TAMPA, Fla., (Feb. 6, 2022) – The South Florida men’s basketball team begins a stretch of six games in a 13-day span, including five home games, when it hosts Temple on Monday. It is the make-up of a Covid postponed game originally scheduled for Jan. 22.
The Bulls, lost their War On I-4 rematch at UCF 68-49 on Thursday. It was the fifth time this season the Bulls failed to score at least 50 points.
Temple is playing on short rest following a 67-58 victory over Tulsa on Saturday afternoon.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Temple:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (6-14, 1-7 AAC) vs. Temple (13-7, 6-3 AAC)
Date: Monday February 7
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, FL | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: USF Bulls Unlimited
History: USF is 5-12 all-time versus Temple but has won three of its last four games against the Owls.
The Opponent: Temple lost then leading scorer Khalif Battle for the remainder of the season on Dec. 1 to a broken bone in his left foot. After back-to-back losses to start American Athletic Conference play, the Owls have won six of its last seven AAC games.
Redshirt freshman guard Damian Dunn has put his team on his back since Battle was lost for the season. Dunn is Temple’s leading scorer and third leading rebounder. He moves well without the ball and has a nose for finding open space to cut into to score. Dunn improved his perimeter shooter from 18 percent last season to 32.5 percent this season. In conference play Dunn is drawing more fouls per 40 minutes played (6.4) than anyone in the AAC. He ranks third in the AAC in free throws made per game (4.65).
Point guard Jeremiah Williams led Temple in assists when he averaged 4.1 per game last season as a freshman. Williams has picked up right where he left off, and is averaging a team-high 4.1 assists per game (5th AAC) while also ranking second on the team in scoring at 10.1 ppg.
Freshman forward Nick Jourdain wants to play on the perimeter and shoot jumpers – he’s making 17.1 percent of his attempts. The 6-foot-8, 205-pounder has a nice spin move off the left block to drive the baseline to score. Jourdain is good off the bounce, will back into defenders for a mid-post turnaround jumper. He is the best offensive rebounder on the team and an excellent finisher in transition.
Sophomore Arashma Parks has startied the last eight contests. He is a big, strong post with nice touch around the rim. He scores off drop-offs and OREB/put-backs. On defense Parks uses his chest and “walls up” to make you score over him.
Keep an eye on true freshman Jahlil White. Since Jan. 1, White is averaging 9.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in three of his last five games. White leads Temple in DREB. He is a below average shooter but is very good in ball screens, and drag screens.
Junior forward Jake Forrester has not seen action since Jan. 12. If Forrester is available, he is an EXCELLENT roll man in ball screen action.
On offense the Owls use a slow, physical offense with plenty of ball screen action and try to bully opponents to the rim.
Temple plays almost exclusively man-to-man defense (98.8 percent) and are limiting opponents to 38.1 percent shooting. The Owls will apply back court pressure and double-team your primary ball handler to force another player to bring the ball up court. Temple has used Williams to face-guard an opponent’s best perimeter player.
Keys To A Win
USF must guard the ball, be tough and physical, own the paint, make shots and limit turnovers.
