Temple University Athletics
Dayton Proves How Good A10 is This Season
1.7.12 | Men's Basketball
As the team returned to practice in the wake of the nearly non-stop headline buzz that inevitably comes hand-in-hand with upending Duke, Fran Dunphy didn't hesitate to remind his team of the challenge that an 11-4 Dayton squad presented. In Wednesday's post-game press-conference, he told the media what he said to the team in the locker room.
“Yeah, [the Duke game] was a fabulous, fabulous win, but we have to go to work. I am worried about Dayton.”
Though few people typically associate an A-10 program like Dayton with a nationally-ranked Duke, Dayton posted some hefty wins over key opponents like Alabama, Wake Forest and fellow A-10 foe, Saint Louis, prior to today's match-up with the Owls.
The Owls looked pretty solid in the first half after a shaky start in which Dayton jumped out to a three-point lead that Temple answered with a sloppy possession. After trading runs, the two teams trotted to the locker rooms at halftime knotted at 31.
Unfortunately, some issues in the second half allowed Dayton to capitalize on opportunities and ultimately gave the Flyers the 87-77 victory.
One issue that the Owls certainly didn't have was a lack of offensive production, as Temple shot a red-hot 46.8% from the field; instead, it seemed that the team was unable to get key stops when it needed them.
“Each team had momentum, but Dayton was able to take advantage of it,” said Juan Fernandez, who was 6-11 from the field and scored 15 points. “We didn't know how to stop Dayton's runs.”
Fernandez, Khalif Wyatt (career-high 28 pts.) and Ramone Moore (17 pts.) combined for 60 of Temple's 77 points, but it wasn't enough to keep the Owls in the game, as they were outsized defensively, with four of Dayton's forwards measuring in at 6'9”.
Following the loss, Dunphy reiterated one of his familiar mantras, that missing Micheal Eric and Scootie Randall is no excuse to adopt a losing mindset.
“We've gotta figure out a way to do better than we did,” he said. “We had our opportunities. Sometimes in life you get what you deserve. We got what we deserved.”
But it was Fernandez, who best summed up the team's attitude after riding the highs and lows of this past week's games.
“We don't have anything guaranteed after beating Duke,” he explained. “No matter how big of a win or loss a game is, the season goes on.”
And it does, indeed, as the Owls travel to Saint Louis for Wednesday's matchup against
the 12-3 Billikens, another strong A-10 opponent.
Fans should expect another close game, and for many of Temple's upcoming conference games, as this season's A-10 race is shaping up to be very challenging.
“We're going to be in a dogfight each and every game in the A-10,” Dunphy said.
by Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com Columnist
