Owls pushed out but don't complain

NEW YORK - Yep, that big Iowa stiff pushed off the Temple guy to clear space for the game-winning put-back.

No doubt, that sharp officiating crew - the crew with the guts to give Temple a chance to force overtime with a foul call on Quenton DeCosey's three-pointer with 8 seconds left in regulation - they missed the last one.

So what? Temple's out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round, but the Owls aren't crying.

"Yeah," said Obi Enechionyia, when asked if he got shoved by Adam Woodbury. "But, I mean, I need to box out a little better, too."

Obi's point: He was out of position to begin with, under the cylinder, inexcusable given that Hawkeyes point guard Mike Gesell had called for a clear-out. Woodbury, 7-1, earned perfect position for a weak-side rebound, and he probably would have gotten the rebound. Obi is 6-9. The best he could have done was foul him.

It is a crystalline moment in a 72-70 loss, the climax of an evening filled with thrills. The imperfection of that final moment should not detract from the others.

Sure, Temple coach Fran Dunphy could have used the boost an NCAA win gives a guy coaching a periphery program; program that now is just 2-7 in The Dance since he was hired in 2006. But you know what? The other guy, the other Philly guy, he needed the win just as badly.

Fran McCaffery, out of La Salle High and Penn, had a No. 1 seed locked up in January. The Hawkeyes were ranked third in the country before they nose-dived. As the Big Ten schedule wrapped around, a 2-6 skid dropped them to a No. 7 seed. Finishing with losses in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAAs while starting four seniors who won a tournament game last year would have been the sort of stain that takes years to fade.

"It is a huge weight off our shoulders," admitted gunner Jarrod Uthoff.

Dunphy's Owls, whose semifinal-round AAC tourney loss dropped them to a No. 10 seed, withstood an early blitz led by Uthoff. They regrouped, defended, endured. Uthoff and Peter Jok, the Hawkeyes' designated scorers, made five of their first eight three-point shots before Dunphy told his team to switch assignments.

Uthoff and Jok missed their last 13 treys.

Iowa's chance to win in regulation evaporated when the Owls denied, when Uthoff and Jok were blanketed. The same thing happened on the last play of overtime; that's why Gesell, a reluctant shooter, called his own number and justified his reluctance. His airball made him 0-for-8 on Friday.

It also gave Woodbury his chance, and, ultimately, it ended a remarkable game in a remarkable Temple season. The Owls turned 6-6 into 21-12 and an AAC regular-season title with the same single-minded energy that Friday turned a 10-point deficit midway through the second half into a three-point deficit with 8 seconds to play.

Iowa had made a three, then a layup, and was up by double digits with 13:33 left, so Dunphy called a timeout. He simply asked the team to refocus.

See the fight, fight, fight from the Cherry and the White?

Over the next 72 seconds of game time - just one tenacious possession, mind you - they snagged three offensive rebounds, drew two fouls and won a loose ball before Devin Coleman made a layup.

Fast-forward 12 minutes and DeCosey stood at the line. He made two, chilled through an Iowa timeout, then dropped a third, the 23rd of his game-high 26 points, the most dramatic moment . . . until Woodbury's two-handed shove.

A hair's breadth on either side and the shove would have been superfluous. So many plays that were made, and weren't:

With a minute to play in regulation, Enechionyia had a three-pointer go halfway down before the rim spit it out. Still, Jaylen Bond came down with one of his 15 rebounds, but the ball was knocked off his leg. On the other end, Jok missed two of four free throws in the final 18 seconds of regulation, which kept Temple alive. Iowa's Anthony Clemmons missed a free throw with 1:08 left in overtime that set up Josh Brown's tying jumper with 51 seconds to go. Gesell drew the charge on Coleman with 1:32 to play in overtime that disqualified him with five. Coleman's replacement, Daniel Dingle, was later fouled, but, with an injured wrist, Dingle's first free throw barely drew iron.

And then, breathlessly, it was over, Obi forced out of the way, Iowa playing another day. Sunday, in fact, here against second-seeded Villanova.

"It will take a couple of weeks to get over this," Dingle admitted, his wrist iced and bandaged. He won't even watch next week's games, he said.

Dunphy will. He is now 3-16 in his trips to the Tournament at Penn, then Temple. Dwell on that if you must. Or the shove. Or the free throw.

He won't.

"It is the fragile nature of the lives we lead," Dunphy said before the game.

Their lives go on.

@inkstainedretch Blog: ph.ly/DNL