Temple ends six-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, routs Tulane to punch ticket to American tournament
The Owls' 29-point win was the biggest in their 13-year history in the conference.
When Temple last played Tulane on Feb. 11, the Green Wave handed the Owls an 11-point loss that started their six-game skid and subsequent slide in the American Conference standings. What doomed the Owls was the Green Wave outscoring them 26-8 to open the second half.
On Thursday, with Temple’s hopes of clinching a spot in next week’s conference tournament hanging in the balance, the circumstances were the exact opposite.
The Owls went into halftime up eight points, then outscored the Green Wave (17-13, 8-9) by 21 for a 29-point lead at the midway point in the half. Tulane never rallied as Temple (16-14, 8-9) picked up a 89-60 win — the most one-sided win in its history in the conference — to punch its ticket to the league tournament in Birmingham.
“To be able to come back and respond, it’s kind of that shows the resiliency of this team,” head coach Adam Fisher said. “We’ve seen a lot of adversity on and off the court this season, and I thought these guys were tremendous.”
Statistical leaders
Temple clicked in nearly every facet of the game, shooting 53.4% from the floor, and hit 13 three-pointers. Guard Aiden Tobiason led the team with 21 points, while guards Gavin Griffiths and Jordan Mason each had 15.
What we saw
The Green Wave knocked down their first three shots for a 7-5 lead two minutes into the game, but the Owls struck back. They hit five of their first seven shot attempts, while the defense held Tulane at bay for a 14-9 lead.
Then, Temple began to sprint and left the Green Wave in the dust.
Tobiason charged the offense at first but then other Owls chipped in. Guard Masiah Gilyard drilled a three-pointer, prompting a 17-7 run in five-and-a-half minutes. Griffiths dished out most of the damage with nine points, and despite some late Green Wave buckets, Temple had a 40-32 halftime lead.
Temple looked like the team it did during its 15-8 start coming out of the locker room. It smothered Tulane with the first 10 points of the half a little more than two minutes in, building a 50-32 lead. The Green Wave answered with a three, but Griffiths hit one 18 seconds later.
The Owls hit 60.7% of their shots in the second half while knocking down eight three-pointers. Mason and guard Derrian Ford both had 11 points in the half as the lead grew to as much as 34.
Game-changing play
Temple had momentum going into halftime but needed an extra jolt to make the score a little more comfortable out of the break. Fisher has stated that the Owls’ issues have stemmed from first-half miscues being exploited after the break.
They got that boost immediately.
“I think the biggest thing I was hoping for coming out of halftime was to get a stop.” Fisher said. “We harped on the first possession, ‘you got to get a stop, you got to get a stop.’ Then we strung three stops in a row. That was something we have really emphasized, and the bench was going crazy.”
Forward Jamai Felt swatted a shot from Green Wave guard Rowan Brumbaugh, leading to a three from Mason. Tulane missed its first four shots of the half and the Owls capitalized. Mason’s three turned into one from Tobiason, and then one from Ford, and it became an avalanche of points.
A lob from Griffiths to Tobiason pushed the score to 68-43 eight minutes into the half to put an exclamation point on the run, and the eventual win.
Up next
Temple closes out its season on the road against Tulsa (24-6, 12-5) at the Reynolds Center on Sunday (ESPN+, 3 p.m.). The Owls enter the final weekend tied for eighth place in the American standings, with just one game separating five teams (Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, North Texas, Tulane and Temple) between fifth and ninth place. The American conference tournament will feature 10 teams.