Temple returned home to the Liacouras Center Thursday night amidst a two-game losing streak and with their tournament hopes in question.
The Owls would appear to be feeling some of the lingering effects of that two game road trip in the first half, but would emerge looking much stronger in the second act.
Behind a dominant second half performance all around, the Owls would put an end to their losing streak, defeating Houston 66-54 to get their tournament campaign back on track.
The Owls would appear to be feeling some of the lingering effects of that two game road trip in the first half, but would emerge looking much stronger in the second act.
Behind a dominant second half performance all around, the Owls would put an end to their losing streak, defeating Houston 66-54 to get their tournament campaign back on track.
“We just made a couple of adjustments. We obviously started a smaller lineup,” Temple Coach Fran Dunphy said of the second half improvement. “We didn’t do a good job closing out on their shooters in the first half and I thought that was probably the key. The staff talked about it at halftime and we made that adjustment of a guard versus a big guy. But I thought we defended very well in the second half and moved the ball a little bit too.”
After a fast paced start, both teams would begin to struggle in the latter part of the first half.
Temple would score just six points during the course of the final 9:54 of the half, as they found themselves heading to the locker room trailing the Cougars 34-29.
The Owls would emerge from the locker room utilizing a smaller lineup, and would open the half on a 12-1 run to take a six point lead.
“It definitely helped out a lot,” DeCosey said of going with four guards in the second half. “In the first half [Danrad] Knowles, he was hurting us a little bit, so we put a guard on him and kind of took him out of the game in the second half.”
Temple would continue to heat up shooting, leading for the final 11:35 and building their lead to as much as 15 in a 66-54 win.
Quenton DeCosey led the way for the Owls, scoring 16 points and coming up with a career-high nine rebounds, which proved to be pivotal as Temple utilized a smaller lineup throughout the second half.
“I had a couple of rough stretches of games, so coming into this game I just wanted to play as hard as possible while I was out there and it paid off,” DeCosey said.”
“Just being more aggressive really,” he said of his big game on the glass. “We went with four guards out there a lot tonight, so I knew I had to help Jaylen on the boards.”
Three other Temple players would finish in double figures, with Jaylen Bond recording 15 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Will Cummings and Jesse Morgan adding 14 and 10 points, respectively.
“It’s good for us when we have multiple players that can score,” Bond said. “We’re very versatile.”
“We’re a team that needs to share the basketball and when we do that we’re OK,” Dunphy said.
The win for the Owls helped get their tournament hopes back on track, as they notched their 20th win of the season.
“I don’t think there is any question this was very important,” Dunphy said. “You need to win games. We’re in the homestretch. This is crunch time now. We need to win.”
By: Kyle Babcock
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
After a fast paced start, both teams would begin to struggle in the latter part of the first half.
Temple would score just six points during the course of the final 9:54 of the half, as they found themselves heading to the locker room trailing the Cougars 34-29.
The Owls would emerge from the locker room utilizing a smaller lineup, and would open the half on a 12-1 run to take a six point lead.
“It definitely helped out a lot,” DeCosey said of going with four guards in the second half. “In the first half [Danrad] Knowles, he was hurting us a little bit, so we put a guard on him and kind of took him out of the game in the second half.”
Temple would continue to heat up shooting, leading for the final 11:35 and building their lead to as much as 15 in a 66-54 win.
Quenton DeCosey led the way for the Owls, scoring 16 points and coming up with a career-high nine rebounds, which proved to be pivotal as Temple utilized a smaller lineup throughout the second half.
“I had a couple of rough stretches of games, so coming into this game I just wanted to play as hard as possible while I was out there and it paid off,” DeCosey said.”
“Just being more aggressive really,” he said of his big game on the glass. “We went with four guards out there a lot tonight, so I knew I had to help Jaylen on the boards.”
Three other Temple players would finish in double figures, with Jaylen Bond recording 15 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Will Cummings and Jesse Morgan adding 14 and 10 points, respectively.
“It’s good for us when we have multiple players that can score,” Bond said. “We’re very versatile.”
“We’re a team that needs to share the basketball and when we do that we’re OK,” Dunphy said.
The win for the Owls helped get their tournament hopes back on track, as they notched their 20th win of the season.
“I don’t think there is any question this was very important,” Dunphy said. “You need to win games. We’re in the homestretch. This is crunch time now. We need to win.”
By: Kyle Babcock
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
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