Tigers start slow, fall to Temple

PRINCETON, N.J. -- It took John Chaney 999 games at the helm of Temple to finally play Princeton, but the feisty coach is probably wondering why he didn't start sooner.

Chaney, in his 24th season, improved to 2-0 all-time against the Tigers after beating them for the first time, 48-46, last season at the Liacouras Center. The Owls win was helped by a debatable non-call on a last-second shot from Will Venable that could have gone for goaltending.

This one was a little less contentious than last time.

When it came to the Princeton offense versus Temple's famed matchup zone, the defense won 60-47, in what could be considered a barn-burner for these two teams.

Princeton (1-4) netted a pair of threes to open the game, but the Owls scored the next 10 points and held the Tigers scoreless for the next seven minutes. Temple (4-2) kept Princeton to just 15 points in the first half, and never looked back.

The game made for a good early-season yardstick to see how the Quakers will stack up against their archrivals. Temple struggled early against the Quakers Saturday in the Big 5 Classic, but erased a 7-point deficit at the half to beat Penn 50-46.

Princeton, on the other hand, was clearly overmatched. They relied too heavily on the three-point shot, not making a two-point goal until Noah Savage's layup 14 and a half minutes in. The Tigers hit only four two-point shots all night.

"You've gotta shoot the ball," shouted coach Joe Scott after sophomore Kevin Steuerer was called for an offensive foul instead of looking at the basket.

The matchup zone may have played a role.

"I said going in I didn't even know how we were going to get a two-point shot," Scott said afterward. "It's not like you can drive on your man when he's a Temple guy."

The Tigers took just 38 shots -- 30 of them from beyond the arc. They hit just five of 16 in the first half.

And it wasn't as if they didn't have opportunities. Princeton's trademark extra passes fooled the Owls' defenders all night. They just didn't make the shots.

"They swung the ball well and found the sit-down shooter open," said Chaney, who chided his guards for ignoring the wings.

No one was more representative of the Tigers' luck of late than Steuerer, who launched a 20-foot jumper from the left wing that glanced embarrassingly off the side of the backboard, even though he had more than 10 feet between himself and everyone else on the floor.

"They had enough time to sit there and rub it up, count the seams," Chaney said.

Several sloppy Princeton possessions in the second half allowed Temple to extend its lead to as much as 20.

Chaney looked like he could relax on the bench until the Tigers hit four threes on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 54-46 with three minutes to play.

Temple pulled away, however, for the win.

Temple has now won 60 in a row when holding its opponent to fewer than 50 points.

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