Uncasville, Conn. -- At Tuesday's media availability, Temple head coach Adam Fisher was asked about his squad’s upcoming matchup against Florida State in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. The Seminoles’ length posed a threat to the Owls, but Temple’s second-year head coach remained confident in his team's ability.
It took just a minute for that to be thrown out of the window. Freshman 6-foot-8 forward Babatunde Durodola picked up two fouls less than 60 seconds into the game, thrusting fellow 6-8 forward Elijah Gray off of the bench in an increased role.
“I don't think I'd have thought we'd have Baba pick up two fouls in 49 seconds to start the game, but you got to adjust,” Fisher said. “This team is built for that. We have a deep team, we've got to be prepared. You don't go into a game probably thinking of starters going to get two fouls in the first minute, but we have to adjust. I thought our guys did a good job.”
The Fordham transfer didn’t fare much better, racking up four fouls for Temple in his 20 minutes of play. Freshman Dillon Battie, another 6-8 forward, also had three fouls as Florida State ripped 40 points in the paint.
The result? A 78-69 loss for Temple, which fell to 3-2 ahead of Saturday’s game against UMass in their second and final contest of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. On paper, this current edition of the Owls would seem like a deeper and more talented team than Fisher’s first, but Temple has lost its last two games after winning its first three, just as it did a year ago.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored 20 points, reaching the 20-point mark for the fifth time in as many games this season. Zion Stanford added 15 points and Steve Settle 14, but Temple shot just 39.3% from the floor, 5 of 21 from three-point range and just 20 of 32 from the free-throw line. The Seminoles (5-1) outrebounded the Owls, 39-34, scored 16 second-chance points and outscored the Owls by 15-6 on fast break points.
“We had to keep them off that glass. They're physical, they're a strong team,” Fisher said. “So rebounding and having big guys crash was a main priority for us.”
Temple looked to gain the advantage straight from the jump and raced out to a 9-2 lead. The Owls led again by seven at 21-14 after a Stanford three with 9:21 left in the first half, but Florida State used a 16-5 run, capped by threes from reserves Jerry Deng and AJ Swinton, to take a 30-26 lead. Temple, which endured two three-minute scoring droughts in the first half, scored just seven points from there and trailed 39-33 at halftime.
Missed shots from the charity stripe were a trend all game. Temple missed six shots from the line in the first 20 minutes to squander any chance of extending the lead.
“I'm confident in our guys,” Fisher said. “I think we'll get up to the foul line. We'll knock down shots and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Trenton Catholic graduate Jamir Watkins, a 6-7 forward, led three Florida State players in double-figure scoring with 19 points, 10 of which came at the foul line. Malique Ewin, a 6-11, 230-pound forward, added 15 points and nine rebounds, and guard Chandler Jackson chipped in 10 points. Taylor Bol Bowen, a 6-10 forward, added seven points, three rebounds and three blocks.
“I think it's hard to simulate what you're going to see against them in practice because of their length and their size,” said Fisher, whose team committed 14 turnovers, a little more than four than what Temple had averaged on the season prior to Friday. “I thought we did a pretty good job. There's some spurts where they kind of get you, and then they get out and transition and go. For the most part, we did a pretty good job of trying to take care of the basketball.”
Ewin scored on a dunk and a layup to get Florida State going in the second half and had eight of the Seminoles’ first 10 points as Florida State took a double digit lead and led by as many as 15 when Watkins scored on a layup with 12:53 left to play. Temple cut the Seminoles’ lead to six twice but got no closer the rest of the way.
A small bright spot for the Owls was the play of guard Jameel Brown off the bench. The Penn State transfer scored eight points on 2 of 5 shooting from three and was the team’s leading rebounder with six on the night.
“[Jameel’s] got a high basketball IQ,” Fisher said. “He provided us with some gaps. If you look tonight, he rebounded, that's the one thing we've asked. If you rebound on this team, you're gonna get more minutes. If you can defend on this team, you’re gonna get more minutes.”
Temple will have a chance to bounce back Saturday when it takes on former Atlantic-10 rival UMass (1-3) at 5 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Florida State's a really great team,” Fisher said. “I felt we battled in spurts. We've got to clean up some of our details, but we just got to continue to keep getting better. That's been our motto every day since we started with this group."
Watch Friday night's postgame press conference with Adam Fisher here.
