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Temple comes up clutch again in overtime, this time against East Carolina

The Owls extended their undefeated streak at the Liacouras Center to 10 games after securing a 98-94 win over the Pirates. Temple now sits in fourth place in the AAC standings.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. smiles after teammate Steve Settle III hit a three-pointer against East Carolina at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 1.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. smiles after teammate Steve Settle III hit a three-pointer against East Carolina at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 1.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

Following one of its ugliest performances of the season, Temple looked to extend its undefeated streak at the Liacouras Center to 10 games on Saturday afternoon. Against East Carolina, however, it was anything but easy.

The Owls (14-8, 6-3 American Athletic Conference) needed double overtime to put away last-place Charlotte at home on Wednesday. On Saturday, they never led in regulation against the Pirates (12-10, 4-5). Then came a Steve Settle III three-pointer with a minute remaining to tie it for the first time and send Temple to its second straight overtime game.

In extra time, the Owls came out firing from three-point range, as Settle and Jamal Mashburn Jr. knocked down shots to give the Owls the lead. Temple found a way to hold off an East Carolina comeback and secured a 98-94 win.

“Just really proud of this group,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said. “We’ve talked about depth and resilience all year. I thought we didn’t come out and play Temple basketball in the first half. But we addressed it in the locker room. Everybody contributed to us being successful today.”

Just five Temple players scored, and they each reached double digits. Mashburn led with a team-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Quante Berry had 21 points, and Zion Stanford added 19.

Meanwhile, the Pirates were led by senior forward C.J. Walker. He finished with a career-high 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting.

“We were just taking what the defense was giving us,” Mashburn said. “They were doing a lot of switching. They tried to mess us up with that zone — that’s worked for them. We were just taking what the defense was giving us and trusting our work.”

Finding a way

Throughout the game, Temple couldn’t get anything going. In the first half, the offense was stagnant with little off-ball movement. In the second half, it was the defensive mental lapses and not getting stops.

It didn’t help that the Owls were in foul trouble. Babatunde Durodola and Stanford fouled out, while Settle and Berry had four fouls. The Owls also were without guard Shane Dezonie and forward Mohamed Keita because of minor injuries.

However, they found a way to come out on top and now sit in fourth place in the AAC standings.

“If you want to be a really good team, you have to win at home, and you have to find a way,” Fisher said. “That was today’s message. Just figure it out, find a way, whatever it takes. That’s what we told them, ‘Whatever it takes today.’ If we’re going to play man, zone ... we found out two guys couldn’t go at shootaround. You have to be ready to step up.”

Defensive lapse

Defense has been a struggle for the last couple of weeks, and against the Pirates, it was no different. Temple couldn’t seem to get a stop, and any time the Owls looked to get back into the game, East Carolina had a response.

From the 18-minute mark to the 4-minute mark of the first half, East Carolina shot 15-of-20 from the field, which made it hard for Temple to close the gap. Temple struggled with miscommunication and mental lapses on the defensive end.

Stopping East Carolina from grabbing offensive rebounds also was an issue. The Pirates totaled 15 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points off those rebounds. Meanwhile, Temple grabbed just two offensive boards and didn’t score any second-chance points.

Up next

The Owls will visit South Florida (11-10, 4-4) on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN2).