Temple basketball programs enter conference play with sense of where they stand

Entering the season, Temple’s men’s and women’s basketball programs were in different spots. The women had seven transfers, a true freshman, and a new head coach in Diane Richardson. The men entered with a fourth-year head coach, preseason all-conference backcourt, and tournament-or-bust expectations.

With both teams now in conference play, they each have a sense of where they stand. The women (6-7, 1-0 AAC) have jelled quicker than most teams built from the transfer portal, mainly because three of their transfers played for Richardson at Towson. The Owls played both Princeton and Villanova while the teams were ranked No. 24 in the country.

Against the Tigers (8-4, 0-1 Ivy), the Owls looked like a team lacking familiarity. Temple shot 29% from the field — including 5% from beyond the arc — had almost twice as many turnovers as it did assists, and was outrebounded by 18 in the 18-point loss. However, when Temple played Villanova (11-3, 2-1 Big East) three games later, things were different.

Temple entered the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead and didn’t allow anyone but 2021-22 Big East player of the year Maddy Siegrist to score in double digits. Unfortunately for the Owls, the second-leading scorer in Wildcats history erupted for 41 points in Villanova’s three-point victory. However, it showed that Temple’s players were gaining a quick understanding of how Richardson wanted to play, and showing that they can do it against stiff competition.

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“I thought the Princeton game was kind of an eye-opener for us,” Richardson said. “Then we stepped up in the Villanova game. We didn’t come out with a win, but I saw us getting better and stepping up and playing together. … I think the culture is working.”

Picked to finish seventh in the AAC preseason poll, Temple played the second-strongest nonconference schedule in the AAC and the 22nd-strongest in the country. Temple also ranked 87th in RPI ahead of its conference-opening win against Memphis (8-6, 0-1).

“That was strategic on our part,” Richardson said. “I knew that if we faced some tough competition, that would prepare us for the American because the American is tough. I didn’t want to play a cupcake schedule and then we get to the conference and they just really kill us.”

With the win over Memphis, which tied for fifth in the preseason poll, Temple is fourth in the AAC standings and looks to earn a top five seed in the conference tournament.

For the men, it’s been a different story. Temple (7-7, 1-0 AAC) had an up-and-down nonconference slate. While beating teams like Villanova (7-6, 1-1 Big East), Rutgers (9-4, 1-1 Big East) and Virginia Commonwealth (9-4), the Owls lost games to Wagner (8-5) and Maryland-Eastern Shore (6-7), and were blown out at Penn (7-7) when they had a chance to clinch their first outright Big 5 championship since 2009-10.

“Consistency across the board with our defensive effort, offensive focus, and sharing the ball, communication,” were all things that coach Aaron McKie listed as problems for the Owls. “I can go down a laundry list of things that I can say led to us having the record that we have, but we’ve got a chance to turn it around and right the ship.”

» READ MORE: Temple women top Memphis, 80-69, in conference opener

Guard Damian Dunn, who earned a spot on the preseason All-AAC first team, averaged a nation-best 29.67 points through the first three games before cooling off and being usurped by All-AAC teammate Khalif Battle as Temple’s leading scorer. Battle, averaging 18.6 points this season, went through a three-game slump in which he shot14-for-45 from the field, including 6-for-27 from three. Temple lost all three of those games and lost its starting center, Jamille Reynolds, for six to eight weeks with a broken right thumb after the loss to Penn.

The Owls avoided another injury scare with Dunn as he missed the second half of the Dec. 20 loss to Maryland-Eastern Shore and all of Wednesday’s win at East Carolina (9-5, 0-1) with a head injury. He is scheduled to return for the New Year’s Day matchup against Cincinnati (10-4, 1-0). With Dunn and Battle healthy, Temple aims to improve upon last season’s 10-7 conference record and secure another top five seed in the conference tournament.

“At the beginning of the year, you’re still trying to figure some things out and teams are trying to figure you out,” McKie said. “But at this point, there’s a lot of information out there on both teams and we’ve dug a hole for ourselves, but we have a lot of time to get ourselves back out. A lot of it starts with these conference games.”