Temple starts final push to NCAA tourney

Temple is facing a reeling Central Florida team on Saturday. But if the Owls are overconfident, all coach Fran Dunphy has to do is show them the tape of their first meeting.

That was on Feb. 6, and Temple escaped with a 62-60 victory in Orlando. That began a six-game losing streak for the Knights.

Temple, which is 17-10 overall and in first place with an 11-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference, will earn the top seed in the conference tournament by winning its final three regular-season games.

The final push begins Saturday at the Liacouras Center against UCF (11-15, 5-10). In that first game, UCF made a layup, but it was ruled after the final buzzer, thus avoiding overtime.

UCF outrebounded the Owls, 47-32, including 16-7 on the offensive glass, so Temple must do a better job against a Knights team that offers plenty of size, leading with 7-foot-6 freshman Tacko Fall.

In that first game, Fall made all five of his field goal attempts, scoring 10 points while adding seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 18 minutes.

"They have great size and Tacko Fall has been a force," Dunphy said. "Their size is a factor."

Also in that first game, UCF played without Adonys Henriquez, who was injured. The 6-foot-6 sophomore is the Knights' second-leading scorer, averaging 9.9 points.

After Saturday, the Owls will host Memphis (15-13, 6-9) on Thursday and then finish the regular season March 6 at Tulane (10-18, 3-12).

Even more than earning the top seed, Temple needs to keep winning to build its NCAA resumé, which still needs plenty of work. A 74-55 loss at Tulsa on Tuesday not only snapped the Owls' six-game AAC winning streak but kept the winning Golden Hurricane in the NCAA picture.

Just two games separate the top five AAC teams, not including SMU, which is tied with Temple but ineligible for the conference tournament.

mnarducci@phillynews.com

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