With 13 minutes left in the game, redshirt-junior guard Monty Scott stole the ball and on the ensuing possession, junior guard Nate Pierre-Louis made a breakaway dunk.
This was one of 19 turnovers committed by Morgan State University (1-1) that led to a 75-57 win for Temple (2-0) Saturday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. The Owls scored 27 points off Bears’ turnovers, yet only had six turnovers, which translated to two points for Morgan State.
Although the Owls scored many points off turnovers, they cannot rely on fastbreak points as the season progresses, senior guard Quinton Rose said.
“Hopefully by then, we’ll have our offense figured out,” Rose said. “You can’t make fastbreaks all the time. Going into conference play, teams are gonna be better and they’re not gonna turnover the ball like that. We just gotta get our half-court offense together.”
Pierre-Louis had another double-double and led the Owls with 19 points and 11 rebounds after earning 16 points and 10 rebounds against Drexel on Tuesday. He also added six steals and five assists.
Pierre-Louis’ defensive aggressiveness has helped his teammates become aggressive defensively, he said.
“I think it’s because I’m a captain now,” Pierre-Louis said. “I have to be locked into this team. I had to stay patient. Now, it’s time for us to lock in. I told my teammates to try to be defenders in your position and do your job every single day. Coaches tell me to anchor the defense and I’m gonna keep doing my job.”
Rose added 16 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Alani Moore II scored 14 points and had three steals. Junior forward De’Vondre Perry added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Perry also shot 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
“[Perry] provided a big spark for us,” coach Aaron McKie said. “It provides us with a bit more spacing. He knocked down a big three for us to give us a little more separation. He hit another big three for us in the corner. It certainly helps when you have guys out there on the floor who can make big shots for you.”
The Owls’ 18-point win against the Bears did not come without difficulty. The Bears pulled within six points in the second half after senior guard Stanley Davis completed a three-point play with 11 minutes and 16 seconds left in the game. From that point, the Owls went on a 26-14 run to end the game.
The Owls’ three-point shooting also struggled, putting them only 7-of-32 from the three-point line.
Even though the Owls made 16 more trips to the free throw line than the Bears, they missed 12 free throws during the game.
“When you look at the numbers, we went to the free-throw line 32 times,” McKie said. “I’ll take that all day. We were attacking. We really still didn’t get to the backend of our plays like I wanted. Again, I’ll take the aggression. We just have to continue to work and get better on the offensive side.”
The Owls will next play against Big 5 rival La Salle on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Tom Gola Arena.
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