Tall order: Memphis' size too much in Owls' 78-64 loss to Tigers

Aaron McKie’s most consistent request this season has been for his Temple team to put together complete 40-minute games.

On Thursday night, with a chance to land a big road win and grab third place in the American Athletic Conference standings, the Owls struggled to do that and lost 78-64 at Memphis.

Temple (15-10 overall, 8-6 AAC) trailed by just a point at halftime but fell behind by 10 midway through the second half and trailed by as many as 19 at one point. Memphis’ size was too much for the Owls, as freshman Jalen Duren’s game-high 22 points and DeAndre Williams’ 19 paced the Tigers, who improved to 16-9 overall and 10-5 in conference play.

Duren’s outburst

Temple had no answer for the true freshman center and No. 1 recruit from the 2021 class.

Freshman center Emmanuel Okpomo re-entered the Temple rotation Thursday, subbing in for redshirt sophomore center Arashma Parks after 119 seconds of play. Entering the game, Temple’s top defensive task was containing Duren, a Sharon Hill native who played at Roman Catholic High School before transferring to Florida’s Montverde Academy.

Parks, the least mobile big man on Temple’s roster, looked physically outmatched to start the game, prompting McKie to take him out.

“We wanted to get those guys in and out,” McKie said. “Keep a body on Duren.”

Okpomo helped, but not too much, as he picked up three fouls and subbed out at the 6:29 mark of the first half. Duren went into halftime with a game-high 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting, while also going 7-for-7 from the free throw line. His 22 points tired his career high.

“[Okpomo] got his legs under him as the game progressed and I thought he did a pretty good job out there,” McKie said.

Despite Duren’s success, the Tigers were 11-for-25 as a team and trailed for most of the half. After entering the second media timeout of the period, Temple led 17-15. The Owls followed that up with a 8-2 run to build an eight-point lead at 25-17.

Memphis entered the game averaging 16 turnovers per game., and the Tigers had eight in the first half, resulting in eight Temple points, and finished with 15.

Temple held on to the lead until Memphis went on a small 6-0 run that gave the Tigers a 33-32 lead with 28 seconds left in the half, a score that remained the same going into the break.

Turning point

Temple went cold to start the second half, and Memphis came to life. Guard Landers Nolley II scored all 12 of his points in the second half, forward DeAndre Williams scored 11 of his 19 total points after halftime, and guard Tyler Harris scored all of his nine points in the period.

“Their interior game just caused a chain reaction for us,” McKie said. “Duren was demanding so much attention.”

Freshman point guard Jeremiah Williams returned to action for Temple after missing the last three games with a shoulder injury, coming off the bench for reigning AAC Conference Player of the Week, redshirt sophomore guard Tai Strickland. Williams scored four points in 17 minutes of play.

Temple redshirt freshman guard Damian Dunn had a tough night, scoring just four points on 1-for-7 shooting. Dunn couldn’t find a rhythm from the start of the game. Once Memphis took off in the second half, making 9 of its first 11 shots, things spiraled downhill and Dunn fouled out with 7:20 remaining.

The Owls were led by freshmen Jahlil White and Hysier Miller, who scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. White tied a career-high at 17, while Miller’s 16 marked a career high.

“[White and Miller] gave us some really good minutes,” McKie said. “We want to be able to play seven, eight guys at least.”

What changed

Temple did a good job of keeping Memphis off the perimeter early on, holding Memphis to 0-for-4 shooting from three. However, as Duren continued to dominate the paint, it cleared the way for the Tigers to shoot 5-for-11 from deep in the second half.

On the other side, Temple shot 26.9 percent as a team from deep, leading to Memphis pulling away.

Shooting in general haunted Temple, as the Owls shot 39.6 percent from the field and 68.2 percent from the free-throw line.

The Owls also had 11 turnovers to their 11 assists, effectively canceling out possessions and any chance at building momentum. Temple made 21 field goals all night, meaning that assisted shots came at a premium. Playing isolation basketball did nothing for the Owls but disrupt the flow of the offense.

Temple will look to rebound Sunday at the Liacouras Center as the Owls look to avoid a season sweep at the hands of Tulane.