Temple looking to position itself for a Big Five title
Temple and Saint Joseph’s will play for the 163rd time Saturday. With wins for the Owls (6-3 overall, 2-0 in the Big 5) over Penn and La Salle already, a victory at Hagan Arena would virtually set up a Big Five championship game at Villanova on Dec 29.
After a team film session Friday, third-year head coach Aaron McKie and junior center Jake Forrester spoke to the media.
“We’re just focused on St. Joe’s,” Forrester said about the Big Five schedule. “We’ve talked about getting this win and transitioning focus on Villanova. But, it’s definitely big.”
Forrester’s primary matchup Saturday will be against senior transfer forward Ejike Obinna. The 6-foot 10-inch Obinna is averaging 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 64.5 percent shooting this season, all career highs for the Vanderbilt transfer.
“It’s going to be a good matchup for sure,” Forrester said. “We have to deny him getting to his right hand.”
On the offensive side, Forrester is looking to use his advantages in speed and athleticism on the 245-pounder.
“Run the floor on him,” Forrester said. “We have a lot of guys behind me that, if I get tired, can come in and do the same amount of running.”
It will take a group effort from Forrester, junior forward Sage Tolbert III, and freshman forwards Nick Jourdain and Jahlil White to keep Obinna and the Hawks (5-4 overall, 1-1 Big 5) off the glass. They also wouldn’t mind some help from sophomore guard Tai Strickland, who grabbed seven rebounds in Tuesday’s win at Vanderbilt, Strickland’s first game back from a lower-body injury.
‘He’s just in the right place at the right time,” Forrester said. “We need all the rebounds he can get.”
The status of Forrester’s backup, freshman transfer Emmanuel Okpomo, is still unknown at the moment.
“We’re still doing some testing on him,” McKie said. “We’re not exactly sure what it is.”
In other injury news, the idea of labeling sophomore shooting guard Khalif Battle as a medical redshirt was proposed and it appears as though Temple has not ruled out exploring that option.
“We’re working with compliance to see what we can get done with that,” McKie said.
Battle had been starting at the small forward for Temple before breaking the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. That spot has now become a competition between White, Jourdain, and freshman wings Zach Hicks and Quincy Ademokoya. Ademokoya has started Temple’s last two games with White serving as his backup. Hicks’ minutes, however, have been on the decline and White has been playing in the closing lineup.
“For me, it’s more of a feel thing,” McKie said. “They all have to be ready.”
The common theme for what McKie has wanted from that position this season is defense. Earlier in the season, he pointed out Hicks being a good shooter who is catching up on defense and described White as the opposite.
Saturday, those guys will have to bring their defense fully packed to handle the wing tandem of sophomore Jordan Hall and senior Taylor Funk. Hall is averaging 16.3 points per game this season on 41.7 percent shooting. Temple just played a shorter version of Hall Tuesday in Scotty Pippen Jr.. Hall can score, but he’s inefficient, something Temple has to use to its advantage.
However, Hall is the better passer, averaging just under six assists per game and scored 33 points in the Hawks’ win over Penn Wednesday night.
Funk is a different story. The Lancaster native is averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 47.8 percent shooting.
“Those guys are starting to emerge,” McKie said. “They’re putting it together and starting to connect more”