Tag Archives: coach fran dunphy

HALFTIME UPDATE: Owls: 19, Bulls: 15

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The Owls lead, 19-15 at the half and the game began as expected with low-scoring and physical.

The Bulls struggled offensively at the half, shooting 11.1 percent from the field, going 3-27. Meanwhile the Owls had 14 fewer field goal attempts and went 5-for-13 (38-5 percent).

The score was 11-5 at the 10-minute mark of the first half, in favor of Temple and junior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson led the squad with four points, two steals and a rebound.

Entering the game, the Owls were expecting to face a tough South Florida defense. The Bulls have been stingy all year and has been talked about lately, after coming off a win over California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they allowed 13 points in the first.

Junior guard Khalif Wyatt scored nine points at the half, which bested all scorers in the game. Wyatt added two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block as well.

Redshirt-senior guard Ramone Moore senior failed to score in the half and senior guard Juan Fernandez recorded a single point. Both guards average 17.7 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, on the year and are statistically the Owls first and third-best scorers.

The Bulls are led by sophomore forward Victor Rudd Jr., who scored four points in the half. The Bulls’ defense has kept the game close with suffocating man-to-man coverage, as it recorded five steals and a block.

Redshirt-freshman forward Anthony Lee, sophomore Aaron Brown and senior guard T.J. DiLeo all saw action as reserves in the half and combined for two points.

March Madness: Temple MBB: Scouting the South Florida Bulls

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Owls practiced for their allotted 40 minutes Thursday evening at the Bridgestone Arena in preparation for a second round NCAA Tournament match up with the play-in game winner South Florida Bulls.

Although the practice appeared to be nothing more than a typical pre-game shoot around, the fifth-seeded Owls made it evident during its press conference earlier on Thursday that they weren’t going to take the 12th-seeded Bulls lightly. The game will tip-off at 9:50 p.m on Friday (TNT broadcast).

Friday’s game will feature the Owls’ first meeting with the Bulls in program history, but coach Fran Dunphy told the media that he has been following South Florida’s play in the Big East Conference this season.

“I thought they were a really terrific defensive basketball team, who took care of the ball in pretty good fashion and great control of games; most teams played at their pace,” Dunphy said. “And then last night, obviously they defended very well, but they also made shots, and made a ton of them early and got a sizeable gap between they and California. I just thought they were on their game last night.”

Graduate center Micheal Eric said South Florida appears similar to an opponent that Temple faced earlier in the year at the 5 Hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

“I think they remind me of Wichita St., [South Florida] has depth with the guards and scoring abilities from the wings” Eric said. “It’s going to be an interesting game.”

The Owls defeated Wichita St. in overtime, 78-74.

South Florida is led by 6-foot 10-inch senior forward Augustus Gilchrist who averages 9.6 points per game.

The Bulls have four other players who average at least eight points. Senior guard Hugh Robertson averages 6.7 points per game and is the team’s leader in field goal percentage at 52.7 percent.

Wyatt took several shots during the practice that looked like he was anticipating shooting over the length of the Bulls.

Temple will be facing a South Florida defense that shutdown California in the first round game on Wednesday night, as they went onto win 65-54. The Bulls held the Bears to 13 first half points and to 5-of-24 shooting.

“We’re going to have to move the ball, be patient and move without the ball too,” senior guard Juan Fernandez said. “And play as a team more than ever on offense, if we’re going to break them down.”

The Owls will look to make it two consecutive years in which they make it past the second round, as last year then-No. 7 Temple defeated No. 10 Penn State, 66-64 at Tucson, Ariz. in the NCAA Tournament. Temple’s run ended in 2011 when they lost to No. 2 San Diego State in double overtime, 71-64.

“This is our [seniors’] last go-around, as far as we’re going to make it, it would be great to make it to the Elite Eight.,” redshirt-senior guard Ramone Moore said. “But, we don’t want to try to look too far ahead.”

No. 24 Temple loses to UMass, 77-71

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.–The Owls entered the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament with the top seed and a No. 24 ranking, but the Massachusetts Minutemen played disruptive basketball as the eight-seeded underdogs.

The Minutemen (22-10, 10-7 A-10) trailed by five points at half, 36-31,  but came out in the second half on a 15-0 run in the first five minutes to take a 46-36 lead. Sophomore guard Jesse Morgan scored seven of those points during that stretch and finished with game-high 21 points.

The Owls’ loss marked just the second time in 20 games this season they lost after holding a lead at halftime.

Temple remained close down the stretch and reclaimed a lead with just under nine minutes remaining after redshirt-freshman forward  Anthony Lee knocked down two free throws to give the Owls a 58-57 advantage. Lee ended up with eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in the game.

Senior guard Juan Fernandez made a three-pointer to extend the Owls lead to four points–their largest lead of the half–after Lee blocked a shot attempt by UMass’ junior forward Terrell Vinson on the other end.

With five minutes remaining, UMass regained the lead at 65-64 and held on to win its first A-10 Tournament quarterfinal game since 2001.

Listen to post-game audio from UMass players, sophomore guard Chaz Williams, Morgan, redshirt-senior Sean Carter and coach Derek Kellogg, and Temple players, redshirt-senior guard Ramone Moore, Fernandez and coach Fran Dunphy.

Williams, Morgan, Carter, Kellogg

Moore, Fernandez, Dunphy

Check back with The Temple News later for a full game recap.

Men’s basketball injury updates: Randall and Eric

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“We’re undersized and undergirthed (sp),” coach Fran Dunphy said after the Owls’ win against Buffalo on Wednesday. “Is that a word, ‘girthed?’ But that’s the way it is. We’re going to have to battle like crazy and figure out ways to win games.”

Dunphy has played a guard-heavy lineup without both senior forward Scootie Randall and redshirt-senior center Micheal Eric due to injuries.

Eric, who sat out the Owls’ 10 remaining games last season, reinjured his right knee during a practice on Nov. 25. The Nigerian native was fourth on the team in scoring (10.5 points per game) and led the Atlantic Ten Conference in rebounding (11.3 per game) after playing four games this year.

“[Eric] feels pretty good,” Dunphy said. “He’s been jogging around a little bit, doing some light running, not scrimmaging anyone else. In shooting drills and those kinds of things he looks good. It’s just a matter of hopefully another couple of weeks, but then when that couple of weeks hits, then how ready is he going to be right away. So it’s going to take some time. It will be on Mike’s schedule and we’ll just play along with it.”

Randall has yet to play this season as he continues to recover from off-season surgery on his knee. The six-foot-six-inch forward was named the Atlantic Ten Conference and Big 5 Most Improved Player and received A-10 Honorable Mention honors last season after averaging 10.7 point and 4.7 rebounds per game.

“[Randall] just doesn’t feel comfortable enough to go and it’s going to be his decision alone,” Dunphy said. “As long as he’s not comfortable then he’s not going to play. Although he’s doing a good job in practice. It’s just his level of comfort, it’s not where it needs to be.”

“If he doesn’t play all year long, then he gets the extra year,” Dunphy said. “If he says at somepoint, ‘I’m ready to go and I want to play,’ then that’s what it will be. But it will be his decision.”