Josh Safran’s Virtual College Basketball Season: Temple Tops Twentieth-Ranked Terrapins (Game 2: UMD vs. TU)
Note: Josh Safran, the creator of Corona Madness, got very bored while in quarantine and wanted to see this year’s college basketball season played to completion. Thus, he used the Temple Men’s Basketball roster to play a hybrid version of their schedule in the NCAA10 video game. The team competes in the A-10 and isn’t an exact replica, but it’s here to serve your basketball boredom for now.
Written by: Josh Safran
The yellow shirted ushers were still trekking up and down aisles clearing an assortment of popcorn and pretzels that were thrown to the ground following last night’s 45-43 defeat. (Don’t lose by 2 on 1$ soft pretzel night) as the student body woke up with the dry taste of defeat in their mouths. As for the boys in cherry and white, it was another day at the office for Quinton Rose and his teammates.
Barely 24 hours after his head coaching debut and heartbreaking loss to USC, coach Aaron McKie and the Owls welcomed their first true test of the season, the Grievis Vasquez-led, 20th ranked Maryland Terrapins.
Rose ran his point total up to 21 in Temple’s 44-34 upset of #20 Maryland. To go along with his scoring, the senior guard pulled down five rebounds and distributed well for four assists, but his biggest contributions came in the energy category, with not one, but two show stopping dunks.
While the scoreboard showed a ten point victory, this game was tighter than it seemed, Temple (1-1) got back to the basics, emphasizing defense and rotations to pave the way to an upset. Maryland (1-1) can usually rely on quick cuts and the shooting ability of their point guard, NBA hopeful Greivis Vasquez, who was held to just 7 points, shooting an abysmal 3-of-12 from the field.
Led defensively by the lockdown perimeter defense of Nate Pierre-Louis, the Owls did an excellent job turning defense into offense with aid from their low post help and outlet passing. Big man Jake Forrester was a rock down low, bringing down seven boards against the better rebounding Terrapins and sparked a couple fast breaks.
It’s hard to imagine a must-win coming on the second game of the year, but for a team with an A-10/AAC schedule, these early out of conference games are vital if they want a shot of playing in the big dance. Temple looks to continue to add to their resume as they begin the Preseason NIT against Oral Roberts tomorrow night.
Here is the highlight video from tonight’s game on YouTube: https://youtu.be/C0_cO-KTmSY
