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Enechionyia hitting stride at crucial point for Temple

02/05/2016, 1:30am EST
By Rob Cochran and Aron Minkoff

Obi Enechionyia (above) is starting to consistently produce for Temple after an up-and-down start to his sophomore year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Rob Cochran (@Robbcochran) &
Aron Minkoff (@AronMinkoff)
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Entering the season amidst high expectations, sophomore forward Obi Enechionyia had yet to realize his anticipated potential through the first few months of the season.

Through 19 games, the 6-foot-9 big man started 13 of them, yet only scored 10 or more points in eight games.

All of the sudden it appears that things may be on the rise for Enechionyia, who finished with 17 points, his third-most of the season, in Thursday night’s 83-79 victory over Tulsa.

“My confidence is pretty high right now,” Enechionyia said. “It didn’t really drop off much, I just wasn’t hitting shots. That happens sometimes but i feel like I’m back in my groove.”

After scoring a career-high 25 points against Saint Joseph’s on December 13, Enechionyia went on an eight-game stretch in which he averaged 4.9 ppg. Finally, in the last trio of games, the sophomore forward seems to be playing with a renewed consistency.

The victory over Tulsa marked his third consecutive game in which he scored double digits in points. This is the longest streak of that nature on the season.

The level in which Enechionyia played at in Thursday night’s overtime win, including three 3-pointers, really helped the Owls overcome a deep second-half deficit.

Perhaps the most improved aspect of his game is his 3-point shooting. On the season, he is connecting on 38.9 percent of his 3-point attempts, 11 percent higher than last year.

However he is connecting on just 40.6 percent of his field goals, a 4.3 percent drop since last season.

“When he squares his feet se as a jump shooter, he’s terrific,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “He has worked really hard at it (his jumpshot), and his next step is to work at other parts of the game, including his defensive end, rebounding end, and playmaking end.”

He is averaging 9.2 ppg on the season, which on paper would indicate a successful jump for a sophomore who averaged just 5.3 ppg as a freshman. However, Enechionyia has not played nearly as well as anticipated.

When the game came down to the wire, Enechionyia kept his cool and did not force an errant shot. He trusted that his teammates around him would come through.

“I really wasn’t worried,” Enechionyia said. “I’m pretty confident with him [Devin Coleman] and Q [Quenton DeCosey] knowing that when they have the ball I’m pretty sure anything they put up is going to go in.”

It was a good day at the office for the sophomore. In addition to his 17 points, he shot well, going 7-12 from the field.

He also looked solid defensively, coming up with four defensive rebounds and two blocks in tonight’s effort.

He may not be having the breakout season that the Owls had hoped he would, but Dunphy knows he has a great and dedicated player.

“He’s a good guy, a great teammate, and he made a couple of big plays tonight,” Dunphy said.

The Owls still have a lot of work to do in order to make a run at the NCAA Tournament, and Enechionyia will certainly need to maintain his level of high-play that he has displayed over the last stretch of games. But the win over Tulsa is certainly a step in the right direction.

“It’s a big win,” Enechionyia said. “We are kinda on a run right now, we lost a bad game at ECU, but this is big too, it picks us up and gets us back into it.

“Especially how we were down and how we were struggling. Anytime we come back like that in the last few seconds, that’s a big win,” Enechionyia continued. “I think we were all pretty confident we were going to come back and win the game so i don’t think that is a problem for us.”

The confidence is high up on Broad Street and Owls fans everywhere are hoping to see Enechionyia and the confident Owls dancing come March.


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