Only at Temple could an ugly basketball game look so beautiful.
The Owls played arguably their best defensive game since Coach Fran Dunphy’s arrival in securing a 69-46 victory over Towson on Thursday night at The Liacouras Center.
If not for a three-pointer by walk-on guard Ryan Kannegieter – the first basket of his Towson career – with six seconds to go, the Tigers would have posted the worst shooting percentage in the 10-year history of the building.
As it was, they shot 23.2 percent from the floor. Only Rollie Massimino’s Cleveland State disaster shot it worse (22.4 percent) in a 73-46 loss to the Owls in December 2000.
Coming off a 90-88 victory over Ohio, when they failed to stop anyone in the paint, the Owls stressed defense in the last few days of practice, according to team captains Mark Tyndale and Chris Clark.
Towson forward Junior Hairston came in averaging 15 points and 12.7 rebounds per contest. But Hairston (6 points, 6 rebounds) and his teammates couldn’t find space in the paint, so they settled for jump shots. Few of them dropped.
The Owls shut down Towson’s only serious perimeter threat, junior guard Tim Crossin, who was 11 for 22 from three-point range this season. In 19 minutes, Crossin managed (and missed) just one three-point attempt.
Solid defense kept the Owls in control of the game, which they led from start to finish, even as they searched for some offensive rhythm.
The first 15 minutes were simply a struggle. Towson did a nice job keeping the ball away from Dionte Christmas, and the Owls committed a few too many turnovers and missed some free throws. But when Christmas found a crack in the Tigers, he cracked the game wide open.
With Temple ahead, 22-15, Christmas rebounded a miss by Sergio Olmos and sank a six-foot bank shot. Two possessions later, Christmas drove to the hole for a layup and one. The free throw gave the Owls a 27-15 advantage.
When the Tigers jumped at him on Temple’s next possession, Christmas dished the ball to Luis Guzman for a three-pointer. Finally, in the waning seconds before halftime, Christmas was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank two of three free throws.
The five-minute burst pushed the lead to 32-17.
The Tigers never posed a serious threat in the second half. They might have, if they had only been able to hit a few layups. Because the Owls had an awful stretch when Towson switched to a 1-3-1 zone trap.
After extending the lead to 40-22, Temple committed four turnovers and missed three shots in a three-minute stretch. All four turnovers came on bad passes into the middle of the zone. But Towson didn’t score directly off any of the turnovers, and had to scratch back hitting 5 of 6 free throws during a 7-0 run.
All that work was muted when Christmas hit a three-pointer. Minutes later, the Owls blew the doors open with a 16-2 run, stretching the lead to 62-35.
Though Temple finished with 17 turnovers and surrendered 14 offensive rebounds, nothing could offset Towson’s miserable shooting effort. Meanwhile, the Owls converted 24 of 47 field goal attempts.
Christmas needed only 10 shots to score a game-high 16 points. He also matched his career-high with 11 rebounds. Tyndale totaled 12 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman forward Lavoy Allen added 14 points on 6 of 7 field goal shooting.
Oddly, neither Allen nor Olmos grabbed a defensive rebound. But they seemed to clear a lot of space for Tyndale and Christmas. Another statistical oddity: Guzman and Clark combined for 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting, but they totaled just three assists and nine turnovers.
Offensively, the Owls played maybe their most disjointed game so far, finishing with a season-low seven assists on 24 baskets. But nobody’s complaining when you shoot 50 percent from the floor.
Or when you play your best defensive game in recent memory.
The Owls (4-4) will host Villanova at The Liacouras Center on Sunday night.
Dunphy Postgame Press Conference: Listen to Audio
Tyndale/Allen Postgame Press Conference: Listen to AudioHarvey Levine's Towson-Temple Gallery
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