January 02, 2016
So, who saw this coming? Not Temple coach Fran Dunphy.
Coming off a road win last week against nationally-ranked Cincinnati, Temple crashed into a sinkhole Saturday afternoon and fell to Houston 77-50 at the Liacouras Center.
The loss leveled Temple’s record to 6-6, while Houston, a relative secret in these parts, raised its record to 12-2 and has won both its American Athletic Conference games. Temple is now 1-1 in the AAC and has just a couple of days to get its act together for Tuesday night’s game at Connecticut. UConn was 9-3 heading into Tuesday night’s game at Tulsa (8-5).
This one was over quick, and the Cougars in their bright red uniforms never trailed. The score was tied twice, the last at 10, and faster than you could say cheesesteak the deficit was 11 after four straight drives to the hoop. With the score 24-17, Houston streaked again, this time mixing things up on a jumper, two free throws, a drive and a three: 37-17.
So exactly how did this happen? Let me count the ways.
Temple was 0-for-12 on 3-pointers in the opening half, shooting 31 percent overall. It had nine turnovers (higher than its game average), went to the line only four times and had a grand total of two assists.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Houston was shooting 55 percent, running circles around the Owls with numerous fast breaks and swished 5 of 9 threes.
The theme continued in the second half as the margin reached 30 points with about three minutes to play. Rob Gray, Jr., was the main villain, finishing with 23 points and six assists from his guard position. The junior college transfer, who leads the conference in scoring, made 8 of 15 shots and half of his six outside bombs.
Ronnie Johnson (say who?) came off the bench and hit 7 of 12 shots and scored 17 points. Sub LeRon Barnes also introduced himself by grabbing 13 rebounds and making 4 of 5 shots. Their bench outscored Temple’s 34-14.
Temple had its second-worst shooting game at 34.5 (only St. Joe’s was lower) and had six assists – a season low. The three-point numbers were 3-for-23; it went to the line only nine times. Houston hit 54 percent of its shots and was 46.7 in threes (7 of 15).
The numbers, however, only tell half the story.
“We didn’t do a great job of anything, whether it was effort, execution or whatever it was,’’ Dunphy said. “We just didn’t play our best basketball. But give Houston credit. They made shots, Gray was terrific, and Johnson off the bench gave them a lift. We didn’t have the necessary goods and that’s on the coach. We did nothing right, to be honest.’’
The former Penn coach noted that a combination of the lack of an inside game and aggressiveness accounted for the few trips to the free throw line. While he didn’t mind the team hoisting 23 shots from behind the arc, he did, “Certainly not,’’ like the percentage.
What he did not approve of the most was the team defense. They seemed lackluster at times, allowing the Cougars to weave past them for easy layups and consistently beat Temple down the floor. Houston scored 12 fast break points.
“We didn’t play defense,’’ senior Jaylen Bond said regarding the worst part of their performance. Classmate Quinton Decosey put it even more bluntly, saying, “They definitely played harder than us.’’
With losses that include No. 7 North Carolina, No. 9 Butler and No. 21 Utah, as well as other good teams like Wisconsin (on the road) and St. Joe’s (by a point) – and now Houston – perhaps the experiences will eventually pay off.
“That can help you greatly,’’ Dunphy said about the tough early schedule, “but it can hurt your confidence sometimes. But I don’t think that had anything to do with today. We weren’t as alert as we needed to be.’’
That is to say, they did not see this coming.
Temple is back here next Saturday against East Carolina … Houston’s only losses were at Rhode Island and a free-flight fall to Grand Canyon … Coming into Saturday’s games the top six teams in the AAC 11 had a combined record of 57-17 … Temple came into the game leading the conference averaging the fewest turnovers (8.5); Houston was second at 10.5 (only six in its conference opener against South Florida) … Last week’s win against No. 22 Cincinnati was the ninth straight year Temple has knocked off a nationally-ranked team … Between them, Dunphy and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson have won 1,032 games.
In case you’ve missed this, Temple mascot Hooter the Owl still has an actual owl as a partner – though she wasn’t in the barn yesterday. Stella, two-feet, three pounds, has a 60-foot wingspan (imagine what a power forward she would be). When not hanging out in gyms, she resides in the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. As listed in the pre-game Temple game notes, Stella’s favorite foods include rodents, rabbits and snakes. Cougar was not listed among Tuesday’s entrees.
