PHILADELPHIA – Adam Fisher grew up in Bucks County, not far from Temple University’s campus. He knows the history and the gravity of what the Big 5 means to the now six schools that participate in one of college basketball’s greatest traditions.
However, with so much roster turnover in today’s era of college basketball, the players may not understand – or have even heard of the Big 5.
That’s no problem for Fisher and his staff.
In the three seasons that Fisher has been the head coach at Temple, he’s
educated his teams on not only the history of the Big 5, but the history of the Temple men’s basketball program and how the two are intertwined. If that’s what his team needed to get up for Tuesday night’s Big 5 matchup against La Salle, then it worked to perfection. Temple routed La Salle 90-63 at the Liacouras Center, in a game they handled from wire to wire.
“We have 11 new guys,” Fisher said. “We had a video, we went through our history. I think it was a great educational thing to learn about the Big 5 and the pride about it. Growing up in this area, this means a lot. This is something that I get really excited about.”
The Owls moved to 2-0 on the season because of their dominance in every area as a team, but that wasn’t without some terrific individual performances from guys that will be major contributors to the Owls’ success this season.
Sophomore forward Aiden Tobiason, fresh off of a 23-point performance last week in a win against Delaware State, got off to a hot start, making his first four shots, and scoring 12 of his 16 points in the first half.
Tobiason got it done defensively as well, grabbing two steals, and recording two of Temple’s eight blocks on the night. His second block came after he forced a tough fall away shot from La Salle’s Ashton Walker, and the sound of Tobiason’s swat echoed through the arena. The ball ended up in the hands of AJ Smith, who scored a fastbreak layup, good for two of Temple’s 13 points off turnovers for the night. Smith scored 10 points off the bench and was one of five Owls in double figures.
If the first half belonged to Tobiason, then the second belonged to Derrian Ford. The Arkansas State transfer scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, which included three of his four made 3-point shots. In the early moments of the second half, Ford would get set up by teammate Gavin Griffiths, who pinballed a layup attempt by Ashton Walker against the backboard, which led to a Ford three on the other end. Griffiths high flying dunks and scoring output in the Owls’ first two games earned him the nickname “LeBron Frames” from the Temple social media team. Owls fans are going to really like the well traveled Griffiths as the season moves along.
A few possessions later, Ford threw up a rainbow three at the end of the shot clock off of a broken play that found the bottom of the net. It was one of those nights for Ford and the Owls where everything seemed to go their way. That was the hardest 3-point make he would have all night as the Owls carved up La Salle’s defense. Ford dished out four dimes himself, and the Owls finished the night with 20 assists as a team.
Against the aggressive trapping and blitzing that La Salle does on ball screens, Temple beat the La Salle pressure and made the Explorers pay, getting open shots from the perimeter, and easy ones at the rim with their cutting. It helps immensely when you have a smart and skilled big man like Babatunde Durodola, who can dissect a defense in the short roll spot. Durodola dished out five assists, tying a team high with starting point guard Jordan Mason.
Fisher commended his team’s ability to handle how La Salle was playing them, something they had emphasized in the days leading up to the game.
“We’ve been repping it for the last three days,” Fisher said. “We use the term fire for that coverage. What are our looks there, and where do we go? We did a really good job of getting the ball to our bigs and then had some really good cuts from the corner.”
Temple finished this game shooting 50% from the field, and 50% from three, making 12 of their 24 attempts.
Defensively, Temple’s interior defense was stout against a physical opponent, and they dominated the rebounding battle.
Under Darris Nichols, La Salle wants to pound the ball inside and get to the free throw line. Temple’s post defense stifled the Explorers, as La Salle shot under 40% on two-point field goal attempts. La Salle had eight of their shots blocked on Tuesday night, and if you include their game last Saturday vs. Monmouth, the Explorers have had 19 shots blocked in their last two games. Nichols views these blocked shots the same as he looks at giveaways.
“Those are turnovers,” Nichols said. “Just because you go in there and shot fake doesn’t mean that guy has to shoot it. We have to be better at reading. When we shot fake, when we kick it out, when we go up with the ball.”
Fisher credits some halftime adjustments for not letting La Salle use their physicality on the interior to get back into the game.
“There were a couple early baskets in the first half that we gave up,” he said. “We tweaked a little bit of it at halftime, talked about pushing them out on the catch and then come over to help and crack down. I thought those guys really executed better in the second half.”
The mantra for La Salle all offseason was three words: “rebound that jawn.” This La Salle team wants to win with their energy and tenacity on the boards. After the Explorers secured 20 offensive rebounds in their most recent win over Monmouth, the Owls’ antennas were up, and they weren’t going to let that happen to them on the home floor. Temple outrebounded La Salle 44-29, and allowed nine offensive rebounds. Temple allowed La Salle to shoot just 37% from the field, and limited them to just one shot.
When asked about the rebounding discrepancy, Nichols quipped “We didn’t do that today.”
The Owls’ victory puts them a win at Villanova on Dec. 1 away from making their second Big 5 Championship game in the storied traditions’ new format.
The win had Ford excited about what’s to come after learning about the Big 5 and its rich history.
“It was a great feeling to learn about the history,” he said. “I want to win. We want to win the Big 5. We’re all locked in together.”
