Temple’s rollercoaster-ride season hits a high with win at UConn
You could say Temple is playing its best basketball of the season and could be a contender in the American Confernece after it upset No. 23 UConn on Tuesday on the road thanks to Josh Brown’s spinning floater in the final seconds.
But saying that would be completely overlooking a 27-point home loss to Houston in between Tuesday’s win and another victory over a then-ranked Cincinnati team last week.
[Indiana’s second leading scorer to undergo right knee surgery]
Temple has been one of the hardest teams in the nation to figure out to this point in the season. The Owls get clobbered by the likes of Houston only to follow up by proving capable of playing with and beating a top-25 opponent on its home floor. They get blown out by Wisconsin, barely beat Penn but beat the Bearcats on the road. It’s confounding.
Temple has played one of the more difficult schedules in the nation to this point and maybe all that competition has played a part in the rollercoaster ride. The Owls are now 7-6 overall and haven’t won more than two consecutive games all season.
[Ohio State coach Thad Matta imitates Stanford bro during interview]
The victory over UConn marked the first time since 1998 Temple has won two games on the road against ranked opponents in the same season. It also earned coach Fran Dunphy his 200th victory at Temple. But will it be the catalyst toward more consistency for Temple or are we going to be shaking our heads next week after Temple plays East Carolina and Memphis?
UConn endured a horrible shooting performance making just 32 percent of its attempts in the game and going 4-for-20 behind the 3-point line. Of course, some of that has to be credited to the Owls defense.
Part of the Owls’ consistency problem this season has to do with its poor shooting. When the Owls are making shots, they can be dangerous, when they’re not, it can be ugly. They made just enough Tuesday (39 percent) to secure another big road win and get us scratching our heads.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
