Temple's win streak snapped in 69-61 road loss at SMU
Temple’s four-game win streak came to a halt Saturday in a 69-61 loss at SMU.
In its second game against a NET top-70 opponent in five days, the Owls kept the game close for most of 40 minutes.
After Temple used a 15-2 run to grab a 46-42 lead, SMU later took control of the game with a 13-0 run that put the Mustangs ahead by 65-55 with 1:55 to go.
SMU senior forward Marcus Weathers led all scorers with 27 points on 11 for 16 shooting while also leading SMU with nine rebounds. Sophomore center Arashma Parks, freshman forward Nick Jourdain, and junior forward Sage Tolbert all struggled to contain the senior in the paint while Jake Forrester, who has not played since logging 10 minutes in Temple’s Jan. 12 win at Tulsa, missed yet another game with an illness.
“I just think today was his day,” Temple’s second-year freshman point guard Jeremiah Williams said of Weathers’ performance.
However, head coach Aaron McKie was more concerned about what his team, which is now 11-7 overall and 4-3 in American Athletic Conference play, did wrong on offense during his postgame availability.
“Stagnant offense and the turnovers late in the game hurt us,” McKie said. “I feel like this was a winnable game.”
What is evident through 18 games this season is that Temple plays defense. The Owls also can get to the rim, often turning into opportunities at the free throw line, averaging 20.7 free throws per game.
However, the group struggles with scoring outside of the paint. Temple shoots an underwhelming 69.2 percent from the charity stripe, 29.2 from three, and just 41 percent from the field.
With Khalif Battle out with a season-ending injury, Temple’s offense relies heavily on the guard duo of Williams and redshirt freshman Damian Dunn. Saturday, Williams’ good play continued with a 13-point performance on 50 percent shooting. Dunn, however, had another rough shooting night, tallying 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting, including 2-for-7 from three.
Williams has been tasked with the responsibility of facilitating the Owls’ offense as well as defending the opposing teams’ best player. Saturday, that player was All-American Athletic Conference guard Kendric Davis. Davis had a quiet afternoon, scoring 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting.
“That was part of our game plan,” Williams said. “Keep [Davis] as quiet as possible.”
A 6-0, 4-minute 29-second run midway through the first half gave SMU the cushion it needed to gain some breathing room. During that span, Temple missed seven-straight field goals, constantly being denied at the rim.
The Owls trailed 31-28 after one half despite 11 of 30 shooting from the field.
Williams did his part. For the most part, the rest of the team did too, gaining that 46-42 lead with 10:33 left in the game after the 15-2 run. Temple lost that lead with 5:39 left on a Weathers free throw and never recovered.
There are worse ways to end a winning streak than by single digits on the road to a team that came into the weekend ranked 50th in NET, especially considering McKie started four freshmen and a sophomore against five seniors.
However, the third-year head coach didn’t see it that way.
“Nobody cares about our youth or how young we are,” McKie said. “Because at the end of the day, it’s gonna be either a win or a loss.”
Temple’s next game is a rematch against ECU (11-8, 2-5 in AAC play) Wednesday night.