Preview Paw Prints: Temple Owls Game Two

Cincinnati is trying to break a three-game losing streak against Temple.

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — UC basketball is back at home on Wednesday as it welcomes in the Temple Owls in a crucial mid-tier AAC battle.

Both teams are vying for top-three seeds in the 2023 AAC Tournament—as Temple goes for the season sweep of Cincinnati. The Owls beat UC 70-61 on New Year's Day.

Temple has struggled of late—losing four of its past five games with a lone win over AAC-worst Tulsa mixed in. The Owls enter Wednesday ranked 116th on KenPom, while Cincinnati is 63rd. ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Cincinnati winning 83.6% of the time.

The Bearcats have lost three straight games to Temple after winning the previous nine games in the series.

Different Way To Win

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Cincinnati got its 73-71 victory over UCF in a fashion it might have to access again in a big contest. UC is the best deep-shooting team in the AAC (36.4% in conference play), but those shots did not fall against the Knights.

Even without Viktor Lakhin, They still found a way to access interior offense and quell the rough jump-shooting day. Cincinnati shot just 27% from outside, and didn't spam the malfunctioning strength as it did against East Carolina.

The Bearcats attempted just 15 threes (the fewest in a game this season) and made 25 two-point shots (most in a conference game this season). It was a strong sign of versatility against a UCF team ranked 40th in defensive efficiency.

Changing stripes effectively against a defense like that is impressive and showed some of the quick tweaks this coaching staff can employ after getting a little too three-happy against ECU. They may have to dish out a similar strategy against Temple.

The Owls rank 119th nationally in three-point percentage allowed (32.8%). Cincinnati shot 38% from three against them in Game 1, but just 38.1% from two-point range. That cannot happen again.

If Viktor Lakhin can't gut out his ankle injury on Wednesday, it's imperative Ody Oguama and Kalu Ezikpe stay efficient around the rim again.

Turnover Tussle

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Whichever backcourt can control the pace in this game will likely come out victorious. Cincinnati likes to get out and run early in its offense (123rd in pace), while Temple is more deliberate with its sets (237th in pace).

Capping the turnovers will help Cincinnati win that battle. They turned it over 11% of the time against ECU and 20% of the time against UCF. Landers Nolley contributed seven of those UCF turnovers. It was the second-most giveaways he's ever had in a college game.

Temple has been great and bad on this front all at the same time. In their past eight games, the Owls have posted a turnover rate below 16.6% just once. On the flip side, their defense has posted at least an 11.7% TO rate in seven consecutive games.

Cincinnati should get back on track given their history this season (14.8% TO rate this season, 19th nationally). Temple is 297th on that front, and it could be the difference on Wednesday if things get tight down the stretch.

Guard Gauge

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Temple is driven by a core of sophomore guards in Khalif Battle (17.9 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 1.8 Ast) and Damian Dunn (14.6 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 3.1 Ast). The latter is Temple's main offensive hub.

UC fans are familiar with the 6-foot-5 guard who can slink through defenses as he attacks the rim. Dunn's not your typical sophomore, having been with the team since 2019. He's shooting better than he ever has, posting a 38% mark from deep (a career-high by 8%).

Battle is a nice shooter as well—hitting 35% of his triples on a healthy 8.1 attempts per game. That's where the Owls' leading scorer does most of his damage. Battle's taken over 60% of his shots from outside this season as he spearheads a team taking 24.1 triples per game (81st nationally).

The veteran is also a great free throw shooter and hunts those chances to the tune of 89.8% (first in AAC) shooting from the line on 4 attempts per game. 

Down low, Cincinnati could have some trouble with the forward combination of Jamille Reynolds (9.9 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 0.7 Ast) and Zach Hicks (9.3 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.6 Ast). The former did not play against UC in the first meeting and has a hulking 6-foot-9, 230-pound frame. He's upped his FG% by 11% this season in a nice new role after transferring from UCF

Hicks is a stretch forward who could thin out UC's frontline by bringing a defender to the perimeter. He's shooting 36.2% on 6.7 triple tries per game this season.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. It's available on ESPN2—start your free trial here.

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