City of Basketball Love

Austin Petolillo (@AustinPSports)
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The 2016-17 Temple Owls basketball season started off with so much promise.

A 9-4 non-conference record that included wins over then-No. 25 Florida State, and then-No. 18 West Virginia, quickly hit the skids with six losses in seven games to open conference play; by the end of the regular season, their record was 16-15, 7-11 in American Athletic Conference play.

Heading into the AAC tournament as the No. 8 seed, the Owls are looking to bounce back from their uneven conference performance and make a run at the big dance starting with a game against No. 9 seed East Carolina on Thursday (3:30 PM, ESPN-U).

“We’ve been on a championship game idea each game,” Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said on Monday. “Sunday’s game was our championship game and the previous one against Tulane was our championship game and we’ve been trying to have that as our mentality.”

Unlike previous years, Temple’s only shot of making the NCAA Tournament is by winning the AAC tournament.

Last year, Temple had a 20-10 regular-season record and won the AAC regular season title, which along with a quarterfinal in the AAC tournament was good enough give the Owls a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The year before that, Temple had an even more impressive 22-9 record but lost in the AAC semifinals and found itself on the outs on Selection Sunday.

This time around, there will be no such waiting with an early exit.

“Each game is of such critical importance and that will be true on Thursday against ECU.” Dunphy said. “That’s our championship game and if we’re lucky enough to win that game, then the next day we’ll be playing another championship game against SMU so that’s been our mantra.”

For seniors Daniel Dingle and Mark Williams, Thursday’s game against ECU could potentially be the last college basketball game of their careers.

“Me being a fifth-year senior, this is my last opportunity playing in a Temple uniform,” Dingle said. “I’m just thinking of the mindset that I had when I was younger saying I always had next year, for me, this is it so I want to emphasize that to the young guys that this is it for us as a unit.”

“It’s always in the front of my mind but more importantly, it’s about winning four games and getting to the NCAA Tournament,” Williams said.

The Owls are on a bit of a hot streak, having won their previous two games over Tulane and South Florida, though those are bottom two seeds in the conference tournament.

In addition to Dingle and Williams, the Owls are led by freshman guard Shizz Alston Jr., who leads the team in points per game (14.0), junior forward Obi Enechionya, who leads the team in rebounds per game (5.8), and freshman guard Alani Moore II, who leads the team in 3-point percentage, shooting 42 percent from downtown.

In their previous two meetings, Temple and ECU had split the season series. Temple won the first matchup at home by a final score of 81-62 on January 7 and ECU took the second meeting at ECU by a final score of 78-64 on February 15.

“They’ve made great strides during the course of the year, I think their defensive numbers are very good, we respect them greatly,” Dunphy said. “I think their athleticism is very good, they get a guy like Caleb White who can make shots when he’s on then they’re really tough to beat.”

Along with White, ECU is led by Kentrell Barkley who leads the team in points and rebounds per game with 12.4 PPG and 7.5 RPG, and Andre Washington, who leads the AAC in blocks with 92.

If Temple wins its game on Thursday against ECU, they will then have to face the AAC regular-season champions and the No.12 ranked SMU Mustangs on Friday at noon.

“Just coming off of a good win against USF and then to go get a win against ECU and then have to face SMU, I feel like they’re a great team.” Dingle said. “They’re playing well, they just beat Memphis (by 41), but it’s a new season.”

Temple is only 7-11 in AAC play, losing three games by only one possession.

“I feel like we didn’t play our best basketball in conference play honestly,.” Dingle said. “I feel like we defeated ourselves. Credit to SMU, Cincinnati, UCF, those guys, the definitely came and played their best basketball and beat us.

“But I think our best basketball is yet to come.”

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Here’s a look at the rest of the AAC tournament:

Favorites
Southern Methodist: After being ineligible for both postseason tournaments last season, the No. 1 seed Mustangs come into the AAC tournament scorching hot winning their last 13 games and going 14-1 in AAC play and 27-4 overall. In the latest AP top 25 poll, SMU is ranked No. 12, their highest ranking all season. SMU is led by Semi Ojeleye, Shake Milton, Sterling Brown, and Ben Moore, as they are all averaging double figures points per game, (Jarrey Foster  is averaging 9.9 PPG). The Mustangs also lead the AAC in team 3-point percentage.

Cincinnati: The team that handed SMU their only AAC regular season loss is in prime position to make a deep run in the AAC tournament. The Bearcats are 27-4 overall and 16-2 in the AAC and are led by Jacob Evans, and Kyle Washington. Barring something unforeseen, Mick Cronin and Co. will be making their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Dark Horses
Central Florida: After being picked to finished eighth in the preseason AAC coaches poll, UCF finished fourth in the AAC standings. After finishing the 2015-16 season 12-18 (6-12 in AAC), the Knights improved to 20-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play. The one thing that UCF has that other teams do not is a seven-foot-six player protecting the rim. Sophomore center Tacko Fall leads the team in rebounds per game with 9.6 and is always a threat on defense. First year head coach and former Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins have a date with Memphis in the quarterfinal matchup.

Connecticut: Never count out the Huskies in March. Who can forget the many UConn postseason runs? Kemba Walker in 2011, Shabazz Napier in 2014 and of course last year's trip through the AAC tournament as the fifth seed, highlighted by Jalen Adams’ triple-overtime three-quarter court heave to send the title game into a fourth overtime, which saw the Huskies win the game and the tournament. After being ranked as high as No. 16 this season, the Huskies finished the season 14-16, going 9-9 in the AAC. They play last place South Florida on Wednesday night for the right to play the number No. 3-seeded Houston Cougars.

Players to Watch
Jalen Adams (Soph./UConn): Leading the AAC in assists per game at 6.3, Adams looks to lead the once 18th ranked Huskies to another memorable March run. Has just about doubled his scoring average (14.1 ppg) from his freshman year.

Rob Gray Jr. (RS Jr./Houston): The AAC’s leading scorer leads the No. 3 seeded Cougars into the AAC tournament averaging a conference high 20.3 points per game. Has scored 1,006 points in just two seasons.

Tacko Fall (Soph./UCF): College basketball’s tallest player, standing 7-6, Fall gives opposing centers nightmares thanks to his height alone. Averaging 11.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 2.6 bpg, with 11 double-doubles; however, only scored double-figures once in last six games.

Dedric Lawson (Soph./Memphis): Lawson leads the AAC in rebounds per game at 9.9 and is second in points per game at 19.4.

Kyle Washington (Jr./Cincinnati): The junior forward is averaging 13.3 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Bearcats.

Semi Ojeleye (Jr./SMU): The Mustangs’ star forward averages 18.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game.