Red-Hot Owls Set For Rematch With Cincinnati
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Temple has won five games in a row, but its last loss before the streak was one of the most painful this season.
The Owls will play host to Cincinnati Tuesday night. The last time the two teams met, the Bearcats blew out the Owls by 31 points. While Temple Coach Fran Dunphy gave credit to the Bearcats, he admits his team did not have it's finest game three weeks ago in Cincinnati.
"We didn't do a very good job on the offensive end," said Dunphy. "There was no stemming of the tide. We just got down and we got down quickly. It was devastating, but they made every shot they took."
Temple's Will Cummings was forced to watch from the bench in Cincinnati. The Owls' point guard missed the game due to a leg injury, but his return is a big reason why Temple has been on a roll since the Cincinnati loss. For Cummings, it was a helpless feeling watching the Bearcats roll past his teammates.
"It's tough just knowing there's nothing you can do," Cummings said. "You can't do anything to help your team. It kind of motivated me just to do whatever I could do to get back on the court and just work as hard as possible."
Cummings and the Owls will face one of the top defenses in the county. Cincinnati is allowing just 54.6 points per game, the best average in the American Athletic Conference as well as the fifth-best mark in the country. The senior point guard knows the Owls will have to be at their best on Tuesday night on the offensive end if they want to find a way to pick up a victory.
"They have a unique defense," said Cummings. "I think we just have to play our basketball. We have to cut, pass, make great basketball decisions, and just knock down shots."
This is a critical conference contest for both teams. The Owls and Bobcats are tied for third in the American with 8-3 conference records. Nobody expects another 31-point blowout, and Dunphy is getting his squad ready for what should be a typical American Athletic Conference battle.
"There is great parity in the league," Dunphy said. "There's great defense in the league. Everybody really guards really, really well. You're going to get these games that are low-scoring and one possession-type games."
On the injury front, Dunphy said Forward Obi Enechionyia is "unlikely" to play as he continues to recover from an ankle injury. Enechionyia injured the ankle in practice on Thursday and missed Saturday's game at Memphis.