Cummings Comes Up Big For Owls

PHILADELPHIA -- Will Cummings is the classic definition of a gamer.

Unafraid to go toe-to-toe with the league's toughest, most athletic guards, the 6-2 Jacksonville, Fla. native welcomes competition with hungry, narrowed eyes.

He funnels his competitive aggression into moments of defensive prowess, often hurling his lean frame across the court, arms outstretched, desperately looking to corral a loose ball.

He'll hone in on the way opponents dribble and with a innate, reflexive tap that cannot be taught, he'll snatch the ball away and blaze his way to the other end of the court for an easy layup.

Every possession matters to Cummings, not only in his role as the team's floor general, but also for the man himself, who lives and breathes and loves this game.

If basketball jerseys had sleeves, that's where his heart would be -- on display for everyone to see.

And today, as Temple eked by a crafty University of Rhode Island squad, it was.

Cummings notched a career-high 15 points in the team's 76-70 win, but it was his defensive talent that kept the Owls in the game when it mattered most.

“I think Will played great. I think he made good decisions with the ball,” said senior Khalif Wyatt, with whom Cummings shares the point guard duties.

“When he saw lanes to attack, he attacked. When he saw open guys, he passed the ball. The biggest thing, I think, was that he got on the floor about four or five times and got loose balls that we needed.”

Nearly all of his four steals came at opportune times for Temple.

His fourth and final was perhaps the most critical.

With 11:57 remaining in the game, he dove, limbs splayed like a stingray on top of a loose ball and shoveled it forward to Scootie Randall for a breakaway layup attempt that gave the Owls the lead for good.

Though he was primarily a scorer in high school at The Providence School, Cummings is no stranger to the game-changing impact his making athletic defensive plays can provide his team.

“It just gives you energy, motivation to play harder. Just getting loose balls and transitioning it into a bucket on the other end just makes you want to play harder. It gets the fans into it and that gives us life,” he said of his role in today's outcome.

“That's what he can do for us,” Temple head coach Fran Dunphy added. “For him to get loose balls and do a couple of those things that get you an extra possession or save you one, it's really important.”

After being projected by CBSCollegeSports.com as one of the NCAA's Top 10 Breakout Players of the Year, Cummings seems to be coming into his own as his sophomore season draws to a close.

“He adds another scorer for us that I think in some games is desperately needed. I thought his two threes today were very important for us. He also took it to the basket a couple times. Just to get him to the line for five foul shots was very important for us,” Dunphy said.

“We need him to play extremely well all the time.”

But what this Temple team really needs from Cummings is that grit, that gut, that heart that he displays every time he goes to work.

Lost in the frenzied aftermath of the technical foul confusion following his final steal of the game was Cummings, coming to his feet, clutching one of his fingers as the blood ran down his hand.

He tried sucking on it, wrapping his shorts around it like a tourniquet -- anything so that he could stay on the court a little longer.

Anything to protect his turf and preserve those precious minutes -- 33 of them today, his highest total since the team's game at Saint Joseph's last month -- on the court.

Anything to help his team.

by Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist

Temple University Athletics

Cummings Comes Up Big For Owls

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