TAMPA, Fla., (Jan. 24, 2023) – South Florida begins a two-game American Athletic Conference road trip Wednesday in Philadelphia, PA at Temple.
The Bulls, who have won two of their last three contests, are coming off of an 85-72 triumph over UCF on Saturday.
Temple topped, then AP No. 1, Houston 56-55 on Sunday. It was the Owls third victory in their last four games.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Temple:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (9-11; 2-5 AAC) at Temple (12-9; 6-2 AAC)
Date: Wed., Jan. 25
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Philadelphia, Pa. | Liacouras Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 102.5 The Strike HD-2 & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: South Florida is 6-14 all-time against Temple. The Bulls have lost two in a row including a 68-64 loss three weeks ago at Yuengling Center.
The Opponent: Temple, picked to finish fifth in the AAC preseason poll, is currently in second place in the American.
Redshirt sophomore guard Damian Dunn is a scoring guard with good size. He is making 35 percent of his threes and gets them off catch-and-shoot and from creating off the bounce. He likes step-backs. Defenders must stay down on his pump fake. Dunn also does a good job of getting to the free throw line. He was named to the AAC preseason first team and leads Temple in scoring in conference games.
Khalif Battle is also a scoring guard with good size but is more aggressive than Dunn. Defenders should make him go left. Battle gets threes off the bounce, running in transition and off screening action. He has deep range. We noticed that he will kick his legs on his jumper and flop. Hope that gets called on him. Battle has not been a good perimeter shooter of late but I wouldn’t give him dare shots.
Nick Jourdain is a long athletic forward with range to the three-point line but is not shooting many threes this season. Jourdain will screen-and-roll and slip screens. He can finish with either hand but prefers to drive left and finish with his left. Jourdain will crash the glass and block shots. In fact, he had a key block with 95 seconds left at Houston.
Forward Zach Hicks (24) is a shooter – 78 percent of his shots are threes. Temple gets him the ball off pin down screens, flare screens and dribble handoffs. Hicks is long but he is not very physical and not great off the bounce. You must be right there with a high hand when he catches the ball or he will knock down the shot. In Tampa Hicks did not score but he did grab seven rebounds.
Point guard Hysier Miller leads the Owls in assists and steals. Almost half of Miller’s shots are threes. At 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, Miller has a strong, physical frame for a lead guard. He doesn’t want to play fast unless Temple has numbers. Stay in front of Miller and force him to drive to his left. Do not foul him – Miller makes 83 percent of his free throws.
Temple wants to run out and get easy buckets. They will drive the ball hard and try to get to the FT line – they are second in the AAC in FT percentage. The Owls shoots 24 threes per game and are making seven. They use lots of ball screens.
Defensively, Temple is almost exclusively man (98.8 percent) but we expect some 2-3 zone and man against USF. Temple also uses some 1-2-2 3/4 court pressure, often with a bigger guy up top.
KEYS TO A WIN
Play very good transition defense, defend the three-point arc, defend without fouling, rebound aggressively, take care of the ball and have great player/ball movement. Embrace the atmosphere. Temple will likely have a good crowd after their win over Houston.
