Temple Owls Ride Daniel Dingle to Victory over USF
By Chuck Booth
The Temple Owls welcomed USF to their home court on a special day, Hooter the Owl’s birthday.
It should be noted that the Temple Owls [13-11, 4-7 AAC] were 11-0 on their mascots birthday and were looking to run that number to 12. Luckily his birthday happened to fall on the same day that Temple would welcome the most inept team in the American Athletic Conference to town. The USF Bulls [6-16, 0-11 AAC] have been mired in turmoil this entire season due to fallout from a NCAA probe about academic violations.
On their second coach of the season after Orlando Antigua was reportedly fired due to that probe, the Bulls have yet to notch a win in conference play. They’re a team without a rudder and usually, those teams find their way once they play the Temple Owls. But not today as Temple won 83-74.
Looking forward to this week’s slate of games, coach Dunphy said,
"“This is a huge week for us really a challenging, challenging week. SMU is as efficient as any of the teams in our league and we had a terrific win over them here last year. We need to play our best basketball this week, no question.”"
They didn’t make it look easy but the Owls were able to hold off the Bulls to win their fourth conference game. Led by six threes and 22 points from Daniel Dingle, the Owls were able to overcome a true effort by the Bulls. USF’s leading scorer on the day was Geno Thorpe with 25 points.
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The Owls got off to a 9-0 run to open play in the first half and were able to build an advantage that they wouldn’t look back from. The half was played at a torrid pace with both teams making plenty of mistakes on the defensive end but only USF paid for theirs. The Temple Owls were able to shoot 62 percent from the field in the first half led by 11 points from Daniel Dingle. The Owls did the majority of their damage when they got out on the fast break as USF couldn’t keep up.
It’s someone’s birthday!!
We’re going to take a second to step away from the game to address Hooter the Owl turning 12. Mascots from all over the city showed up to celebrate the occasion but noticeably absent were most of the Big Five mascots with only the Penn Quaker being in attendance. The mascots then played a game of basketball at the half that was in many ways better than the actual game that took place.
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Back to the game for the second half, it was more of the same for the start with the Temple Owls dominating all facets of the game but midway through the half, they lost their competitive edge allowing the Bulls to ease back into the game. UCF was able to close it within nine but thanks to Dingle’s effort and on court leadership.
"“I don’t need to put up points to feel like a leader. The way that I play each game is gonna vary based on who’s playing well, who has the hot hand. I’m a facilitator and a defender getting my guys involved and I’ll take my opportunity when it comes up. Being a leader is being vocal and making sure that everyone else is good”"
This is the first time in a while that the Temple Owls have been able to get a lead and coast to a comfortable victory and it should have a galvanizing effect on the team as they prepare to take on Memphis and SMU this week. It may be modest but the Owls now also have a two-game winning streak as they look to draw closer to .500 in conference play.