Temple University Athletics
#18/19 UCLA TOPS TEMPLE, 54-47, IN NIT SEASON TIP-OFF QUARTERFINALS
11.18.05 | Men's Basketball
WESTWOOD, CA -- Temple's zone defense frustrated #18/19 UCLA throughout most of the night in quarterfinal action of the NIT Season Tip-Off, but the Owls offense failed them down the stretch in a 54-47 loss at historic Pauley Pavilion Thursday evening.
"We did a pretty good job defensively, but we just did not shoot the ball," said Temple head coach John Chaney. "We held a team that averages (high) down to 54 points. If we continue to do that we will have a nice ball club later on."
Chaney, who wished fellow Hall of Famer John Wooden a belated Happy 95th Birthday as he walked onto the floor named for him and his late wife, Nell, liked the way the game started. His Owls set the tempo, keeping UCLA in a slow, half-court pace.
Temple (1-1) took a quick 4-0 lead, but that was as large a margin either team would own until UCLA posted a 12-1 run midway through the frame to take a 26-15 lead. The Bruins (2-0) would expand upon that courtesy of a 7-0 run to end the half, taking a 33-18 lead into intermission.
Temple fought its way back from the 15-point halftime deficit on the strength of its trademark zone defense. Senior All-America Candidate Mardy Collins, held without a field goal the entire first half, scored nine of his team-high 15 points in a 19-9 run to cut the deficit to five points, 42-37, with 9:18 to play.
Sophomore guard Arron Afflalo, who led all scorers with 18 points, drained a three to snap a 4:20 dry spell for the Bruins. Sophomore Mark Tyndale then took a nice feed from freshman Dionte Christmas under the basket to answer. After a Cedric Bozeman (11 points, nine rebounds) lay-up, Christmas drained one of his three three-pointers to make it 47-42 with just under seven minutes remaining.
Collins, fouled on a follow shot, converted two free throws to move the game back to a one-possession contest. The Owl point guard then missed a three-pointer with 4:32 to play that would have tied the contest. That would be a sign of things to come as the Cherry and White offense would muster just three points over the final 5:46.
Tyndale and Collins missed driving lay-ups in traffic on the team's ensuing possessions. UCLA countered with two free throws by 7-1 center Ryan Hollins and an emphatic Hollins slam to up the margin to seven, 51-44, with 3:12 remaining.
Collins made one of two free throws with 1:42 on the clock to cut the deficit to six, but Temple, which lost the battle of the boards, 41-29, was unable to grab a key rebound when needed.
After playing solid defense on the next possession, Temple failed to pull in a rebound off a Afflalo missed three-pointer as the shot clock wound down with just over a minute to play.
Having committed only one foul through the first 18 minutes of the second half, the Owls now had to make six in a hurry to send the Bruins to the line. Sophomore Josh Farmar, the 2005 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 34 seconds left. The Bruin point guard, however, grabbed his own rebound and was sent to the line again. -- only to do the exact same thing.
This time Afflalo pulled in the Farmar miss and calmly drained both free throws with 25 seconds to play to make it 53-45. Another free throw by Hollins and a lay-up by senior forward Antywane Robinson at the buzzer closed out the game.
Chaney can take one positive from this loss. Christmas, heralded as the team's much needed shooter, lived up to his billing, scoring 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds over 33 minutes. The Owl mentor did note that his freshman needs to get a better feel for the defensive end,
"I think he helped us and he is going to help us more when he finds out what his role is on the floor," said Chaney on Christmas. "He is hustling and running all over the place but a lot of times he is not in the areas he should be. We could not change our defense around with him on the floor."
Instead of a trip to the Garden, the Owls will now have 10 days off before hosting Miami (FL) on Sunday, November 27. The game will be televised live by CN8 and tip-off at 1:00 p.m.
