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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Temple Surges Late, Pulls Away Against Drexel in City-6 Showdown

By Joshua Abrams. Photos: Zack Beavers, 11/28/22, 9:45PM EST

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Photos/Videos: Zack Beavers & Josh Abrams

Story by: Josh Abrams (@jabrams1998)

PHILADELPHIA – It was a gloomy and rainy day in and around the North Philly area but Khalif Battle, Hysier Miller and company made sure to give Temple fans a reason to smile on Sunday afternoon, as the Owls used a 15-0 run late in the second half to help fend off the Drexel Dragons by a score of 73-61.

The duo of guards for Temple led all scorers from both teams with 25 and 20 points, respectively. Battle knocked down five threes on nine attempts, helping him score 24 or more points for the third time in his last four games. Safe to say; it’s been a very welcoming sight for Owls head coach Aaron McKie.

“Khalif is just being Khalif,” the fourth year Temple HC said. “He’s making shots and scoring for us. (Recently) he’s taking on the challenge of playing some of the better offensive players on the opposing team, especially with Jahlil (White) being out because that’s normally his role.”

Miller’s season-high 20 points could not have been scored more efficiently. The sophomore guard from Neumann-Goretti missed just one of his eight shot attempts, knocked down all three of his three pointers and also added seven assists to lead both squads.

The early stages of the game did not nearly indicate there would be any 20-point scorers on the day; the scoreboard showed a measly 2-2 tie at the under-16 media timeout and a slightly better but still underwhelming 14-9 tally with 11:12 remaining in the first half. Being the consistent offensive leader of the team, Battle knows it’s something that can’t keep up for long.

“I think we've got to have better starts,” the sophomore guard said. “We have to have a full 40 minutes; sometimes we have really great starts and teeter off, and other times we have bad starts and then pick it up. We can take it one half at a time but (either way) we’re going to watch film, learn from it and get better from it.” 

Both teams began to find their groove offensively midway through the first half and throughout its latter stages. Temple led by as much as 10 after Zach Hicks drained a three with 4:46 showing in the opening frame but the trio of Amari Williams, Lamar Oden Jr. and Justin Moore (Archbishop Wood, class of 2022) slowly helped the Dragons creep back into it and trim their deficit down to four at halftime, 35-31.


Temple sophomore Hysier Miller recorded a season high of 20 points for the Owls vs. Drexel - PSD Photo by Zack Beavers

Temple vs. Drexel Highlights by Josh Abrams:

Williams and Moore led the offensive attack all game for Drexel, as they finished with 18 and 14 points, respectively. The duo, along with a timely three from Coletrane Washington, were the driving force behind giving the Dragons a one-point lead approaching the under-eight media timeout in the second half. To make matters worse for Temple, Owls big man Jamille Reynolds went down with a knee injury a minute before after colliding with a Drexel player going for a loose ball.

That meant more minutes and a major role change for Nick Jourdain, who ultimately came in and provided a spark on both sides of the ball before and after Reynolds’ departure.

“I thought he really gave us a shot in the arm,” Aaron McKie said. “He did a really good job of fronting their big guy (Amari) Williams and just trying to take them away from what they were trying to do offensively. He was able to pressure them when (Williams) popped out to run the offense.”

Continued McKie: “For us, when we get into our ball screen stuff, which we try to do a lot of, (Nick) was really good at rolling out really hard and fast to the rim and so (Drexel) had to react to that and it opened up some lanes and shots for our perimeter shooters."

Post Game Interview with Temple's Khalif Battle & Hysier Miller - Video by Josh Abrams

Post Game interview with Temple Head Coach Aaron McKie - Video by Josh Abrams

Post Game Interview with Drexel Head Coach Zach Spiker - Video by Josh Abrams

Temple used Jourdain’s energy to help go on a scorching 15-0 run from around the 7:30 mark to around 75 seconds remaining in the second half. He didn’t score a basket during that stretch, but he grabbed a couple rebounds and provided the defensive play of the game when he leaped up and emphatically blocked Justin Moore’s layup attempt with Temple continuing to extend their lead.

Moore’s three with 1:15 left on the clock ended the six-and-a-half minute scoring drought for the Dragons, who fall to 3-4 on the still-very-young season while Temple improved to the same record.

“Temple gave it to us early in the first half but I thought we responded (well),” said seventh-year Drexel head coach Zach Spiker. “We came out of the half and executed, built (ourselves) to a lead, we were plus-one with about seven minutes to play. And then a combination of things probably came into play; fatigue, maybe a defensive breakdown, maybe an offensive breakdown and then the margin gets a little bigger and snowballs from there.”

Spiker added: “Temple is a very good defensive team; they have great length and athleticism and we kind of painted ourselves into a corner there late in the game.”

Drexel drops their third consecutive game after starting off with wins over Old Dominion, UT Arlington and Arcadia. It’s to the drawing board for Spiker and crew as they prepare for a “really, really good Lafayette team” coming to Philly on Wednesday in a Colonial/Patriot crossover.

Temple will stay in the city as well but will head to the Palestra the same day to take on longtime North Philly rival, La Salle, in a classic Big-5 matchup. As if Explorers-Owls clashes can’t get any more significant, the 2022-23 version will feature the mentor vs. his mentee.

Fran Dunphy faces off against Aaron McKie, who spent five seasons as an assistant coach for Dunphy at Temple before eventually being promoted to head coach in 2019. Dunphy recently took the La Salle job and is in his first year there as head coach.

When asked what it will be like to go against the man he learned his coaching ways from, McKie provided: “It’s gonna be great. It’s going to be a Big-5 battle at the Palestra, and you know the fanbases always get excited about that. I’m gonna have to give some of the guys (who aren’t from around here) a history lesson on the Big-5 to get them to understand how electric that environment can be. I think it’s pretty cool; the guy that got me involved in the college game. I’m coaching here and he’s at La Salle and I get an opportunity to compete and coach against him. It should be fun.”