Temple runs past La Salle, 90-63, in Big 5 opener
PHILADELPHIA – With the game inside the three-minute mark, Aiden Tobiason squared up a three-pointer and calmy knocked it down, allowing his head coach Adam Fisher to call a timeout and empty his bench with Temple leading La Salle by 35 points.
A Big 5 thriller it was not, but the Owls looked sharp in disposing of the Explorers, 90-63, Tuesday night at the Liacouras Center. Temple assisted on 20 of its 34 field goals, blocked eight shots, swiped six steals and outrebounded La Salle by 15.
If the Owls can beat Villanova at Finneran Pavilion on Dec. 1, they will play for a Big 5 championship five days later at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Wildcats lambasted Sacred Heart by 34 Tuesday night and set a program record for the most made three-pointers in a game with 22.
Temple has five more games to play before that Big 5 matchup at Villanova, starting with Saturday’s home game against Boston College, but the early returns from a roster with 11 new faces, including eight transfers, have been solid.
“We just play the game. We don’t play to score,” Derrian Ford, an Arkansas State transfer, said. “We just stick with each other. We preach, the coaches preach it to us, and we tell each other we’re gonna have ups and downs, it’s a game of runs. So we just stick together through the good and bad.”
But there wasn’t much bad for Temple to endure Tuesday night.
While Tobiason set Temple off to a good start, hitting his first four shots and scoring 12 of his 16 points in the first half, Ford posted a game-high 22 points, one shy of his career high, with 14 coming in the second half. He shot 8-of-14 and 4-for-6 from three-point range.
La Salle led early by 11-10 at the 13:52 mark of the first half on a basket by Edwin Daniel but otherwise could not keep up. The Explorers, who came into the game with a 2-0 record after playing hard in wins over Coppin State and Monmouth, got 11 points from guard Rob Dockery and 10 from forward Jerome Brewer.
La Salle had 20 offensive rebounds in its last game – “that had our attention,” Fisher said – but got just nine Tuesday night against Temple. The Owls used nine different players to collect their 44 rebounds, with Tobiason and Gavin Griffiths leading the way with six apiece.
“We owned the boards in this game,” Tobiason said, “and that was a big emphasis.”
Temple raced out to a 20-11 lead with the help of a 10-0 run and never really looked back from there. The Owls led by 13, 42-29, at halftime and opened the second half on an 8-2 run behind a pair of threes from Ford and a putback dunk from Griffiths to start putting some distance between themselves and the Explorers.
Temple, which shot 50% in the first half (17-of-34), finished the game at that same 50% shooting clip (34-of-68) while holding La Salle to 37% shooting (20-for-54), including just 32.1% (9-for-28) in the second half.
“I thought Temple was more connected than us, especially tonight,” said new La Salle head coach Darris Nichols, who succeeded Fran Dunphy following the former Penn and Temple head coach’s retirement last March.
A lot of that connection came from the way the Owls shared the ball Tuesday night. Point guard Jordan Mason and forward Babatunde Durodola dished out five assists apiece, while Ford added four and served as the primary ball handler with Mason off the floor.
“We’ve harped on [sharing the ball] all summer long,” Fisher said. “We don’t care who our leading scorer is. Don’t care who this is. Let’s each night, share the basketball, get better shots.”
A couple of new faces scored their first Temple points Tuesday night. Cam Wallace, a freshman out of the Westtown School, saw some early minutes and hit a first-half three, while Bowling Green transfer Jamai Felt made his Owls debut, adding four points while hitting both of his field-goal attempts.
Stat stuff
Some numbers to digest from Tuesday night’s win.
Up next
Temple will host ACC opponent Boston College Saturday at 2 p.m., with the game being streamed on ESPN+. The Eagles (1-2) fell to Central Connecticut 60-59 Tuesday night at home in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Guard Fred Payne led the Eagles with 17 points.
Postgame audio
Listen to Tuesday night’s postgame interviews here.
