Know the Foe: Temple

Memphis returns to FedExForum Wednesday night for a home game against Temple. The Tigers will look to bounce back from their first conference loss of the season on the road against FAU.

Temple enters the game on a seven-game winning streak, including a 3-0 start in conference play. While the Owls are 11-5 on the year, they’ve only played one team inside the KenPom top 100, a road loss to Villanova, and five of their 7 wins during the win-streak came on their home court.

Adam Fisher is in his third season as Temple’s head coach, and he’s off to his best start to a season. Like most teams in the American, the Owls had a lot of roster turnover, and four of their five leading scorers are in their first year with the program.

Four players average more than 11 points per game, and Arkansas State transfer Derrian Ford leads the team with 17.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Ford was part of the Arkansas State team that beat Memphis inside FedExForum last year, but Ford missed that game with an injury.

Senior point guard Jordan Mason is another newcomer who has made an immediate impact for Temple. The guard, who spent time at Texas State and Illinois-Chicago before joining the Owls, is averaging 11.8 points per game and leads the team in assists with 4.9 per game.

Sophomore Aiden Tobiason returned after his freshman season with the Owls and has taken a massive jump in production. The 6-foot-5 guard went from averaging 4.8 points per game last year to averaging 14.3 points and 3.1 rebounds, while shooting 39.1 percent from three on 4.3 attempts per game.

As a team, Temple averages 77.4 points per game, and they shoot 46.6 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and 72.9 percent from the free-throw line. Fisher’s team rarely turns the ball over, averaging 8.8 turnovers per game, and they rank No. 9 in turnover percentage.

In the frontcourt, the Owls lack size, and they start a 6-foot-7 guard and a 6-foot-8 forward down low. They have a 7-foot-1 center on the roster, but he’s only averaging 5.4 minutes per game this season.

Gavin Griffiths, a 6-foot-7 guard, starts in the frontcourt and is averaging 12 points per game and leads the team with 4.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 41.4 percent from three. Temple isn’t a great rebounding team, averaging 33.8 rebounds per game, and they rank No. 252 in offensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom.

While the Owls have had a lot of success offensively, they have struggled on the defensive end of the court. Opponents average 70.3 points per game, and they shoot 43.9 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range.

Fisher’s team also doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, forcing 10.2 turnovers per game, and they average 14 points off turnovers per game.

Temple also announced the sudden passing of assistant coach Bill Courtney on Tuesday. Courtney joined the program in June after spending five seasons at Miami.