After an up-and-down non-conference season, the Temple Owls have started the Atlantic 10 season 3-1. They beat a mediocre LaSalle team and then lost at UMass, but the last two games, they have registered impressive 25- and 27-point home victories over a solid St. Louis team and a struggling, but talented Charlotte team. Both of these wins showed strong signs of a team that may be hitting its stride–not just because they were lopsided victories, but because both wins featured three things that the Owls will desperately need going into the meat of their conference schedule: defense, and scoring from guys not named after a holiday in December.
Thursday night, the Owls held Rick Majerus’s Billikens to 40 points on 29% shooting. They outrebounded St. Louis 38-22 in the 65-40 win, including 7 each from Lavoy Allen and Dionte Christmas and 6 off the bench from Sergio Olmos. Not only did the Owls’ big men dominate the boards, but they also contributed most of the scoring. Allen led the team with 16 points (on 8-10 from the field). The biggest surprise of the year, Craig Williams, chipped in with 11 (4-6) and Michael Eric, the big Nigerian with a soft touch added 7 points off the bench. Yes, Christmas left the game for good with 13 minutes to play, but it is still a good sign that the bigs are getting involved because come March, the Owls will need inside scoring to return to The Dance.
All these promising trends continued Saturday night, as the Owls registered a sixth win in their last seven games. Again, the defense led the way, holding Charlotte to their second-lowest scoring output of the year in an 80-53 win at the Liacouras Center. This was the second straight game that the Owls held an opponent under 30% from the field. It was also the second straight game that the Owls big men dominated and the team was led in scoring by someone other than the A-10’s leading scorer, Dionte Christmas, who teams are obviously trying to bottle up. Lavoy Allen had 16 points and 10 rebounds; Craig Williams added 7 and 8; and Sergio Olmos scored 6 points in only 13 minutes off the bench. Plus, the Owls received a great game from point guard Semaj Inge, who recorded 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and only 2 turnovers in 32 minutes against an athletic, aggressive defensive team.
The Owls, who have a bubblicious 49-RPI right now, will need to keep all these positives going, as they enter a 6-game stretch starting Wednesday night at 13-7 Rhode Island. After that, they return home to face 11-8 Richmond on Saturday. Then on February 5, they travel to 17-2 Xavier (#4 RPI) and return home for another date with URI. Finally, they end this brutal stretch of six straight winning teams with road tests at 11-7 St. Joe’s and 13-6 Duquesne. If the Owls can win four or five of these games and don’t falter against the bottom of the conference, they may put themselves in the discussion for an at-large bid, but it is going to take a continued effort from the bigs on the offensive end and the glass, and everyone on defense. But, the signs are all there.
Ps…Get used to seeing this guy. He’s the new Argentinian point guard, Juan Fernandez, who only arrived in country about four weeks ago, but is tall, extremely athletic, strong with the ball, and totally fearless. He may be the proverbial “X-factor” down the stretch for the Owls. He plays the game with a fire that has been noticeably missing from this year’s team with the graduation of Mark Tyndale.
