AT COURTSIDE: Temple defense comes up big in clutch

For most of last night's 76-65 loss to Temple at McGonigle Hall, the Quakers played like true Ivy Leaguers. They had all the answers to the test that confronted them. But with just over six minutes left in the game, and Penn clinging to a one-point lead, the Quakers could not come up with the correct responses as the Owls' increased the intensity of their defense. "When Temple wants to step it up [on defense], they can," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They're long. This is a long team and a quick team. The margin for error along the passing lanes is much different than against a team that doesn't have their athletic ability. They have that kind of speed." "I think we started playing tougher defense, getting in the passing lanes and getting steals," said senior forward Eddie Jones of the final stretch. "We just opened the game up from there. We know that if we push up on defense, the ball will bounce our way. It did." Penn trailed 24-22 heading into the second half, despite shooting 29 percent from the field. But the Quakers found the range early after halftime. Penn caught fire from the perimeter, enabling the Quakers to not only answer Temple basket for basket, but actually take a four-point lead. Penn's surge was made possible because of the team's deadly shooting from downtown. The Quakers buried five three-pointers during the first five minutes of the second half, many from far behind the three-point arc. Leading the way during Penn's downtown bombing session was junior point guard Jerome Allen, who connected on 7 of 10 treys on the evening. "Last year [Penn] didn't shoot very well," Jones said. "This year they shot extremely well. They had us on the ropes for a couple of minutes in the second half." But the Quaker spurt ran into a roadblock in the form of the Owl swarming defense following a timeout with 7:31 left in the game. Penn had the ball and began to run its offense. But the Quakers now found themselves confronting a Temple defense possessed. Mixing its tenacious matchup zone with timely switches to man-to-man defense, the Owls successfully pushed the intensity of their defensive play. "The only thing that kept us afloat was the matchup that we played, and we switched up and played a little man defense," Temple coach John Chaney said. The result: An Owl defense, regarded by many as the finest in the country, put a stranglehold on the Quakers, smothering every offensive set Penn tried to run. "It's probably the most aggressive zone defense in the country," Allen said. "They're long on the wings and their instincts take over. We tried to penetrate the gaps and attack the point. Obviously, we didn't do a very good job at doing it." During these next minutes, the Owl defense controlled the game. Temple's zone forced the Quakers far from the basket, and without any open lanes, Penn had to settle for long-outside shots. This time they didn't fall for the Quakers. Temple also forced Penn to commit many costly turnovers leading to six Owl points. Temple point guard Rick Brunson was instrumental in propelling the Owls to a 10-point lead with two steals and two three-pointers during this stretch. "I thought they did a really good job taking us out of some passing lanes we were getting in the first half," Dunphy said. "We made some poor choices and they got some tipped balls. They got 12 points off turnovers, and that was a key part of the game." Penn will probably not face any defense tougher than the one it encountered during the latter stages of last night's game. Unfortunately for the Quakers, they just could not find the answer in those final few minutes. "We wanted to show our best out there," Dunphy said, "and up until about the five-minute mark of the game, I thought we did."