A season high in turnovers fuels a 72-51 Temple loss to East Carolina
The loss snapped a run that saw the Owls win three of its last four conference games since Dec. 30.
Repeat mistakes were what cost Temple in a 72-51 loss to conference foe East Carolina on Wednesday at the Liacouras Center.
Twenty-five of them, to be exact.
The Owls’ 25 turnovers led to its 21-point loss to East Carolina for a team that had won two of its three games since Dec. 30. Against East Carolina, however, the Owls were outplayed from the beginning of the second quarter, and the Pirates led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter.
And as for points off Temple’s season high in turnovers? East Carolina scored 22 of its total from those mistakes.
“It was a disappointing loss for us,” Temple head coach Diane Richardson said. “ECU went out there and did what they needed to do by turning us over. We turned the ball over quite a bit. That’s their MO. And they did exactly what they wanted to do with us, and we allowed it. We got to do better than that.”
Statistical leaders
Temple (7-9, 2-2 American Athletic Conference) was led offensively by forward Caranda Perea, who scored 11 points.
East Carolina guard Danae McNeal went 9 of 20 for a career-high 28 points. Additionally, guard Micah Dennis added nine points.
What we saw
Temple attacked East Carolina’s zone defense in the first quarter. Perea scored six first-quarter points by converting midrange jump shots.
East Carolina’s stingy defense halted the Owls’ first-quarter offensive success, though. The Pirates contained guard Aleah Nelson, who averaged a team-high 15.9 points through 15 games. Nelson only scored two points.
Eleven first half turnovers also contributed to Temple’s offensive struggles, and the turnovers and poor offensive execution continued after halftime. Temple shot 21 of 55, including making 4 of 15 from the three-point range.
East Carolina (12-5, 3-1) finished 25 of 61, including converting 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Pirates finished with only 12 turnovers. East Carolina drew fouls and made 19 of 27 shots from the free-throw line.
Momentum shifts
In the second quarter, East Carolina went on a 7-2 run after taking advantage of three Temple turnovers in less than two minutes. Temple guard Tarriyonna Gary converted from three-point range to end this run. Moments later, the Pirates went on a 7-0 run, which helped them to a 10-point halftime lead.
The Pirates went on a 17-0 run to give them a 27-point lead with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter.
“Not even looking at it — that it’s a 17-0 run — but that we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do,” Richardson said. “We weren’t getting stops, we weren’t executing on offense, and we turned the ball over and kind of felt sorry for ourselves. We got to do better than that. We got to have some pride.”
Up Next
Temple faces AAC foe Tulsa (13-3, 3-0) on Tuesday at the Liacouras Center (7 p.m., ESPN+).