The Scouting Report: Temple Owls

Record: 9-4
Head Coach: Fran Dunphy

RPI: 41
BPI: 91
Kenpom: 67

The Temple Owls have already matched their win total from last year and are winners of three straight including a dominating performance over then No. 10 Kansas, 77-52.  In what is arguably the American's best win of the season, Fran Dunphy's squad led from start to finish, shooting 58.3% from the field and forcing 17 turnovers.  They were led by Will Cummings, Quenton DeCosey, and Jesse Morgan, all of whom scored in double digits. All four of their losses are respectable: Duke, Villanova, UNLV by 7, and St. Joe's by 2.

Clearly, Temple is an improved team form a year ago, and while they lost two main scorers in Anthony Lee and Dalton Pepper, they added three key players via transfer.  Jaylen Bond came from Texas, Devin Coleman from Clemson, and Morgan transferred from UMass.  Both Coleman and Morgan had to wait until the end of the first semester to become eligible to play, but all three have made an immediate impact.

Head coach Fran Dunphy will go about 10-deep for his rotation with Coleman and Morgan now eligible.  This is not surprising, as before the season he said, "A lot of guys are going to play a lot of basketball."

Key Players

#2 Will Cummings, Senior, Guard (6-2, 185): A darkhorse candidate for AAC Player of the Year before the season started, Cummings has done it all for the Owls- averaging 14.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 3.9 APG.  While he does not shoot the three particularly well (22.2%) he will not hesitate to pull from outside.  The senior guard does an excellent job getting to the free throw line as he is tied for 21^st in the nation in total free throw attempts at 86.  He makes most of them as he is a 79.1% shooter from the charity stripe.  Cummings has scored in double figures in all but four games this season, including three 20-point games.

#25 Quenton DeCosey, Junior, Guard (6-5, 205): One of the team's main off-the-ball backcourt scorers, DeCosey is averaging 14.5 PPG and 3.9 RPG.  While he is best in dribble-drive situations and in transition, he has improved his three-point shooting from a year ago, raising it from 33.5% to 39.6% so far this season.  The junior has made at least one three in the Owls' last ten games.  DeCosey has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, including an 18 point performance in the victory over Kansas in which he went 7-9 from the field.

#3 Jesse Morgan, Senior, Guard (6-5, 190): Having only played in three games since being ruled eligible, Morgan is averaging 16.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3.0 APG.  The transfer from UMass has made an immediate impact for Dunphy's squad, starting all three games and averaging 29 minutes per game.  Morgan, who was second on UMass in scoring at 13.4 PPG in the 2012-13 season, has scored at least 15 points in his first three games, including going 12-27 from three.  He scored 17 points in the victory over Kansas, including going 3-8 from deep.

#15 Jaylen Bond, Junior, Forward (6-8, 240): The leading rebounder on the team with 7.6 per game while averaging 6.8 PPG.  Dunphy was extremely high on Bond heading into the season as he saw him as a guy who would play a lot from the get-go, and he certainly has averaging 25.3 MPG.  The transfer from Texas can create matchup problems for opposing teams, as he can power through smaller defenders, and go by bigger defenders.  Bond is coming off a 12 point, 18 rebound performance against Delaware State.

#1 Josh Brown, Sophomore, Guard (6-3, 185): One of the main players off the bench, Josh Brown has backed up Cummings at the point guard position this season.  He's averaging 7.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG, and while he does not shoot the three often, he can make them as he is 6-15 on the year.  The sophomore is a competitive defender and can guard either the 1, 2, or 3 position.  Brown has scored in double figures four times this season, including a 17-point performance on 6-9 shooting a victory over Louisiana Tech.

#34 Devin Coleman, Junior, Guard (6-2, 205): Having only played three games this season after being ruled eligible, Coleman has seen his minutes increase in every game that he has played.  The transfer from Clemson is averaging 7.3 PPG and 4.0 RPG while shooting 6-16 from three.  He is coming off an 8 point, 6 rebound performance against Delaware State in which he went 3-12 from the field and 2-8 from three in 18 minutes.

Temple is coached by Fran Dunphy who is in his 9^th season with the team and holds a 176-101 record.  He led the Owls to the NCAA Tournament in six straight seasons before not making it last year, and has made it as far as the Second Round in 2012-13.  Before Temple, Dunphy coached at Penn for 17 years where he went 310-163, including nine NCAA Tournament appearances.  His overall record is 480-254.