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Battle, Miller help Temple close strong against Drexel

11/27/2022, 7:00pm EST
By Owen McCue and Ty Daubert

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) &
Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert)
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This time last season, Temple didn’t have Khalif Battle to turn to.

A sensational debut season with the Cherry & White ended when he suffered a season-ending foot injury in the seventh game against La Salle.

There have been high and lows for Battle and the Owls through their first seven games in 2022-23. The redshirt-sophomore guard and his team can both take solace in knowing Battle is still there to turn to.


Temple guard Khalif Battle went down with an injury in his team's seventh game last season. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Battle scored 25 points and grabbed seven boards, starring in the back court alongside sophomore guard Hysier Miller (20 points, seven assists), as the Owls closed strong against Drexel for a 73-61 win on Sunday — their seventh game of the season.

“This is Game 7? It feels good,” Battle said, a wide grin stretching across his face. “I told y’all I would take it one game at a time, but I didn’t know it was Game 7. That’s a blessing by God. I’m very appreciative because I know how much work I put in to get back to this point. It’s been tough, but when you have guys, I have all my brothers with me to help me out. It hurt last year, but it feels even better being back.”

Temple (3-4) held onto a 35-31 lead at halftime and didn’t trail for the first 25 minutes of action.

Drexel (3-4) took its first lead on Sunday with 14:35 left when freshman guard Justin Moore hit a jumper to put the Dragons ahead, 43-41. Battle immediately responded with a three to put the Owls back ahead.

The two teams swapped the lead eight times during a seven-minute stretch in the middle of the second half. Battle had four go-ahead buckets for Temple, including a trio of go-ahead threes.

He gave the Owls the lead for good with a three at the 7:27 mark to put Temple up, 56-55.

“We were up one, side out coming, we knew exactly what they were gonna run, and Battle was just able to catch and rise and fire,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. “It was a little more elevation than we were able to contest. He’s a tough shot maker. You can be draped all over him, you can be right there and he can rise up and hit that thing even when it’s challenged.”


Temple sophomore guard Hysier Miller had 20 points and seven assists on Sunday. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

Battle’s three sparked a 15-0 run, which concluded when Miller hit a dagger three to give the Owls a 70-56 lead with 2:09 to play. His season-high 20 points marked the second highest point total of his career behind a 21-point outing against Tulane in the final game of the 2022-23 season.

“I’m just playing the way coach wants me to play, getting myself into the offense and maybe making a few more shots, but just playing ball,” Miller said.

Sunday was the third time in the last four games Miller reached double figures in scoring after not reaching that mark in his team’s first three contests. He’s piled up 10, six and seven assists in those games as well.

“Don’t get it twisted, he can pass for sure, but he can definitely score the ball as you can see tonight,” Battle said. “He can rebound. He’s a tough guy, and he’s one of our leaders on the team. We look up to whatever he has to say and go by his example because he’s the point guard on the court.”

Battle’s challenge to himself coming off his injury this season was on the defensive end. With sophomore wing Jhalil White out the last two games, he started the past two games. Instead of just leading the Owls with his offense, he’s been tasked with helping fill White’s role of guarding teams’ top offensive threats.

On Sunday, Battle spent time on both the freshman Moore (14 points on 6-of-15 shooting) and Drexel senior Coletrane Washington, who scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting.

“Khalif is just being Khalif,” Temple coach Aaron McKie said. “He can make shots for us, he can score for us. He’s taking on the challenge of playing some of the better players on the opposing team, especially with Jahlil out, that’s been his role to guard those guys.”

McKie and the Owls are excited for Khalif to be Khalif for 24 more games and beyond this season.


Drexel big man Amari Williams was strong on both ends in Sunday's loss to Temple. (Photo: Dan Hilferty/CoBL)

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Williams fuels Drexel effort

As Drexel fought back early in the second half to make it a back-and-forth affair, the 6-foot-10 Amari Williams brought the biggest spark. The junior big scored a team-high 18 points on Sunday, serving as the focal point for that stretch.

“We like to play through Amari,” Spiker said, “because he is good with the basketball. … I thought he did a good job. He’s a good big man and a talented player.”

Williams started to put it together as the first half came to a close, scoring a bucket in the post and rejecting a Miller floater ahead of the buzzer to cut Temple’s lead to 35-31 at the break. His strong play continued in the second half as he scored and distributed out of the post, also going 4-for-4 at the foul line.

Last year’s CAA Defensive Player of the Year, Williams also added two blocks and a steal to his line as he matched up with Temple 6-10 big man Jamille Reynolds. Temple ultimately pulled away late to earn the victory over the Dragons, but the showing from Williams against a frontcourt with size and strength was certainly a positive. 

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Methacton grad Hargrove sees action for Dragons

A big step up from the competition he saw in the Pioneer Athletic Conference last season, Drexel freshman Cole Hargrove held his own in his first taste of City Six action.

It was his first action at the Liacouras Center since coming off the bench to help Methacton win a District 1 championship as a high school sophomore in 2020.

“I thought our freshman big man Cole Hargrove — some of you might know him from Methacton in the area,” Spiker said, “he came in and gave us some quality minutes.”

The first-year Dragon played nine minutes against the Owls in his third appearance of the season. Hargrove previously played 11 minutes in a blowout win over Division III Arcadia and one minute against Indiana State on Wednesday.

Entering for the first time on Sunday with just under 16 minutes left in the second half, he quickly got a steal that set up a fast-break layup for Moore. Another minute later, Hargrove threw down a dunk for his only points of the game.

There were moments where Temple’s physicality in the frontcourt put the 6-foot-8, 210-pounder’s youth on display, but he played solidly overall against Reynolds and company.

“I thought he held up pretty well,” Spiker said. “No one’s going to play perfectly. … He wasn’t perfect against a couple coverages, but I thought he showed some fight.”

Spiker hopes Hargrove can be a contributor when Drexel gets into its conference schedule in late December. But before that can happen, he needs to see more time on the floor like he did against the Owls. There might be some growing pains along the way, but they should only help Drexel in the long run.

“He’s just got to get some experience under his belt,” Spiker said. “This isn’t high school; you can’t play three quarters with the varsity and a quarter with the JV. It’s trial by fire.

“I thought he did some good things and was very active. In time, he’ll be a good weapon for us and our basketball team.”

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Reynolds exits early with injury

Temple’s Jamille Reynolds had to be helped off the floor after suffering what appeared to be a right knee injury while going after a loose ball. The 6-foot-10 big returned to the Owls’ bench, but did not check back into the game.

“I don’t want to give you an answer right now,” McKie said when asked for an update on Reynolds. “I think he’s going to be OK, so we’ll see. It’s just one of those things where … you have to see what happens overnight. I don’t want to give you an answer now, but I’m hoping he’s OK.”

A sophomore transfer from UCF, Reynolds has been a major addition to Temple’s frontcourt this season and his success continued against Drexel.before he was hurt, scoring 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 20 minutes.

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Coming up next 

Temple’s next matchup will come against La Salle on Wednesday at 6 p.m. as part of a Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra. Penn will take on St. Joe’s at 8:30 p.m. to follow.

Drexel will also play on Wednesday, hosting Lafayette at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 7 p.m.


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