Temple's Upset Bid Falls Short

    For thirty-seven minutes Temple looked poised to be this years Cinderella team, as they battled Indiana for a Sweet 16 birth.  The only problem?  The game lasts forty minutes, and the three minutes  the Owls played their worst basketball came at the end of the game, the worst possible time.

    The Owls entered the day as huge underdogs, but played like anything but that to start the game.  Behind the prolific scoring of Khalif Wyatt, Temple kept pace with Indiana throughout the first half.  For the final ten minutes of the first half, the Owls played fantastic, closing in on the Hoosiers before taking a 29-26 lead at the half.
    Temple emerged from the locker room playing just as well as they had in the first half, looking poised to shock the Hoosiers.  Then, the wings fell off for the Owls.  Temple's last points came with 3:09 remaining in the game.  Indiana closed the game on a 10-0 run, to sneak out of the game with a win and bring Temple's season to a close.  Temple put up a better fight than most people from outside the greater Philadelphia area thought they would, and they have Khalif Wyatt to thank for that.
    Wyatt, a senior guard, did not look ready for his college career to come to a close, as he single-handedly kept the Owls in the game.  Wyatt went off for 20 of the Owls 29 first half points, to give Temple the lead at the half.  He scored another 11 in the second half to give him a total of 31 points for the game.  Wyatt showed just how prolific a scorer he is, as the rest of the team scored only 21 points.
    Aside from the 10 points provided by Anthony Lee, and 8 by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, Wyatt got absolutely no help putting points on the board.  Scootie Randall had an 0 for 12 day shooting, and the lack of other options cost the Owls in the end.
    So while losing to the number one seed in your region is nothing to be ashamed of, the Owls will now be left to think what if?  What if Scootie Randall had made a few shots?  What if the rest of the Owls contributed just a little bit?  These questions will likely haunt Owls fans for some time.
    While the loss hurts, it was nice to see Wyatt leave it all on the court to end his career.  The prolific scorer has nothing to be ashamed of, and should hold his head high.  He may also take comfort in the fact that this game may just help propel him into the NBA, as he surely turned quite a few heads.