A key for Temple is keeping Bond out of foul trouble

One of the keys as Temple moves on is being able to keep 6-8 senior Jaylen Bond on the court. Bond fouled out in Sunday's 66-65 overtime loss to visiting St. Joseph's, and played just 21 minutes.  He scored seven points and had four rebounds

It's the second time he has fouled out this season for the 4-5 Owls. The other came in a 74-68 loss to highly regarded Utah, when Bond was limited to a season-low 13 minutes.

In Wednesday's 77-73 win over Penn, he had four fouls and played 27 minutes.

"We don't need Jaylen on the bench in a 45 minute game for 24 minutes," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said afterwards. "We need Jaylen a lot and it doesn't help us on the defensive end."

Bond is the Owls top defender. He has routinely guarded bigger players and more than held is ground. In fact, he sets the defensive tone for Temple.

Bond is averaging 27.8 minutes per game and in fairness to him, he has played six games where he has committed three or fewer fouls.

It's just when he does get in foul trouble, his absence is glaring from a team that doesn't have a lot of frontcourt depth