In the midst of a daunting stretch of games that includes three-of-five games away from home, South Florida men’s basketball team returns to Tampa to host Temple. The Bulls have won five of its last six games heading into its rematch with the Owls.
The contest is the program’s Autism Awareness Game. The Coaches Powering Forward for Autism initiative was created in 2014 by USF assistant coach Tom Herrion and Towson head coach Pat Skerry. The duo founded the project to help raise awareness about autism, which affects an estimated 1 in 59 children in the United States today.
RunningTheBulls.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Temple:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (17-7, 7-5 AAC) vs. Temple (18-7, 8-4 AAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 16
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPNU (Kevin Brown, Sean Harrington)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
History: This will be the 12th meeting between Temple and USF, the Bulls trail in the series 2-10. A month ago, at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, USF point guard Laquincy Rideau posted a triple-double, and the Bulls mounted a furious rally before losing by two-points in overtime.
The Opponent: Temple is an experienced team that plays three guards in most of its lineups. Senior Shizz Alston (18.5 ppg), and junior Quinton Rose (16.6 ppg) and sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis (13.9 ppg) account for 65.5 percent of the Owls scoring this season.
The third leading scorer in the AAC, Alston is a shot making play maker. Easily the best playmaker on Temple’s roster and you simply cannot foul him because he is making 92 percent of his free throw attempts. Alston will use a ball screen twice by going back and forth to get open. He can manufacture his own offense and will shoot threes from anywhere on the court.
Rose is hard to guard. There’s just no other way to say it. He has a great first step, is dangerous in isolation and is very good at scoring in the midrange and in the paint. Rose hasn’t contributed consistently on the perimeter – shooting just 28 percent – or the free throw line 65.7 percent. Cut off Rose’s dribble drive and force him to shoot three-pointers with a hand in his face is what you want to do.
Pierre-Louis has scored in double-figures 19 times this season getting most of his points inside the arc, including hard drives to the basket. His three-point shooting hot zone is from the lane-lines extended where he has connected on 8-15 (53.3 percent). Pierre-Louis is fifth best, in league games, at getting to the free throw line play with a 62.4 percent free throw rate. Pierre-Louis, at 6-foot-4, 170 pounds, is also Temple’s second leading rebounder at six per game.
Senior center Ernest Aflakpui is the Owls leading rebounder at 7.1 per game. The 6-foot-10, 240-pounder is a mobile big man with a big strong body and good hands. Aflakpui is strong, quick off his feet and has nice touch on his jump hook. He is also one of the best charge takers, in a big man that you will see in all of college basketball.
Temple usually has four players on the court that can bring up the ball and initiate its offense. As a result the Owls are very good in transition (1.071 points per possession) and are a good team at attacking off the dribble which puts pressure on defenses. They play three guards, which makes them hard to press, and generally take care of the ball well. Temple doesn’t over complicate things offensively. The Owls are excellent after timeouts (ATO) making 45 percent of their field goals and scoring at least one point 42.5 percent of the time ATO.
Defensively Temple plays exclusively man (99.5 percent) and their press defense is very good with a 24.8 percent turnover rate. Temple is very good at contesting shots. The Owls are second in the AAC, to USF, in steals at 9.4 per game.
Prediction
USF 70 Temple 67
USF must win the rebound battle, convert second chance opportunities, guard Temple’s guards in the half court, make at least 72 percent of its free throws and match the Owls toughness. We think USF’s bigs match up very well with Temple’s bigs so this comes down to being a guard’s game. Keep an eye on Temple guard Alani Moore, he missed the first game due to injury.
