Temple's second-half offense powers 79-75 win over Princeton

By Sienna Conaghan

Temple met Princeton in the consolation bracket of the ESPN Events Invitational Tuesday night, previewing their nonconference rematch in late December. The Owls couldn’t take the upper hand until seven minutes into the second half when they exploded with a 10-point run. 

Temple shot 60% from the field in the final 20 minutes and cemented its groove with two more scoring spurts of at least six points. 

The Tigers got as close as one point with less than 11 minutes to play, but the Owls’ 19 second-half free throws powered them to a 79-75 win at the State Farm Fieldhouse in Kissimmee, Florida. 

Temple (4-2) will take on Rhode Island in the fifth-place game Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Princeton swung first with forward CJ Happy knocking down back-to-back triples. His makes sandwiched a three from guard Derrian Ford, Temple’s only source of offense for the first five minutes of the game. 

Ford, the Owls’ leading scorer with 17.5 points per game, continued his success against the Tigers. The Arkansas State transfer scored a team-high 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 from three-point range and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He also added four rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

Guard Jordan Mason came to Ford’s aid, making a layup for Temple’s first lead of the game at 9-8 after less than six minutes of action. The Owls’ offense couldn’t build off the momentum, going the next four minutes without scoring. 

The Tigers took advantage, embarking on an 11-0 run to grab a 19-9 lead. Guard Jackson Hicke led the way, scoring seven points in the span. Hicke tied his career-high 15 points in Monday’s loss to Bradley, and his 11 first-half points put him on pace to do it again against the Owls. 

Forward Babatunde Durodola had a chance to cut into Temple’s five-point deficit, but missed a pair of free throws. The Owls have produced mixed results from the charity stripe so far this season and went just 9-of-15 in the first half, 56.3%. They fixed their troubles in the second half, though, making 19 of their 25 attempts, which was crucial down the stretch.  

The Owls searched for an answer and it finally came from guard Aiden Tobiason’s three-pointer. Tobiason struggled scoring in the Owls’ 91-76 loss to UC San Diego Monday night. He recorded just eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and missed all three attempts from deep. The game marked his first time scoring less than double figures this season. 

The sophomore didn’t take his first shot Tuesday night until almost 10 minutes had gone by, but the three-point attempt went in. The make snapped Temple’s scoring drought and Princeton’s run. Tobiason finished the night with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, with the only two misses coming from three-point range. 

Temple averages just 7.5 turnovers per game, the best mark in the country, but didn’t protect the ball to start the game. The Owls coughed up seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes and totaled a season-high 11 in the game. They have now committed double-digit turnovers in three consecutive games. 

Princeton made three straight free throws after Temple made it a one-possession game with three-and-a-half minutes left in the first half. The Owls got flashbacks to UCSD making its final seven field goals heading into halftime on Monday and immediately rediscovered their offense. 

Forward Jamai Felt, guard AJ Smith and Ford all scored transition layups to trail by just one point. Princeton forward Malik Abdullahi made his first three-pointer of the season to establish the Tigers’ 36-32 lead heading into halftime. 

Temple’s offense finally came to life in the second half, going 12-of-20 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range. 

Forward Ayuba Bryant Jr. provided a spark off the bench, tallying a career-high six points in 18 minutes. Guard Masiah Gilyard took his first shot of the night and connected from beyond the arc. The make capped off a 10-0 run that gave the Owls their second lead of the game at 48-43. 

Temple didn’t let up the rest of the half, making nine straight field goals to grow their lead to as many as nine points. Their free throw success woke up with the offense, going 19-of-25 in the second half, with Ford’s nine leading the way. 

Guard Jack Stanton and Hicke stepped up for Princeton, scoring 15 and 11 points in the second half, respectively. The Tigers made their final four attempts from the field, including Stanton’s three-pointer to trail by just three points with one second left. 

It wasn’t enough as guard Gavin Griffiths’ (eight points, nine rebounds) free throw secured the Owls’ win. 

Putbacks

Temple will meet Princeton again when it hosts the Tigers on Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center. The two teams met in Tuesday night’s consolation game in the Adventure Bracket due to their respective losses to UC San Diego and Bradley Monday.