots and just 13-of-31 shots from the field.

“I figured if we calmed down and made a few shots we would get the score close, and we wouldn’t have to go into scramble mode,” McKie said. “But we dug that hole for ourselves and we couldn’t get out of it.”

The Owls switched to a zone defense midway through the second half hoping to slow down the Green Wave. But Temple couldn’t guard Tulane’s offense, especially in the paint, McKie said.   

Tulane shot 50 percent from the field, while Temple shot just 39.7 percent from the field. 

Tulane’s sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes scored 23 points in total after opening the game with back-to-back 3-point makes. The Owls left him open on defense, and he took advantage by making four-of-eight total 3-point attempts. 

“We came out flat, in the first half and second half,” senior forward J.P Moorman II said. “We didn’t come out with our best defense and offense, I felt like we weren’t unselfish like we have been the past few games. Today we came with a selfish approach that got us lost at home.”

Moorman feels the Owls weren’t collectively working as a unit and communicating with one another on the court, which resulted in poor offensive and defensive play, he added.    

Junior forward Jake Forrester, who in prior games could not stay out of foul trouble, led the Owls with 15 points. Most of Forrester’s points were scored on plays in the post.  

Freshman guard Jeremiah Williams, who had a game high of 11 rebounds, played like a true point guard against the Green Wave defense. Williams’ nine assists helped the Owls’ offense facilitate good shooting opportunities. 

Temple will take on Cincinnati (3-7, 1-4 The American) on Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.