By: Cole Nowak
PHILADELPHIA- The Temple Owls (11-7, 4-3 American) four-game win streak came to a halt on the road against SMU on Saturday afternoon, after a valiant comeback 61-58 victory against Cincinnati.
In the 69-61 loss, Damian Dunn led the Owls with 16 points, but Marcus Weathers led all scorers with 27 points for SMU. Freshman guard Jahlil White also recorded a career-high 11 rebounds for the Owls.
Temple Tops Cincy:
Coming into Tuesday’s contest, Temple was coming off a 13-day layoff thanks to COVID related cancelations with Wichita State and South Florida. This was a big test for the Owls who had won three straight heading into the contest but had yet to beat a premiere AAC opponent thus far.
The Owls got off to a slow start offensively feeling the full affect the layoff only scoring 25 first half points. Jeremiah Williams was the lone bright spot in the first half for the Owls putting in eight points on an efficient 75 percent clip from field.
“You could see the effect of us being out for 13 days, close to two weeks. Guys were just gassed early in the game. In the first half, we did some very uncharacteristic things, especially turn the ball over,” said Temple head coach Aaron McKie.
Cincinnati did not set the world on fire themselves, struggling to find rhythm early. As the half progressed, Cincinnati started to connect from three-point range to stretch their lead heading into the half. The Bearcats were led by David Dejulius, Jeremiah Davenport, and Mason Madsen who had 24 of 37 first half Bearcat points.
Reporter Package by Cole Nowak - including post game interviews with Temple head coach Aaron Mckie and redshirt freshman guard Damian Dunn:
The second half yielded different results. At the outset, it looked a lot like the same. With 17:36, the Owls trailed by their largest deficit of 14 points. The Owls would close in from there.
The Owls were able to eliminate Cincinnati’s biggest strength of three-point shooting, holding them to 1-14 in the second half, which opened the door for a Temple comeback. Damian Dunn found his game in the second half, scoring 13 points down the stretch to add to his five first half points to give him 18 on the day.
Dunn’s biggest basket would come with 36 seconds to go. Williams fed Dunn a great ball on an inbound pass to take advantage of the mismatch in the post. Dunn would do the rest and nail a turnaround jumper while being fouled. He would convert the and-1 to put the Owls up 60-58.
“Me and J-Will just connected non-verbally, we made eye contact just telling him to throw the ball up. I know I would be able to get it and make a play,” said Dunn.
Cincinnati would miss on their next possession and foul redshirt sophomore guard Tai Strickland with 14 second left. Strickland would go 1-2 from the line to extend the Owls lead by three. The Owls would play stringy defense and force Cincinnati to fire a final corner three, which would rim out for the Bearcats to finish the game 61-58 in the Owls favor.
Looking Ahead:
Temple will continue conference play on the road, playing ECU on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Owls will return home on Saturday (Feb. 5) to host Tulsa at 2 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.