Temple goes ice cold in crucial loss to Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. - Temple has zero margin for error concerning the NCAA tournament after a performance Sunday in which its shooting was even colder than the brisk Oklahoma weather.

The Owls' lack of proficiency from the perimeter enabled Tulsa to defeat Temple, 55-39, in an American Athletic Conference game before 5,130 at the Reynolds Center.

The Owls went 0-2 on this critical two-game road trip against the AAC's top two teams, starting with a 67-58 loss Thursday at Southern Methodist.

Temple fell to 19-9 overall and 10-5 in the AAC. Tulsa, which swept the season series from the Owls, is 19-7 and 12-2.

Temple has three games remaining and likely has to win them all. Playing well in the AAC tournament looks like a prerequisite for the Owls if they are to keep their NCAA hopes alive.

It was the Owls' lowest-scoring game of the season, with the previous coming in an opening 40-37 win over American University.

"I would always give Tulsa great credit for their defense because I think they played hard and were really into it," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "But I thought we had a number of opportunities at the rim, some of them two or three times in the same possession."

The numbers from Temple's perspective were grim. The Owls made 14 of 57 shots from the field, 1 of 14 from three-point range and 10 of 24 from the foul line.

"I feel we got outworked," said guard Will Cummings, who was Temple's only double-figure scorer with 15 points. "They wanted it more than us tonight and that is what it really comes down to in these types of games."

Jaylen Bond and Quenton DeCosey were a combined 4 for 22. Bond, who had 11 rebounds, missed several inside shots and was 3 for 14.

"I got a little frustrated with myself and kind of got down on myself early in the game," Bond said. "I let it get to me and next time I have to be smarter, just have faith in myself and my teammates and things will be a lot better."

Early foul trouble by Cummings didn't help Temple's cause, either. Cummings played just eight first-half minutes and had three fouls.

Temple trailed just 26-22 at halftime, but it wasn't a good omen. The Golden Hurricane are now 15-0 when leading at halftime.

Cummings didn't start the second half. Tulsa increased the lead to 33-24 and Temple would never get any closer than the nine-point deficit.

The Owls had trouble keeping up with the quick Golden Hurricane, who were led by guard James Woodard's 16 points. And after a while, the poor Temple shooting appeared to demoralize the Owls on the other end of the court.

Tulsa earned a flurry of fastbreak points, building the lead to 42-26 on a dunk in transition by Marquel Curtis with 9:42 left. By then this one was long over.

Temple can only hope its NCAA hopes aren't finished as well.