Banged-up Owls fall to Tulane in overtime, 92-83

With only nine scholarship players available Saturday, Temple lost at Tulane for the first time in 26 years, 92-83 in overtime.

The Owls, now 13-9 overall and 6-5 in American Athletic Conference play, came into the week without two of their opening night starters in sophomore shooting guard and leading scorer Khalif Battle, who sustained a season-ending foot injury in early December, and junior center Jake Forrester, who hasn’t played since mid-January.

And after Jeremiah Williams (shoulder) and Damian Dunn (ankle) sustained injuries in Monday night’s loss at USF, Temple was very much shorthanded Saturday at Tulane but still had a chance to win. The Owls, in fact, led by three at 71-68 with 10 seconds to go after Tai Strickland hit a pair of free throws, but Temple let Jaylen Forbes get loose for a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds left in regulation that sent the game to overtime.

Forbes, who scored a game-high 25 points, then did more damage in the extra period, hitting the go-ahead three with 1:49 left in overtime. The Green Wave outscored the Owls 21-12 after regulation, hit all five of their shots from the field, and only missed twice from the foul line.

Freshmen Hysier Miller and Quincy Ademokoya replaced Williams and Dunn in Saturday’s starting lineup.

“We were preparing as if [Williams and Dunn] weren’t going to play,” head coach Aaron McKe said. “I thought [Miller and Ademokoya] did a pretty good job for us.”

Freshman Zach Hicks scored a team-high 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting (including 5 of 11 from three-point range) off the bench, and Ademokoya scored a career-high 15 points, with four of his five made shots coming from three-point range. Miller posted career-highs in points (nine), assists (eight) and minutes (40.)

Ball movement became an instant focus of Temple’s early on. The Owls rotated the ball around the perimeter and assisted on five of their first six field goals of the game, including 4 of 6 from three. However, Temple had several passes deflected, but only one resulted in a turnover that resulted in a layup for the Green Wave.

The committee of Miller, Strickland, and freshman swingman Jahlil White combined for 17 assists, posting a 60.7 percent assist rate.

Ademokoya was the main beneficiary of the first-half passing, scoring 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 6 from deep. The freshman was hot and cold however, shooting 1-for-5 in the second half, with all of his shots coming from beyond the arc.

Despite shooting 41.2 percent as a team, offense wasn’t Temple’s problem. The Owls scored 82 points without their starting backcourt. The defense of Williams is what Temple missed most.

Tulane shot 48.3 percent as a team, including 9-for-18 from deep.

“It was a winnable game,” McKie said. “It was the little things that we didn’t do early on in the game that helped them out.”

Temple fouled Tulane 24 times, and the Green Wave capitalized on the Owls’ undisciplined play, shooting 24 for 30 from the charity stripe. Temple, however, continued to struggle in that area, shooting 13 for 20.

Tulane started four guards and one forward, with the guards combining for 68 points, 3.2 more than Temple’s season average in points allowed per game.

“That’s what those guys do,” McKie said. “They’re shot makers.”

Junior forward Sage Tolbert started the second half in place of sophomore center Arashma Parks to slow down Tulane’s perimeter attack. The Green Wave only shot 37.9 percent from the field in the second half, but they hit timely threes, including the one of course from Forbes that sent the game to overtime.

On that play, Hicks was late recovering on a trap and gave Forbes the open look on the right wing.

“There was a lack of communication on that I guess,” McKie said. “The goal was no threes. Force those guys to drive to the basket.”

In overtime, freshman guard Jadan Coleman buried both of his threes and Temple’s chances at winning the game.

Temple has now dropped two in a row to conference opponents, losing its spot in a fourth-place tie in the American. The Owls will look to bounce back Wednesday at home in a rematch with SMU. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.

Putbacks: The injury bug has even hit Temple's coaching staff, as assistant Chris Clark suffered a torn Achilles injury while practicing with the team last week. ... Saturday's loss was Temple's first overtime setback since a Jan. 13, 2018 loss to Memphis.