About a week ago, Temple was in contention for the No. 2 seed in the American Conference. Now, the Owls are on a downward spiral following a 76-71 loss to Alabama-Birmingham Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center.
Temple (15-11, 7-6) has lost three straight games and is tied for sixth place in the conference standings. The win moved the Blazers (17-10, 8-6) ahead of Temple in the standings.
Temple coach Adam Fisher noted he was disappointed with the Owls’ execution.
“Proud of the effort, not the result,” Fisher said. “Effort doesn’t always get it done. You got to execute. Got to be better at home. You see zone for most of the game, you can’t shoot 1-for-15 [from three-point range] at home. Another game with a free throw line [deficiency]. We got to get better there. We got to do some small things.”
Statistical leaders
Temple ended the game winning the rebounding battle 37-31 against the second-best rebounding team in the conference. Guards Jordan Mason (18 points) and Derrian Ford (17) led the team in points, while forward Jami Felt had eight points and 10 boards.
The Owls had just five turnovers, following 16 in their last outing against North Texas, but struggled shooting the ball. In addition to their 1-for-15 three-point performance referenced by Fisher, they went 12-for-19 from the free throw line.
Guard Chance Westry led the Blazers with 24 points and eight assists.
What we saw
Temple pushed the pace on the Blazers’ defense for easy points inside the paint.
Mason, Ford, and Felt got the Owls out to an early 20-16 lead before UAB woke up. The Blazers snatched a 39-33 lead at the half. Temple continued to get points in the paint, but struggled without any points from the perimeter.
Temple made just one three-pointer the entire game. Westry, however, got hot and scored 17 second-half points.
“We tried to be in gaps and constructed it a little bit,” Fisher said. “But [Westry] had a really good night.”
Game changing play
Felt delivered a dunk to give the Owls a one-point edge with seven minutes remaining. Then, 20 seconds later, he went to the line to give them a chance at a three-point lead.
Instead, his shot bounced off the rim, and UAB went back to work.
Westry capitalized 24 seconds later by drilling a three-pointer to snatch the lead right back for the Blazers. Felt had another chance to tie the game with more free throws, but both missed. Mason also missed a critical three-pointer.
UAB knocked down five of its last six shots to seal the victory.
Up next
Temple will visit Wichita State (17-10, 9-5) on Saturday (ESPN2, 6 p.m.).
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