Bearcats Claw Their Way to Victory 56-50 to Open AAC Play

After Temple swept the Bearcats last season in upset fashion, Cincinnati was on the hunt get a win on Broad Street. Temple has been on a roll, upsetting 2 of the 3 top 25 teams they’ve faced. Of those three the team they fell to, a no.1 Villanova. Therefore, the Owls were looking to upset their third top 25 team, taking down 3 top 25s for back-back seasons. Not to mention this was the matchup to kick off AAC play for the Owls. Temple is picked to finish sixth in the American, same as last season; going against the Bearcats, project
ed to finish first. This would be Temple’s chance to prove that they are relevant in a competitive American Conference yet again, after winning the regular season title last year.

TURNOVER CITY:

Both of these teams pride themselves on stellar defense as well as doing a fairly decent job protecting the ball on offense. That was not the case on North Broad. Temple averages approximately 11 turnovers a game and Cincinnati averages 10, Temple turned the ball over 16 times against the Bearcats. The Bearcats did not do much better, turning the ball over 15
times. Shizz Alston, who is among the top in the conference for his assist to turnover ratio, turned the ball over 3 times to his 3 assists. Obi Enechionyia led all players with 4 turnovers.

STRUGGLING OFFENSE:

Temple leads the league in most three pointers made per game with 9, shooting roughly 40% from behind the arc, they shot less that 20% from deep against Cincy. They were not much better from th
e field at 26.7%. Cincinnati was unable to convert on the offensive end as well. They were 28% from the three and only 33% from the field. The parallels between these two offenses transferred to the free throw line. Temple shot 68% and Cincinnati 65%.

After going 1-11 from the field and scoring just 3 points against Yale, Obi Enechionyia continues to struggle offensively for the Owls. He put up only 7 points against the bearcats going 3-10 from the field and 0-5 from the three. Fortunately for the Owls Dan Dingle was able to keep them in the heart of the game offensively. Dingle led all Owls with 15 points, but his back-back turnovers in the final minute of the game was enough
to seal the deal for the Owls. Both teams were not able to get into a groove, and ultimately the bearcats clawed their way to a victory. Cincinnati defeats Temple 56-50.

CATCH THEM NEXT:

The Owl are headed down to Florida to take on UCF on New Years Eve at 4 pm. They will be looking to earn their 10^th win of the season, they are currently 9-5 and 0-1 in the AAC.