Temple looking ahead to USC after winning season opener
Temple beat Maryland Eastern Shore in Wednesday’s season opener after getting off to a slow start in the first half after shooting 41% from the field, including 18% from three-point range. In the second half, Temple turned it around with a 57% mark, including 45% from deep.
Friday, head coach Aaron McKie and guards Damian Dunn and Jeremiah Williams were made available to the media.
Since Wednesday night, McKie, Williams, and guard Khalif Battle have all described the first half of Wednesday’s game as “first-game jitters.”
McKie also cited Temple’s lack of ball movement as a problem.
“That was one of our issues in the first half, the ball was sticking,” McKie said Friday. “We only kept it on one side.”
The Owls are taking Wednesday’s game as a learning experience and moving on to Saturday’s matchup with the Trojans.
“The main key to our success, offensively, is going to be playing together and sharing the ball,” Williams said.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s home game against USC, Temple isn’t looking at the Trojans’ Elite Eight run in last season’s NCAA Tournament. They’re looking at the roster the Trojans have now.
“We’re going to approach it the same way we approach every other game,” Dunn said.
McKie pointed out three of USC’s stars: transfer junior guard Boogie Ellis, junior center Isaiah Mobley, and senior guard Drew Peterson.
“They all have their specialties,” McKie said. “[Mobley] can play inside and out… [Ellis] is bloodthirsty to score. Peterson is a big wing who can shoot.”
The Owls are familiar with Ellis, as he played for American Athletic Conference rival Memphis from 2019 up until his transfer to USC in April.
“It’s going to be a good test for us,” McKie said.
A player the Owls will be looking to for production is guard Tai Strickland.
With Williams, Dunn, and Battle all getting starting nods Wednesday, Strickland was tasked with manning the second unit. The redshirt sophomore finished the game with 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting and a 2-for-3 mark at the free throw line.
“Tai has been a big part of our team… pushing us every day,” said Dunn.
McKie said Strickland has “worked really hard throughout the summer.”
“He’s been really good for us on the defensive end,” McKie added.
The Trojans scored 89 points in their season-opening win over Cal State-Northridge Tuesday, with Ellis’ game-high 20 points leading the way.
“We’re going to need everyone on the floor to help,” McKie said. “Everybody is going to have to be good and take on that challenge on the defensive end.”
Rebounding will also be a focus for McKie, as his team gave up 11 offensive rebounds to Maryland Eastern Shore Wednesday. USC came down with 12 of those Tuesday.
“You can do everything right on a defensive possession,” McKie said. “But if you don’t rebound the ball, you’re wrong.”
The Hawks did a good job of showcasing that Wednesday, tallying 10 second-chance points.
Something to keep an eye on for Saturday will be the usage of Temple’s bigs. With Maryland Eastern Shore going small and spreading the floor out, junior center Jake Forrester only logged 11 minutes Wednesday.
The Trojans, however, are not the small team the Hawks were.
“They’ve got some big guys down there,” McKie said. “We want to match them nose-for-nose with that.”
McKie told the media last week that freshman transfer center Emmanuel Okpomo from Wake Forest is still working his way back into shape. With McKie only playing nine guys on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see if Okpomo replaces Nick Jourdain as Forrester’s primary substitution in Saturday’s matchup against the Trojans.