City of Basketball Love

Aron Minkoff (@AronMinkoff)
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As we approach the end of 2015, and dawn of 2016, thus begins conference play in college basketball.

It is truly one the most wonderful time of the year.

Temple begins AAC play on Tuesday with a potential matchup nightmare as the Owls head to Cincinnati to take on 22nd-ranked Bearcats.

The non-conference slate has not faired as well as Temple would have liked, finishing .500 with losses to Utah, Butler and St. Joseph’s by six points or less.

“We let some games go,” Quenton DeCosey said. “We lost that game to St. Joe’s by one, that was a tough one. We lost some close games in Puerto Rico, we are just gonna have to move forward, starting in conference play with Cincinnati. Just stay calm, get focused and come together as a team.”

The Owls bring their 5-5 record to a big test when they play the 10-3 Bearcats. Temple was smoked 84-53 when the two teams faced off at Fifth Third Arena last season.

The Owls enter the game as an underdog, but here are three keys to what the Owls can do to come away with a key win:

Connect on 3-pointers

Temple has shot an abysmal 30.8 percent from three-point range this season, despite taking 23.4 3-pointers per game, a stat that surely has to change in order for Temple to finish with a winning season.

In fact, only Obi Enechionyia, has shot better than 39 percent from deep, and he boasts a 44.7 percent 3-point shooting percentage.

In Temple’s last game, a win over winless Delaware State, Temple shot a dismal four of 27 from behind the arc, a rate that just will not cut it in conference play.

“We gotta get our confidence to a point where everybody feels good about stepping up and making shots,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “Now we are going to go into league play and we aren’t going to get as many open shots from three. Cincinnati is really a terrific defensive basketball team. If you told me we could get 27 decent looks from three against Cincinnati I’d be shocked.”

If Temple does not shoot the ball better from long range, it will be a long day for Dunphy and company.

Limit foul trouble

Temple’s bigs, Enechionyia and Jaylen Bond have each had their fair share of struggles this season with foul trouble. Bond has fouled out of two games and recorded four fouls in a third game. While, Enechionyia has fouled out of just one game, but has picked up four fouls in three additional games.

“Our last visit down there, to Cincinnati, was not the outcome that we had wanted, so we are going to have to be extremely focused,” DeCosey said. “Definitely tell our bigs, Jaylen and Obi to not get into foul trouble because we are going to need them against Cincinnati.”

The Bearcats boast quite the impressive front court, in 6-foot-10 senior forward Octavius Ellis (10 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Gary Clark (10 ppg, 8.2 rpg). It is a frontcourt that could really take advantage of an under-manned Temple team if Bond and Enechionyia spend time on the bench in foul trouble.

Find Energy

For much of the non-conference slate, Temple has been described as a team playing limited amounts of energy. That has to change, and it has to start with defense.

Temple has not been great on defense this season, in fact they have struggled mightily. According to Kenpom, Temple ranks 325th in the nation in forcing turnovers at just 15.2 turnovers per game and 262nd in blocks, with 6.8 bpg. This coupled with Cincinnati’s ability to crash the offensive glass could cause some problems for Temple if they do not buckle down.

“As a team we gotta focus in practice and work on our defense,” freshman Trey Lowe said. ”Defense help, on the ball and off the ball, keep rebounding and becoming better players.”

Overall it is a tall order on tap for Temple, it is quite the way to kick-off the AAC portion of the schedule.

“It is a tough place to play,” Dunphy said on Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena. “We are going to have to be really solid on the defensive end, when we get good looks we are going to have to knock them down.”