Missed free throws haunt Temple in 76-71 loss to USC
Temple missed 13 free throws, including a big one by Khalif Battle with 9.9 seconds left in the game, en route to a 76-71 loss to USC Saturday night at the Liacouras Center.
The Owls, who dropped to 1-1 with the loss, trailed by as many as 23 points early in the second half before getting to within three points at 74-71. That was the juncture where Battle, who led Temple with a game-high 26 points, missed the first of his two attempts from the free-throw line with a chance to get the Owls within two.
Instead, he missed the first and made the second, then USC’s Drew Peterson hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to close out the game for the Trojans.
The Owls, like they did in Wednesday night’s season-opening win over Maryland Eastern Shore, got off to a slow start. And for the second game in a row, that changed coming out of the half.
But this time, Temple fell short on a night when both teams exchanged their own respective 13-0 runs. The Trojans used theirs to take control of the game in the first half, and the Owls used theirs to climb back into the game in the second half.
When Battle asked what Temple can do to prevent future losses like this, his answer was simple.
“Faster starts,” Battle said. “I’m going to hold myself accountable.”
After a foul-filled first half, Battle took his own advice and came out firing. After going 1-for-5 from deep in the first, Battle sank three of his four second half threes, almost single-handedly carrying the Owls with 19 second-half points.
Battle wasn’t the only factor though.
The free throw struggles continued, but the Owls came out of halftime noticeably more aggressive, focusing on getting to the rim and using that penetration to create looks on the perimeter.
After shooting 1-for-10 from three in the first half, the Owls converted 58% (7-for-12) in the second.
Temple started the game with a steal out of the screen and roll. On a high ball screen, forward Sage Tolbert came down from the wing to steal a post entry pass while Jake Forrester was still recovering. They stayed in that defense all night but didn’t properly execute it until the second half.
“I love the aggression,” third-year head coach Aaron McKie said, “but we got a little undisciplined.”
Between McKie’s hedge-and-recover defense and Temple’s eight turnovers, USC ended the first half with 28 points in the paint and 12 fast break points.
The Owls also could not get things going in the halfcourt, shooting just 31% from the field as opposed to USC’s 60% in the first half.
Battle, Temple’s main source of scoring, was 3-for-8. The backcourt of Battle, Damian Dunn, and Jeremiah Williams all had two fouls early on and ended up sitting for more time than McKie would have liked.
The team was whistled for 15 first-half fouls, one more than it tallied all of Wednesday night.
When asked about the officiating, Battle said, “It’s never the officials’ fault. They called the game how they saw it.”
Defensively, the Owls found themselves running a lot in transition or watching the ball easily get into the painted area.
USC didn’t even bother looking for many threes, but the Trojans did go 2-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The start of the second half was a different story for Temple, and both Battle and forward Nick Jourdain pointed to the same reason.
“We realized that we could really compete with them,” Jourdain said.
A 9-0 run from Battle and freshman Zach Hicks forced USC head coach Andy Enfield to call a timeout with 13:48 remaining and his team’s lead cut to 14.
Even out of the timeout, the Trojans found themselves in the midst of a 5:16 scoring drought as the Owls cut the lead to 10 on a Battle breakaway dunk. Battle followed that up with a deep three to cut the deficit to seven and force another Enfield timeout.
Spearheaded by Battle’s scoring and Jourdain’s defense, Temple outscored USC 29 to 15 from the start of the half to the 8:00 mark.
From then on, Temple kept flirting with five- and six-point deficits.
Hicks hit a big three to cut the deficit to four with 50.5 seconds left in regulation That was followed by a Peterson miss on the other end and the split trip from the free throw line from Battle to cut it to three.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN MOVING FORWARD?
If Temple wants to take a glass-half-full approach to looking at Saturday’s loss, it can say it almost came back from a 23-point deficit against a program that went to the Elite Eight last March and returned several key pieces from that team with the exception of Evan Mobley and Tahj Eaddy, although Battle said he “didn’t even know” USC advanced to the Elite Eight.
The glass-half-empty view would of course have the Owls lamenting the 13 free throws they missed.They missed more than half of them (7 of 15) in the second half, while the Trojans hit 10 of 12.
“We came out slow, and I think because this is one of our big matchups this year,” Battle explained. “And it’s early. A lot of guys had to be put into the fire. I think when they found out that, not to disrespect (USC), but we’re just as good as anybody, I believe that we can fight against anybody. So I think when the team figured that out, that’s when the fight came.
“But I think we just lost the game on the free throw line.”
STAT STUFF
On a night when no Temple player other than Battle hit double-digit scoring, Jourdain gave the Owls plenty in 21 minutes. The 6-foot-9 second-year freshman registered nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. He should have been credited with a third, but that one was given instead to Hicks on the stat sheet. … Although it might not have seemed like it during certain stretches of the game, Temple outrebounded USC Saturday night, 44-39, and the Owls swiped 16 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points compared to the Trojans’ nine. … Wake Forest transfer Emmanuel Okpomo scored his first points in a Temple uniform and recorded three rebounds, all on the offensive glass, in six minutes. ... Chevez Goodwin, a 6-9, 225-pound redshirt senior forward, led USC with 19 points on a night when Temple held 6-10 forward Isaiah Mobley (nine points on 4 of 10 shooting) and guard Boogie Ellis (11 points on 2 of 8 shooting) to pedestrian numbers.
WHAT’S NEXT
The next time Temple will be in action will be the first game of the Charleston Classic this Thursday when the Owls play Clemson, a team Battle says the Owls “will be ready for.” The game will be televised on ESPN2 and will tip off around 4 or 4:30 p.m. The Tigers are 2-0 with wins over Presbyterian and Wofford and will host Bryant Monday before playing the Owls three days later.