Back-to-back wins over Big East opponents as Temple tops Georgetown, 78-61

In the home opener, Temple earned its first win of the season with a 78-61 victory over Georgetown on Saturday. It also marked Diane Richardson’s first win as Owls head coach.

The night before, Temple’s men upset No. 16 Villanova in Aaron McKie’s biggest win as a head coach, causing a packed crowd at the Liacouras Center to storm the court.

“We couldn’t sleep last night because we were pretty excited,” Richardson said. “The pressure was on. We got that fever last night when the guys got that great victory ... I turned to my husband and I said, ‘Man, this is big-time basketball.’ ”

Although offensively the Owls struggled, Temple (1-1) played much better defense against Georgetown (1-1) than they did in its season opener at Princeton. Temple held the Hoyas to just 31% shooting and, like it did against Princeton, ran Georgetown off the three-point line.

Towson transfer Aleah Nelson had a game-high 19 points for the Owls after shooting 2-of-14 from the field on Monday night. “Nobody ever tells me to stop shooting,” Nelson said. “It’s not about me individually, I think it was a great team win.”

Georgetown forward Jada Claude had a game-high 15 rebounds, and Nelson, along with sophomore guard Jasha Clinton, added six assists, apiece.

Once again, Temple struggled to shoot from three-point range and shot only 43.5% from the field against Georgetown.

While not being able to shoot the three themselves, the Owls have kept threes from opponents at bay. After holding Princeton to 7.7% from three, Temple held Georgetown to 28.6% from deep.

“We want to contest shots,” Richardson said. “We want teams that can’t shoot to try to shoot.”

Also, Temple’s guards move the ball. Nelson and Clinton shared the floor and created open looks for their teammates all evening. The two had 12 of Temple’s 16 assists. The Owls assisted on 59% of their field goals, something previous Temple teams struggled to do under former head coach Tonya Cardoza.

“When I attack, I can see the floor,” Clinton said. “I’m looking for everybody.”

Temple went on two crucial runs. The Owls capitalized on a Georgetown 4-minute, 37-second drought in the second quarter, turning it into a 7-0 run that lasted nearly two minutes. It sent Temple into the half up by four.

In the third quarter, Temple’s defense thrived. Over a nearly eight-minute stretch, the Owls made Georgetown miss 14 consecutive field goals. Making five of its last seven shots to end the quarter, Temple led the Hoyas, 57-40, heading into the fourth.

During both runs, Temple ran Georgetown off the perimeter. On the flip, Temple’s guards began to push the tempo after each rebound, leaving the Hoyas to scramble on defense.

Temple heads to the Big Apple to face another Big East opponent in St. John’s on Wednesday (7 p.m., FloSports).