UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Two days after an overtime loss to Vanderbilt dropped Temple to 1-2 and with more questions than answers at this early juncture of the season, the Owls were faced with the task of bouncing back in a crucial game against a physical 3-0 Rutgers team at Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena Friday night.
The Owls did just that.
And fittingly enough, Khalif Battle was a major factor in Temple’s 72-66 win over Rutgers.
Coming off a night where he only played 19 minutes with just two made free throws in the loss to Vanderbilt and drew the ire of his head coach, Battle logged 31 minutes off the bench against Rutgers (3-1) and finished with a game-high 24 points. Battle shot 8 of 17 from the floor, 3 of 10 from three-point range and 5 of 6 from the free throw line en route to being named the Hall of Fame Showcase’s MVP.
In the Vanderbilt loss, Battle appeared noticeably upset with his playing time and at one point sat alone on the bench while the rest of the team huddled. When asked about Battle after Tuesday night’s game, Temple head coach Aaron McKie simply said, “I just played the guys who I felt wanted to be out there.”
Friday night was a different story for McKie and Battle, as they appeared to have put what happened Tuesday night in the past.
“From the outside, it looks bad,” Battle said, “but I love the guys on the team, I love my coaching staff, and they love me. I should have been more mature about the situation, and you know that won’t happen again, and I think I responded tonight. I think that’s in the past, and we’re just going to leave it there.”
Temple led by as many as 19 points in the first half on a three from sophomore forward Zach Hicks, who finished with 10 points. The Owls took a 38-23 lead into halftime before Rutgers began to cut the deficit inside double digits not long after the 10-minute mark of the second half.
A late three-pointer with 1:38 to go from Battle put Temple up by 12 at 67-55 before a late push by Rutgers fell short.
Jamille Reynolds showed once again that he might be the true difference-maker in the post that the Owls have been missing in about a decade. The 6-foot-11, 280-pound UCF transfer put up 17 points, 11 of which came in the second half, and nine rebounds, while also holding his own against one of the better interior players in the nation in Clifford Omoruyi on the defensive end.
While Omoruyi collected 21 points and 11 rebounds on the night, Reynolds still played him hard and made him uncomfortable throughout the game.
“I thought I played pretty good,” Reynolds said. “But there’s always room for improvement. … I just played hard.”
Battle and Reynolds had help, and it was especially important on a night when Damian Dunn, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 29.7 points per game, scored just seven points on 1 of 8 shooting and committed eight turnovers. Sophomore point guard Hysier Miller played arguably the best game of his young career, posting his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists.
While the win was an important one for Temple, McKie knows the Owls have to be more consistent moving forward and can’t play down to their opponents going forward like they did against Vanderbilt and Wagner in the season opener.
“I think it’s more about us,” McKie said. “If we come out and do what we are supposed to offensively and defensively, I’m fine with that. But we have these moments. Sometimes it's out of sorts offensively, and sometimes it’s out of sorts defensively.”
Rutgers played without two of its injured starters against the Owls in fifth-year guard Caleb McConnell and senior guard Paul Mulcahy, and it showed through its shooting struggles. The Scarlet Knights shot an abysmal 1 of 16 from three-point range, missed 10 free throws on 19 of 29 shooting from the foul line, and scored 12 points below their early season average.
Bench imbalance
Temple finished the game with 26 bench points, with 24 of them coming from Battle. Meanwhile, Rutgers’ only two bench points came from Jalen Miller.
Foul problems persist
While Temple left with the win, the Owls struggled again when it came to foul trouble, out-fouling the Scarlet Knights, 25-18, and allowing Rutgers to get into the double bonus in both halves.
Battle finished with four fouls, and Dunn fouled out for the first time this season, albeit late in the game with 37 seconds left.
Had Rutgers been better from the foul line Friday night, foul trouble could have cost Temple the game.
Jahlil White continues to struggle
Coming off a season in which he was named the Big 5 Rookie of the Year, sophomore guard Jahlil White hadn’t found any offensive rhythm in the Owls’ first three games, and Friday night was no different. The 6-7 Wildwood Catholic High School product went scoreless in 24 minutes, although he did register four rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal.
Through four games, White has shot just 1 of 13 from the field, scored four points and fouled out twice.
Up next
Temple will spend Friday night in Connecticut and then travel down to Brooklyn for the Empire Classic to take on a 4-0 St. John's team Monday at the Barclays Center. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.