Temple defeats VCU thanks to strong defensive efforts

Written by: Johnny Zawislak

Photo by: Brian Mermelstein

Khalif Battle’s team high and season-high 27 points led to Temple’s 83-73 win against VCU, but his defensive performance made the difference in a pivotal non-conference matchup.

His four steals were the x-factor, and changed the momentum of the game. 

“I don’t like it when people say I can’t do something,” Battle said. “I just took on the challenge and the result was that we won the game.”

On the defensive end Battle spent his night guarding VCU’s star guard Adrian Baldwin Jr. Baldwin came into the game averaging 17 points per game, along with 6 assists.

Baldwin finished his day with 16 points and nine assists, however Battle was able to make Baldwin uncomfortable and got the 6-foot, 1-inch guard to foul out of the game with two minutes and 30 seconds left.   

The Owls moved to 5-4 on the year in big part from Battle and the rest of the teams defensive efforts forcing 18 VCU turnovers, two more than the Rams season average. 

“Most of the better teams are able to make the stops,” head coach Aaron McKie said. “That’s something that I talk to the team about a lot, so if we want any chance of being a good team, which I think we can be, we got to continue to get better defensively.”

The Numbers

The Owls shot 7-19 from 3-point range, and went 4-8 from three in the second half, which made the difference. 

The playmaking for the Owls was also essential in the Owls win, finishing the game tying the team’s season high in assists with 17. Hysier Miller and Damian Dunn led the way with four assists each.

Supporting Cast Emerges

For a Temple team that desperately needed players not named Khalif Battle and Damian Dunn to step up, the Owls got that against the Rams.

Zach Hicks, Jahlil White, and Nick Jourdain all had encouraging days on both ends of the floor. Hicks finished with 12 points and three rebounds, along with four assists and showed the ability to put the ball on the floor, and drive to the basket.

“He’s a threat and teams got to pay close attention,” McKie said. “When you look at the stat sheet he only had seven shots, but he was also creating shots for others.”

Meanwhile, White and Jourdain, who have been primarily defensive pieces for the Owls, showed their ability to contribute on the offensive end with aggressiveness and their athleticism. 

Jourdain finished with five points, along with four rebounds, White finished with a season high 10 points paired with four rebounds.

Saturday was the second straight game White has come off the bench and he touched on how he has been settling into the new role.

“My first game back against La Salle it was definitely a change of rhythm,” White said. “But now I really adjusted to it and figured out how to come off the bench, and just bring energy and play hard.”

Rotational shift

For the better part of the season Jamille Reynolds and Kur Jongkuch have been getting the majority of the minutes at the center position, but against the Rams Jourdain led the way.

Jourdain got the most minutes out of the three, logging 20 minutes while Reynolds only got 18 and Jongkuch logged just five minutes off the bench.

Damian Dunn’s play

While Dunn put up 17 points along with four assists, his play against the VCU Rams was not perfect.

Dunn, who has struggled with turning over the ball recently, turned the ball over 5 times in the Owls win against the Rams.

Up Next:

The Owls will look to build off this win when they host Big 5 rival Saint Joseph’s University at The Liacouras Center on Tuesday night, tip-off is set for 7 P.M. ESPN+.