Devin Coleman had no explanation. How could he? The Temple senior guard never shot the way he did on Sunday in his life. Not on the playground courts in Philadelphia. Not at Friends Central or in the time he played for Clemson. But every time the 6-foot-2 senior guard rose up and shot – it went in. Perfect. Barely touching the rim. Just a splash of twine at the end.
Coleman’s career-best 23 points on 8-for-8 shooting (7-for-7 from three-point range) stirred a scarlet storm of Temple fans that rushed the court after the Owls defeated No. 8 SMU, 89-80, before a sparse crowd at the Liacouras Center on Sunday afternoon.
In improving to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference, the Owls ended SMU’s 18-game winning streak, the longest in the nation, putting the Mustangs down for the first time since they lost 60-59 to UCLA in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2015. The last time SMU lost to an AAC opponent was to UConn, 81-73, on March 1, 2015.
“I put it up there and it went in,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t really feel like anything. My next focus is to get back and focus on my defensive assignment. I went through my regular routine as I do all of the time and I just got hot. There were some rec leagues I may have shot like that.”
Right there in the middle, making crucial shot after crucial shot was Coleman, a stalwart high school guard from Philly who took his skills to Clemson, found out he was better off at home and came back to Temple, content with coming off the bench.
“I put it up there and it went in,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t really feel like anything. My next focus is to get back and focus on my defensive assignment. I went through my regular routine as I do all of the time and I just got hot. There were some rec leagues I may have shot like that.”
SMU was the third Top-25 team that Temple has knocked off this year -- the Owls last accomplished that feat in the 1999-2000 season -- and the victory gave Temple a win over a Top-10 team in seven of the last eight years.
And the Owls did it without one of their better players, 6-8 senior forward Jaylen Bond, who sat out the sat with a back injury after playing 30 minutes in the Owls’ 62-49 victory over La Salle on Jan. 20.
“Devin was spectacular and there was nothing cheap about any of the ball that went in the basket, they were dead in the basket, each one of them,” Owls’ coach Fran Dunphy said. “Devin was great and if you’re going to win a game like this, against this good of a basketball team, you’re going to have to get special performances and his performance was certainly special.”
SMU coach Larry Brown, the Hall of Famer and former Sixers coach, sat there somewhat in awe as Coleman’s treys – and the Owls overall (they made 14 of 29 from beyond the arc) as the 3-pointers rained down on his previously undefeated team.
Temple has held double-figure leads in each of the last four games it played against SMU. The previous three times the Mustangs charged back to win. This time, they couldn’t. Each time SMU made a run, Temple threw a dagger.
“We got close a few times, but they played great and made shots, Coleman was out of his mind, and they just were terrific,” Brown said. “We were down 19, cut down to 9 and they turned it over twice, and we didn’t make anything happen. I thought we had a chance to get back into the game. Can you believe Temple stormed the court after beating SMU? Oh my God, the fifth-winningest program in America (Temple) is beating this elitist school.”
With 5:28 to play, Coleman nailed a trey that gave Temple a 78-59 advantage. SMU couldn’t get any closer than nine.
Temple took a 44-34 lead into halftime -- built off exceptional 3-point shooting, especially late in the half. The Owls turned a 32-31 edge into a double-figure lead hitting 3-pointers on four straight trips.
Coleman was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the half, and it was the Clemson transfer from nearby Friends Central that started the Owls' 3-point parade. Coleman led all scorers with 12 points at halftime, and the Owls made 8-of-18 3-pointers in the half.
Temple’s Daniel Dingle followed with a pair of 3-pointers of his own, upping Temple's lead to 44-34 with 30 seconds left in the half.
The Mustangs didn't help themselves in the first half with eight turnovers over the first 20 minutes, which Temple converted into 12 points. The Mustangs did out-rebound Temple, 22-18, in the half and were led by senior guard Nic Moore's eight points. SMU's last lead was 14-13 with 11:15 in the first half on a layup from Jordan Tolbert.