Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Jason Clark & Chris Wright:
Watching Georgetown endeavor to catch Temple at the Liacouras Center on Thursday night, unable to pull in front of the Owls for the duration of the game, I was reminded of a moment shared with then-Princeton assistant Mike Brennan after the Tigers defeated Columbia 49-48 on the road to earn a share of the 2001-02 Ivy League title.
In that contest, Princeton trailed for the entire evening before a wheel play to Mike Bechtold set the Tiger guard up for a deep three point shot from the top of the key that placed Princeton in front for the first and final time with 33 to go.
Seeing a relieved Brennan after the game, I said "well, if you've only going to lead for 33 seconds, might as well make it the last 33 seconds."
Brennan was on the sideline for a similar story in Philadelphia, just one with a different ending as Georgetown had the ball down a point with 15 seconds remaining, looking for their first and final lead.
A driving layup by Hollis Thompson collided with the bottom of the rim and Temple made two free throws in the final :02.3 for the 68-65 decision.
"You come down to the end like that - these guys trust each other. Sitting here now, is that the shot we wanted to get? No, but that's where we ended up," said Hoya head coach John Thompson III following the Hoyas' first loss of the season. The Owls improved to 6-2.
Georgetown trailed by no more than six for the final 18:55 of the second half and for the last 12 minutes their largest deficit was five, but the Hoyas only had one shot to go in front during this stretch and that came on Thompson's drive.
Jason Clark's 15 paced four Hoyas in double figures. Julian Vaughan had 14, including 8-8 at the free throw line. Austin Freeman also scored 14 and while Chris Wright only recorded two field goals he finished with 10.
Ramone Moore's impressive night of 30 points on 12-18 shooting pushed the Owls to victory. When two Wright free throws moved Georgetown even for the first time since 0-0 with 6:13 to play in regulation, Moore popped from the left corner to return his squad the lead for good.
The win was Temple coach Fran Dunphy's 400th of his career. Dunphy is 6-4 coaching against Thompson III all-time.
