Temple Inches Closer to At-Large Bid

               Temple improved it's record to 20-8 and 8-5 in Atlantic 10 play tonight in a hard-fought 83-78 victory over a talented Detroit squad.  The Owls and Titans both entered the contest with solid resumes and looking to add another quality win in their quests for the NCAA Tournament.
 Temple looked a little shaky out of the gate, and Khalif Wyatt was ice-cold in the first half.  Despite this the team kept the game within striking distance against a quality opponent.  Temple began to narrow Detroit's lead as the first half wore on, and entered the locker room at halftime trailing 39-31.  Poor shooting in the first half, especially from arguably their best player in Wyatt, made it difficult for Temple to keep up, but they managed to keep the game close.  The second half was a completely different story.  The Owls emerged from the break shooting much better, and making the game quite interesting with a lot of lead changes.  The game came down to the wire and was a thrilling finish that saw the Owls pull out the tough win against a now 19-11 Titans squad.  Temple's resurgent play in the second half can be attributed to the complete turn-around that Wyatt took in the second half.
                 In the final stretch of the game, Wyatt completely took over the game.  It's not unusual for great players to thrive in the clutch, under pressure, and that's just what Wyatt did.  After a poor first half, Wyatt scored 12 of Temple's final 14 points down the stretch as the Owls took the lead and kept it.  While the Titans had a better overall shooting percentage from the field, Temple still managed to claw their way back and take the win.  Wyatt simply put the team on his back in the stretch run, and ended the game with 20 points and 7 assists.  The Owls also received big contributions from Scootie Randall, Jake O'Brien, and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, who scored 18, 16, and 13 respectively, while Hollis-Jefferson also grabbed 12 rebounds.  The game was an important win for the Owls and likely had NCAA Tournament implications.  Temple who has been hovering amongst the final teams to make the tournament in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, picked up another quality win and inched closer to receiving an at-large bid.  The Owls have three remaining games in the regular season before the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and barring a slip-up in their final games, should receive an at-large bid on selection Sunday.  So if the Owls can maintain their strong play, they may find themselves dancing in March, and I would not want to face them in the Tournament, as they are a talented team that is extremely dangerous when they play to their potential.  Only time will tell but as of right now it looks like Temple will be dancing in March.