Tai Strickland's career night leads Temple past SMU, 64-57
With freshman guards Jeremiah Williams and Damian Dunn out for a second-straight game, Temple defeated SMU 64-57 Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center behind a career-high 27 points from point guard Tai Strickland.
The Owls, who improved to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in American Athletic Conference play, snapped a two-game losing streak against the Mustangs (18-6, 9-3), who came into the night trailing only nationally-ranked Houston in the conference standings.
But beyond Strickland’s scoring, the key to victory in the grudge match was Temple’s defense of Marcus Weathers, the senior forward who erupted for 27 points the last time these teams met.
On Tuesday, second-year Temple freshman forward Nick Jourdain talked about stepping up and not letting Weathers repeat his performance. Wednesday, Jourdain played off of Weathers, daring the post scorer to shoot jumpers. The freshman also conceded Weathers’ left hand to him routinely. The strategy proved successful, as Weathers’ missed shots sparked Temple fastbreaks.
Jourdain finished the night with a game-high 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Still, Weathers led SMU, which was also shorthanded and playing without the American’s leading scorer in Kendric Davis (ankle injury), in scoring at the half with 11 points.
The unsung hero of the game was junior forward Sage Tolbert III. Tolbert guarded Weathers for most of the second half, a period in which SMU’s leading scorer from the first matchup scored only four points on 2-for-6 shooting. It was his brother, Michael, that had the better half, scoring 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
“I knew if we were gonna stop him, we were gonna win,” freshman wing Jahlil White, who chipped in 11 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, said.
Shooting was bad all around for both teams. SMU shot 38.3 percent from the field, including 23.5 percent from deep. Temple wasn’t much better, shooting 30.9 percent from the field, including 14.3 percent from three.
The first half was when the absence of Williams and Dunn was felt on offense. The Owls had trouble creating shots for themselves, and SMU figured out the formula to stopping Temple’s pick-and-roll attack early on.
Strickland proved to be the shot in the arm for the Owls. The redshirt sophomore used his quickness to consistently get paint touches and shoot 8 of 14 en route to his 27 points. His layup with 53 seconds remaining put Temple ahead by 53-51, and Strickland iced the game by going a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line the rest of the way.
He shot 11 of 14 from the free-throw line Wednesday night.
“I believe anybody can step up,” Strickland said. “It was just my night.”
The Owls primarily ran their offense out of the pick-and-roll for the first half, but to no avail, as true freshman guard Hysier Miller couldn’t fully read the floor. Strickland came in, and things completely changed, primarily in the second half.
Twenty-one of Strickland’s points came in the second half, a period in which Temple entered down by six.
“If you know how to play offense, you know how to play defense,” Strickland said.
The inverse of that, combined with his experience, was the difference between Temple’s offense with him on the floor and Miller on the floor.
“[Miller] did a good job, too,” McKie said. “He just didn’t really know when to attack.”
With Strickland mentoring Miller in-game, and Dunn, Williams, and sophomore Khalif Battle talking from the bench, it helps McKie and his staff a lot.
“They’re getting to see the game from my perspective now,” McKie said.
For Temple, it’s on to Cincinnati Sunday for a rematch where the Owls will continue to try to climb the conference standings. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.