Temple basketball: Owls suffer unforgivable loss to Penn

Temple basketball’s loss to Penn, and their loss of a Big 5 championship, hurts more than those from outside Philadelphia might realize.

“Not this year. Please, not this year”. That was what ran through my head on repeat, and I’m sure through the head of every Temple fan in Liacouras Center on Saturday night, throughout much of Temple basketball’s loss to Penn. Penn was always a dangerous team, and Temple’s winning streak against the Quakers that dated back to 2008 was going to end sooner or later. But please, not this year. And Temple was due for a major let-down; every time success has found this Temple team over the last half-decade plus, a huge disappointment lingered around the corner. But please, not this game. Not with a Big 5 title on line. We’ve waited far too long for Temple’s name to get back to the top of the city’s record book.

At some point, I’ll be happy for Penn. And next weekend, I’ll be at the Palestra cheering them on as they’ll look to go undefeated in Big 5 play and clinch an outright city championship. But right now, I’m heartbroken, I’m angry, I feel like the Temple community is owed an apology. The opportunity that hadn’t presented itself in six long years was sitting there, waiting for the Owls to take it. And no one knows when the window to a Big 5 title will again be so wide open on North Broad. Villanova might’ve lost their first city game since 2012 in December, but they don’t look ready to cede the Big 5. I don’t see what’s stopping Jay Wright’s squad from opening up another 25 game winning streak against its Philadelphia rivals.

They just needed to beat Penn one more time. The Quakers had broken one 17-year drought by beating Villanova; there was no way they had the mojo, the moxy to end another one a month later. Not against a 14-3 Temple team that probably felt invincible after beating Houston on that same floor a week and a half earlier. Not on the heels of the four-game losing streak Penn was stumbling into Saturday’s game under, including two losses in seven days to their bitter Ivy rival Princeton. It was supposed to be Temple’s day to celebrate.

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The blow-back from this game, which is a secondary concern right now, at least for me, will be huge. If you’ve only heard from the traditional media about the end of the Fran Dunphy era, you might think Temple fans and alumni were begging him to stick around and coach as long as he possibly can. But as the empty seats and dead atmosphere at Liacouras Center have been illustrating with more and more authority, Temple fans have been giving up on this program left and right. And only last week did some who justifiably stayed away begin to trickle back to home games, thinking maybe this year really was different.

Maybe Fran had found a renewed energy in his last season that his players were responding to. There was no more lazy defense, many fewer blown assignments, the inspired offense found creative ways to get the ball through the hoop more times than not. There was less hero ball, more heart, and an apparent display that this really was going to be a different kind of season. Maybe there wouldn’t be a heartbreaking let down. And the energy around campus today, from the Temple bars being packed shoulder to shoulder to the line for student tickets that stretched halfway to Broad Street from the corner of 15th and Montgomery, was a clear indication that the Temple community was finally convinced by this team. There was just something special about it.

Abruptly, in one fell swoop, all of that was gone. The balloon that had taken months to inflate had popped as suddenly as it was clear that Temple didn’t have another miracle left in them on Saturday, and the goodwill Fran Dunphy had earned from some of his even most hardened opponents had disappeared just as quickly. And it’s not just because Temple lost, it’s how they lost. It’s how they were beat by Penn’s effort, by their fundamentals, how they refused to defend the three point line or effectively move the basketball. It’s about how Fran was outcoached from start to finish by his protege Steve Donahue, who beat Fran on matchups, play calling, and, perhaps most importantly, time management. It’s because of the heartless, gutless game that had marred so many Temple teams in the past snuck into what was supposed to be a magical season at the worst possible time.

When the first half came to a close and Temple was down 10, boos rained down from the restless Liacouras Center crowd. But everyone there fully expected the Owls, like they have so many times this season, to play inspired second-half basketball and make the halftime deficit a distant memory sooner than later. And when the game ended, there was no audible dissatisfaction from the Temple faithful; only the sounds of celebration from the Penn bench and small contingent of Quakers fans in the building, and the even louder stunned silence filled the building as it emptied out. The blank looks on the faces of Temple fans in the concourse and on Broad Street in the frigid January rain were louder and more powerful than any boo or obscenity that could’ve been hurled toward Dunphy. And I’m sure what the Owls understand now better than ever, is that anger from those who support you is much preferable to their complete disappointment.

I won’t forget this loss, and I certainly won’t get over it until Temple earns another Big 5 title. That could be next year, that could be ten years from now. And this one, I will have a really hard time forgiving Fran Dunphy for. I was ready to send him off with a big thank you, understanding that the last few years didn’t go his way but that he’ll still be appreciated for what he did for our program. But today was a hard and painful reminder about what lows a Fran Dunphy led team are capable of stumbling to. I was able to get over the constant tournament disappointments, the seasons Temple had played to .500 with at-large talent, the six straight losses to Nova. But this one, after Fran and the Owls had convinced me and so many others that this year was going to be different, to have a let-down like they had, losing the way that they did; I just don’t know how I’ll feel about it next month, next year. This one hurts so much worse.

I’ll try to find positives here as I wrap up this up, before I get too many comments about being too dramatic over a mid-January loss. It is only mid-January, and there are plenty of opportunities for Temple to put this behind them and earn a couple more resume-boosting wins. They are still 4-1 and now consistently talked about as a hunted team in the AAC, a role they do deserve after a hot conference start. They stay home for their next two, both big games against Memphis and Cincinnati, before heading on the road for a rematch against Houston. Although they’ve lost that momentum with the Temple community that they fought so hard to build, as unlikely as it might might be for them to accomplish, a 3-0 record through the rest of the month will certainly bring the crowds right back. The Tournament is still very much within reach, and if they do manage to earn a bid, they just might be a popular pick to surprise a few teams.

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This one hurts, and it will continue to hurt a lot of Temple fans for a long time. But I’ll still be there next Sunday for the noon tipoff against Cincinnati. I still believe there might be something special in this team, and I want to be there to find out. I hope all of you will be, too.