Through two conference games, Temple’s results could not be any different.
In their American Athletic Conference opener, the Owls surprised then-nationally ranked Cincinnati on the road with a 77-70 win. But just four days later, the Owls were blown out of their own building in a 77-50 loss to a Houston team that will likely finish in the middle of the AAC pack.
So, as Temple prepares for another tough road game against a nationally ranked team, the question is simple: which Owls team will show up?
Temple will find out soon enough as No. 23 Connecticut welcomes the Owls to Hartford tonight (8 p.m., CBS Sports Network) for an important early league test.
“We had guys who were good enough to beat Cincinnati on the road and not good enough to beat Houston,” Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said. “We’ve got to keep working.”
Dunphy admitted after Saturday’s game that he didn’t see the blowout loss to Houston coming. It was only one of three times Temple has lost by 20 or more points at home in Dunphy’s 10 years with the Owls. And it was as ugly as the final score would indicate with Temple shooting 34.5 percent from the field and 13 percent from three-point range while allowing the Cougars to shoot 54.4 percent and 46.7 percent.
That came in stark contrast to their game in Cincy when the Owls made half of their field goals (26 for 52) and nearly half of their three-pointers (10 for 22).
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“I was very confident against Cincinnati and not as confident today,” Dunphy deadpanned when asked about his streaky shooters. “We just did not make shots. But we have to keep taking them and need to continue to work at that part of our game. We’ll have a great opponent to play Tuesday and that will be a great test for us.”
The Owls, who Dunphy admitted “don’t have a great presence inside,” will almost certainly fail the test if their shots don’t fall again.
Led by four players scoring in double figures, including leading scorer Rodney Purvis (15.6 ppg), UConn (10-3, 1-0) has won five straight, capped by a 75-67 win over Tulane in its conference opener in which Purvis dropped in 20.
But Temple (6-6, 1-1) has experience playing nationally ranked teams. In addition to its victory over Cincinnati — which marked the program’s ninth season in a row with a win over a Top 25 team — Temple has played three other Top 25 opponents this season.
The key now is for the Owls to play like they did against Cincy and quickly get rid of the feeling from Saturday’s rout at the hands of Houston.
“We thought we had some momentum building up,” Dunphy said. “We had a terrific win on the road. But it’s not good enough. Every day, you’ve got to come out ready to go.”
