City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Jamal Mashburn Jr. was everything Temple hoped for in his Philly debut.

The son of the former NBA All-Star arrived in Philadelphia this offseason with 1,866 career points to his name between one year at Minnesota and three at New Mexico, his selection to the American Athletic Conference Preseason First Team a sign of what the rest of the league expected out of the Miami native. 

Mashburn Jr. certainly looked the part of a standout lead guard in Temple’s season opener, pouring in 26 points to lead the Owls to an 81-70 win over Sacred Heart on Monday night at the Liacouras Center. 

A 6-foot-2, 195-pound combo guard, Mashburn was smooth and efficient with the ball in his hands, shooting 10-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. That was good enough to lead all scorers in a game Temple trailed early but rallied in the second half to open the season 1-0. 

“I’m always in attack mode,” he said afterwards. “I’m always ready to score, ready to pass, make a play, play defense, whatever I’ve got to do to get a win.”

“Ten-for-16 tonight, he had it going,” Temple coach Adam Fisher added. “He’s already proven the type of player he is based on the career he’s had in college basketball, and he’s a winner [...] I don’t think he had any idea how many points he had tonight, he’s happy that we got the win, and you hear him talk about that all the time — we, we, we. I’m excited that he’s in our program.”

Graduate student forward Steve Settle II added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, the 6-10 forward leading the Owls in dimes and tying for the team lead in boards with Shane Dezonie.

Behind Mashburn’s sharpshooting and 3-of-5 performance from deep by Penn State transfer Jameel Brown (11 points) in his Temple debut, the Owls shot 11-of-23 (47.8%) from deep and 49.1% overall (27-of-55) from the floor. 

Sacred Heart opened up with a 15-5 lead and held an advantage for the majority of the first half, though Temple led 37-36 at the break. It was a 52-46 Pioneers advantage with 12:34 remaining when the Owls finally put it together on both ends. 

A 3-point play by Dezonie kick-started a 17-3 run which featured 3s by Mashburn and Brown, putting Temple up 63-55 with 9:47 to play.

Sacred Heart didn’t fold, getting within four points with 2:52 to play. A Zion Stanford steal and fastbreak dunk plus the harm put the Owls up 75-67 with 90 seconds remaining, all but slamming the door shut. 

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Durodola debuts in starting lineup

Freshman wing Babatunde Durodola was, until this summer, a member of the 2025 high school class, before committing to Temple and enrolling this fall as a college freshman, a year ahead of schedule. 

With junior forward and Fordham transfer Elijah Gray unavailable (concussion), Durodola got the nod. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound Canadian forward ended up in the starting lineup against Sacred Heart, playing 16 minutes and contributing four points and three rebounds to the win. 

“He’s really skilled, he’s a guy that plays really hard, high IQ. and he earned it,” Fisher said. “Elijah Gray being out, next man up, and he played really well in a scrimmage we had, a secret scrimmage [...] I thought he did some good things today.”

He’s the first Temple true freshman to start in his debut under Fisher, the first true freshman at Temple to start his first game in five years (Jeremiah Williams, Dec. 19, 2020), and the first Temple forward since Mark Williams in 2013 to start the first game of his career. 

Durodola wasn’t the only Temple freshman to make his Cherry & White debut Monday night. Dillon Battie, whose father Derrick Battie suited up for the Owls in the 90s, added four points in seven minutes of work, throwing down a big alley-oop slam in the first half. 

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Big minutes from Berry

With point guard Lynn Greer III out for the first nine games of the season (suspension), it was sophomore point guard Quante Berry who got the start on the ball for the Owls. The Providence transfer, who didn’t play as a true freshman with the Friars but saw action in 30 games last year for Temple, played a career-high 38 minutes against Sacred Heart, finishing with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

An athletic 6-4 combo guard, Berry made several impressive plays on the defensive end, reading the passing lanes and getting a hand on several deflections. His biggest demerit was four turnovers, including a giveaway with just seconds left in the first half that led to a Sacred Heart run-out layup. 

“I think he’s earned it, he’s a guy that’s had a great offseason, I think that’s important,” Fisher said. “He stayed, came back, worked on his game, now you’re in year two of knowing our system, offensively and defensively, and I think that’s really helped him.”

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More Stats + Notes

— Sacred Heart won the rebounding battle 40-34, including a 15-7 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to a 13-9 advantage into second-chance points for the Pioneers.

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Next Up
Temple (1-0) is back in action on Friday, Nov. 8 with a neutral-court game against Monmouth at CURE Insurance Arena in Newark, N.J.