Temple’s Adam Fisher is disappointed in team’s performance after loss to North Texas

The Temple Owls(15-10, 7-5) have lost two straight after falling to North Texas(15-11, 6-7) 65-62 at the Liacouras Center on Sunday.

Like most basketball games, this was a game of runs, and after North Texas took a 15-13 lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half, Temple responded with an 11-0 run and outscored the Mean Green 15-7 the rest of the half, and the Owls took a 28-22 lead at the break.

Early in the second half, North Texas cut the lead to 31-26, but Masiah Gilyard hit back-to-back threes, and Temple had their largest lead of the game at 11 with under 16 minutes left; you thought at that time the Owls would take control, but they didn’t.

North Texas responded with a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to take a 41-40 lead.

The two teams went back-and-forth the rest of the way, but the Mean Green took a 65-62 lead late in the game. Temple had a chance to tie; however, Gavin Griffiths would miss a three-pointer with two seconds left, and North Texas would secure the victory.

Dylan Arnett led North Texas with 14 points, and Je’Shawn Stevenson added 13. For the Owls, Derrian Ford had a game-high 20 points, and Gilyard chipped in with 16 points off the bench.

After the loss, Temple head coach Adam Fisher, whose team turned the ball over 17 times on Sunday, was not very happy with the team’s performance in front of its home crowd.

“We’ve ​got ​to ​be ​better ​at ​home,” Fisher said. “​I ​appreciate ​the ​crowd ​coming ​out. ​I’m ​pissed ​that ​we ​have ​this ​many ​people ​and ​we ​play ​like ​this. ​We’ve ​got ​to ​be ​better, ​and ​we’ll ​respond ​and ​be ​ready ​for ​Wednesday.”

Temple has six games left, and after that, it’s the American Conference Tournament. If the Owls want to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years, they will have to win their conference tournament, which means they have to be at their best.

“We’re ​just ​trying ​to ​get ​better; ​that’s ​it,” Fisher said. “​That’s ​our ​only ​goal. ​Right? ​Nobody ​in ​this ​league ​is ​getting ​an at-large(bid). ​It ​is ​about ​getting ​better, ​getting ​better, ​getting ​better, ​getting ​better ​each ​game. ​That’s ​our ​only ​focus.”

The Owls should have defeated North Texas, but they didn’t. Now they are tied with Charlotte and Memphis for the fourth-best record in the American Conference. The top two teams get a triple bye (semifinals), while teams three and four in the conference get a double bye (quarterfinals).

Temple returns to action on Wednesday when they host UAB, while North Texas plays host to Tulane.