Temple winning close games
Temple remains in the hunt for an NCAA basketball berth, and one of the reasons is the Owls' ability to win the close games. For the fourth time in the last six games, Temple won by five points or fewer Sunday in a 69-66 comeback win at Houston.
Temple remains in the hunt for an NCAA basketball berth, and one of the reasons is the Owls' ability to win the close games. For the fourth time in the last six games, Temple won by five points or fewer Sunday in a 69-66 comeback win at Houston.
That improved the Owls to 17-9 overall and kept them in first place in the American Athletic Conference with an 11-3 mark. They don't have much time to savor the win since Temple must visit Tulsa (18-9, 10-5) in an AAC matchup Tuesday night.
An 83-79 overtime win over visiting Tulsa on Feb. 4 began the Owls' string of recent close games. Temple overcame a five-point deficit with less than 26 seconds left in regulation.
Against Houston, Temple was down by 10 with just more than 11 minutes left and trailed by eight with less than seven minutes remaining.
"We have had experience coming back and winning games when we have been down even by more than 10 points," sophomore Obi Enechionyia said in a telephone interview from Houston. "When we are down, we know we are still in the game."
Temple has won six consecutive AAC games and 9 of 11 overall. Enechionyia is a main reason. After totaling a career-high 26 points against Houston, he has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and is averaging 15.3 points in that span, nearly five above his season average.
"I have really been working on my three-point shot," he said.
It shows. Against Houston, he hit 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-9 sophomore is seventh in the AAC in three-point percentage (41.3 percent). During the last eight games, he is shooting 22 of 48 (45.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
The other factor in the win over Houston was the clutch play of Devin Coleman, whose three-pointer with 16 seconds to go gave Temple the lead for good, 67-64.
In the previous 83-67 loss to No. 1 Villanova, Coleman was held scoreless in 17 minutes, attempting just two shots.
Against Houston, he was 3 for 6 in 18 minutes.
A 6-2 senior, Coleman is a player who stays on an even keel. He is able to shrug off a rare off-game and come back, and his team is the same way. That is why Temple has been able to win so many close games.
So there was no panic against Houston when things weren't going the Owls' way.
"We understand that when we were down 10, there was no 10-point shot that would get us right back in the game," Coleman said. "We were in the huddle just talking about executing, and we were able to do that and get back in the game."
For the season, Temple is 8-4 in games decided by five points or fewer.
The Owls expect another nail-biter at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane have won four of five since their overtime loss at Temple, with the only defeat a 75-73 loss at Connecticut.
In the overtime win over Tulsa, Temple trailed by as many as 12 with just more than 13 minutes remaining. The Owls don't want to try their luck in a similar situation, especially against a guard-oriented Tulsa team that can put points up in bunches.
Plus, Temple will surely remember last year's trip to Reynolds Coliseum, when the Owls lost, 55-39, in their lowest-scoring output of the season.
"They ran us out of the gym last year just like Houston ran us out of our gym," Coleman said, referring to Houston's 77-50 win at Temple on Jan. 2. "We will keep last year's game with Tulsa in the back of our minds and will go there and play to the best of our ability."
@sjnard