By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Temple 66, Houston 54 – Box Score
Coming off a 2-game losing streak out in the Midwest, the Owls returned home needing a win to remain on the outskirts of the NCAA tournament picture. Fortunately for Temple supporters, nobody seems to have told the Cougars these games are 40 minutes long. Houston entered the contest having lost 5 straight games, but strangely blew halftime leads in four of those contests. After Thursday night, you can make that 5 of 6, thanks in large part to an in-game coaching adjustment made by Temple’s Fran Dunphy.
Trailing by 5 at halftime, Dunphy decided to make a change to start the second half, inserting Josh Brown for Devontae Watson to effectively run a four-guard lineup.
“We obviously started a smaller lineup and went to switching everything,” Dunphy commented post-game. “We didn’t do a very good job of closing out on their shooters in the first half…I thought we defended very well in the second half.”
Did they ever. The Owls began the second half on a 12-1 run, holding Houston without a field goal for the first 7+ minutes coming out of the locker room. Temple began to get things going offensively in transition, crucially outscoring the Cougars 13-0 in fast break points on the game.
Dunphy on the significance of getting out in transition: “”It’s very important, but that also means you’re doing a pretty good job on the defensive end so you can get the ball out and run.”
That idea was best illustrated with the sequence that gave the Owls their first lead of the second half. With the game tied at 34, Will Cummings stole the ball from Devonta Pollard, made a quick spin move around a pair of Houston defenders at half court, and found Jaylen Bond at the basket, Bond finished with a tomahawk dunk while getting fouled and completed the three-point play.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2X4gGBBPJ0]
While the defense was certainly the catalyst for their comeback victory, the Owls also bounced back from a pair of anemic offensive games with a balanced attack. Quenton DeCosey played his best game in weeks, scoring a game-high 16 points and tying a career-high with 9 rebounds. Jaylen Bond recorded 15 points and 9 rebounds, and Will Cummings tallied 14 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. As Coach Dunphy noted, “We’re a team that needs to share the basketball and when we do that, we’re ok.”
The Owls are more than ok, as the victory was Temple’s 20th of the season, quite the feat for Fran Dunphy’s team coming off of a 9-win campaign. Right now, Temple finds itself as one of the last teams in the tournament field. With just two games left in the regular season and every outcome magnified in the eyes of the committee, the Owls will look to build on this strong second half over the final week, starting next Thursday against East Carolina.
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