After putting themselves in a 12-point hole early in the first half due to a lack of energy, Temple Men’s Basketball had to claw its way back against Tulsa for the rest of the game.
Three-pointers from guard Hysier Miller and forward Steve Settle III in the final minute of the game cut the Golden Hurricane’s lead to just one point. Miller had an open look to tie the game with a three-pointer, but the shot came up short as time expired.
Temple (11-18, 4-12 American Athletic Conference) fell to Tulsa (15-14, 6-11 AAC) 72-67 Saturday afternoon at The Liacouras Center. The Owls came out flat against the Golden Hurricane and put themselves in an early hole they couldn’t come back from.
“Disappointed in the result, disappointed in our effort in the first half,” said Temple head coach Adam Fisher. “We’ve all seen [us] fallback, fallback, can’t get over the hump. I thought we were able to do that the last three games, so disappointed that we didn’t do it tonight.”
Free throw shooting plagued the Owls all game long, as they missed 11 shots from the line. Temple guard Jahlil White specifically struggled from the stripe, shooting just 1-6. The Owls went 6-11 from the stripe in the second half, making their comeback even harder.
“You’re not going to win going 11 of 22 from the foul line at home,” Fisher said. “We just talked about that. We gotta be more locked in.”
Tulsa guard PJ Haggerty was unstoppable in the first half for the Golden Hurricanes. Haggerty, the second-leading scorer in the AAC, was responsible for 17 of Tulsa’s 32 first-half points with four assists and five points. He finished with 21 points and five assists.
Temple slowed Haggerty down in the second half, but that opened the floor up for Tulsa guard Cobe Williams to take control. Williams finished with a game-high in points and assists with 21 and seven, respectively. Eight points and four assists came in the second half.
Miller and guard Jordan Riley were once again the leading scorers for the Owls, with Miller finishing with 19 points and Riley ending with 12 and five rebounds.
Temple forward Emmanuel Okpomo had his best game of the season. While the stats don’t seem impressive, finishing with just five points and four rebounds in 13 minutes, his impact off the bench was crucial.
“He comes in and has given us great minutes,” Fisher said. “Whether it’s one minute, 13 minutes or nine minutes, he just plays really hard. He’s done some really good things in these last three and a half weeks.”
Temple came out slowly on both ends of the floor, finding itself down 16-4 through the first eight minutes of the game. The Owls clawed their way back in the first half bringing the game as close to five with four minutes left thanks to three-pointers from Riley and Miller.
“When you come back home there’s distractions,” Fisher said. “We talked about that. Coming back home, no distractions. Tickets, you deal with this and that. We didn’t try to put all that to rest. I thought the way we’ve played our energy had been there. Disappointed with how we came out and played.”
The Golden Hurricane hit three-pointers on the three ensuing possessions, giving themselves a 14-point cushion. Free throws from guard Zion Stanford and Settle III closed Tulsa’s lead to nine points at the half.
The Owls struggled to get stops early in the second half. Anytime Temple scored, the Golden Hurricane came down and answered. But as the second half continued, the Owls chipped away at the Golden Hurricane’s lead, slowly bringing the game to within just two possessions multiple times in the half.
Miller’s monstrous second half was pivotal in the comeback. Sixteen of his 19 points came in the second half, and he went 6-12 from the field. He also went 4-5 from beyond the arc in the half.
“Just made some shots,” Miller said. “Credit to my teammates for getting me good looks. I just made some shots.”
Tulsa hit two free throws after Miller’s missed three-pointer in the final second to put the finishing touches on its win.
The Owls will remain on North Broad Street and look to get back in the win column when they host UAB (18-10, 10-5 AAC) on March 7 at 7 p.m.
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