What To Watch For: South Florida vs. Temple
TAMPA, Fla., (Jan. 3 2023) – South Florida makes its 2023 home debut Wednesday when the Bulls host Temple in an American Athletic Conference game.
USF had its five-game winning streak snapped on Thursday in a 93-86 loss at Memphis. Serrel Smith Jr. matched a career high with 21 points off the bench.
The Owls opened league play with wins over East Carolina and Cincinnati for its first 2-0 AAC start since the 2014-15 season. They are playing their third game in seven days.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Temple:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (7-7; 0-1) vs. Temple (8-7, 2-0)
Date: Wed. Jan. 4
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 102.5 The Strike HD-2 & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: USF is 6-13 all-time against Temple. South Florida has won three of the last five meetings, including a 52-49 victory in Tampa last season.
The Opponent: Temple, picked to finish fifth in the AAC preseason poll, returns eight letter winners from last year's team that posted a 17-12 record and 10-7 AAC mark.
Redshirt sophomore guard Damian Dunn, who led the Owls in scoring (14.9 ppg) last year, was named to the AAC preseason first team while junior Khalif Battle, who was averaging 21.4 ppg before being an injury ended his season after game seven, was selected to the AAC preseason second team.
Dunn is a scoring guard with good size. He is making 34 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.
Battle is also a scoring guard with good size but is more aggressive. 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. In two AAC games Battle is 6-of-14 beyond the arc.
Forward Zach Hicks (24) is a shooter – 76 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.
Nick Jourdain (11) 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.
Point guard Hysier Miller (3) leads the Owls in assists. 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.
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 23 threes per game and are making eight. They use lots of ball screens.
Defensively, Temple is almost exclusively man (98.7 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.