Temple plagued by turnovers in 63-60 loss to Cincinnati
With 13 seconds on the clock, down three coming out of a timeout, Temple had a chance to tie the game, potentially extending a comeback opportunity by forcing extra basketball.
Instead, the ball traded hands beyond the three-point line, suffocated by Cincinnati’s defense, leading to what felt like a game-ending turnover. Despite a second-half surge that made the game competitive late, Temple’s inexperienced roster couldn’t close out a win, falling to a visiting Cincinnati team 63-60 Thursday night.
“We had a play set up, but they took us out of it a little bit,” head coach Aaron McKie said postgame. “We didn’t get it to the side we wanted to, but we could have run it on the other side as well. You can run it on both sides, but it didn’t happen and we lost control of the ball.”
After multiple missed free throws by Cincinnati down the stretch, Khalif Battle had a chance to redeem himself on a leaning deep 3-point attempt through three defenders that would have sent the game to overtime, but his shot came up just short.
Temple’s sixth conference loss of the season came at the hands of a Cincinnati squad that hadn’t played a game since Jan. 10. The Bearcats were on pause for 25 days due to a Tier 1 positive COVID test and ensuing contact tracing. Coming into Thursday’s matchup, they had just one other conference win, which came against SMU.
When the game tipped off, the Bearcats started a walk-on in sophomore forward Rob Banks and reserve freshman guard Mike Saunders Jr., who came into the contest averaging 1.6 points per game.
Temple came out flat offensively, turned the ball over too much and couldn’t get good looks at the hoop, but they never let the game slip too far out of reach.
After vowing to play a brand of unselfish basketball following a 17-point loss against Tulane, the Owls responded with 19 turnovers and 13 total team assists. Temple shot itself in the foot early with live ball turnovers but hung around on the scoreboard thanks to a concerted defensive effort.
“It’s mainly on me being the point guard,” freshman guard Jeremiah Williams said. “I had a couple of silly mistakes, so [it will come down to] just watching film and watching what we can do better. It’s just mainly me needing to help put us into better positions.”
The Owls looked like a completely different team coming out of the half, getting in every passing lane and finding different ways to score rather than relying on one person. The freshmen backcourt tandem of Williams and Damian Dunn led the way in the scoring column for the Owls with 13 and 16 apiece.
Battle added 10 points but struggled to find any kind of rhythm offensively. He connected on 2-of-8 attempts from deep but still managed to bring down six rebounds and dish three assists.
Foul trouble continues to be a hindrance for Jake Forrester, who picked up his fourth with more than 15 minutes remaining in the game. The junior forward didn’t foul out but wasn’t needed on the floor late in the game as McKie looked toward a pure-shooting lineup to try to cut the deficit.
“This is something we’ve been dealing with [Forrester] him since the beginning of the season,” McKie said. “We just tell him to guard without fouling and he’s got to get past that.”
His absence opened up the interior allowing for a lot more dribble-penetration from Cincinnati’s guards.
Junior guard and Michigan transfer David DeJulius led the way for the Bearcats with 26 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the field and four 3s. Keith Williams also chipped in 15, complemented by 14 points from Jeremiah Davenport.
Temple edged them out on the boards, 38-37, and shot a better percentage from the field but was plagued by incessant turnovers leading to wasted possessions.
The Owls will have a quick turnaround time, heading to Kansas for its first look at Wichita State on Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPNU.
Front page photo courtesy of Zamani Feelings.