Temple has spent the last few weeks trying to navigate a suddenly-thin backcourt following Lynn Greer III’s suspension and Jameel Brown being away from the team for personal reasons.
But on Thursday night against No. 18 Memphis, Temple’s guards did just about everything right — including those who entered the season buried on the depth chart.
Those guards, coupled with a nice night from forward Steve Settle III, delivered the Owls an 88-81 win against the Tigers — the program’s first victory against a nationally-ranked opponent since upsetting No. 1 Houston on Jan. 22, 2023.
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“I thought our guys had great attention to detail from the start, and it’s a great credit to them,” said coach Adam Fisher. “We’ve talked about it for three days; poised against pressure.”
Guard Quante Berry, who rarely played last season, shined yet again in the absence of key contributors. He scored 19 points, including a three-point shot in the opening seconds of the second half to keep the first-period momentum alive.
Fellow guards Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Shane Dezonie also stepped up with 21 and 15 points, respectively. Mashburn didn’t have an efficient night, shooting just 4-for-16 from the floor, but still hit important shots when it mattered.
“[Our guards] have been doing it all season,” Fisher said. “We’ve had some guards with double-doubles, it’s a great balance. We talk about our depth a lot and how we can use that to our advantage. Don’t worry about how many minutes you play. Let’s get stronger as the game goes on.”
Temple went blow for blow with Memphis in the opening minutes and started to pull away for the first time around the three-minute mark of the first half. Back-to-back three pointers from Mashburn and Dezonie catapulted the Owls to a 29-21 lead.
Memphis hung around and the Owls entered the break with a 36-30 lead. The Owls’ best offensive run came in the early stages of the second half, rattling off an 11-1 run for their biggest lead of the night.
Stout defense early, clutch shots late
Temple’s defense, which had been a weak spot for much of the season entering Thursday’s contest, put together its best performance. Memphis shot under 28% from three in the first half and turned the ball over six times.
“There was just an energy and a communication tonight,” Fisher said. “I thought our communication has really improved this year.”
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The script flipped in the second half and Memphis foundits offensive rhythm, cutting a 15-point deficit to just six with 9 minutes, 49 seconds left. But each time the Tigers crept close, Temple made a big shot to answer back.
Memphis caught fire again and cut Temple’s lead to just two — the smallest it had been the entire of the second half — with 5:57 remaining. But the Owls responded again. A second-chance three pointer from Mashburn, then a mid-range jump shot from guard Zion Stanford on the next possession put Temple back up by five with 4:31 remaining.
The biggest moment of the game came after Memphis guard PJ Haggerty missed both of his free throws after getting fouled on a layup attempt and Berry chucked the ball the entire length of the floor to find Stanford, who slammed home a dunk to ignite the rowdiest home crowd of the season. The dunk put Temple up by six with 1:48 left and put them in cruise control for the remainder of the game.
“I hope [the fans] all come back Sunday,” Fisher said. “If we got to put the Eagles game on the jumbotron then we’ll do it. Whatever we got to do to get the fans here then we’ll do it. This was an unbelievable environment tonight.”
Up next
Temple will look to keep its momentum rolling when it welcomes Tulane (10-8, 4-1 AAC) to The Liacouras Center on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPNU).