"Through the first games, we got wins, but we did not play our best basketball," he said. "I'd like to think we're starting to."
Wednesday night at the Pavilion, the Owls finally looked dominant. Down four at the break, Temple came out of the locker room on an 18-2 run to cruise past the Villanova Wildcats, 76-61 (see Instant Replay).
The win advanced Temple to a perfect 6-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 season. It also marked the Owls' first win at the Pavilion since Nov. 29, 1990. Temple had lost six straight on the Main Line prior to Wednesday night.
"This is another step in our progression as a team," Dunphy said. "This second half today put us in a pretty good position."
The second half was good, but things actually started turning around for Temple late in the first, with the Owls down six, 32-26, and 2:19 remaining. Nearly 11 minutes went by before Villanova scored its next basket, and in a 12-minute, 41-second stretch, Temple rattled off a 26-7 run to go up, 50-39. It never looked back.
"That was the game right there, obviously," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
It wasn't all smooth sailing. The Temple offense stagnated in the first 20 minutes thanks the Owls' latest, ill-advised three-point contest. Entering Wednesday night, Temple was shooting an average of 22 threes per game and making just 31.8 percent of them. It launched a whopping 17 threes in the first half, and made just five.
"We talked about how we didn't play very well offensively," Dunphy said, describing the Temple locker room at the half. "We did not have good shot selection. We obviously gave up some easy baskets to them, too. But we just talked about clamping down.
That's one way of putting it. Here's another way …
"I got on [Khalif Wyatt and Scootie Randall] a bit because they are veterans, and they didn't have the greatest shot selection. There were some things I thought we could have done better.
"But I do have a great deal of trust in them. They told me to be quiet, they got it covered and so I listened to the both of them."
Randall cracked a smile after that comment. It's doubtful Dunphy's description of the exchange is anything like what happened. Nonetheless, Randall finished with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds, as Temple improved from behind the arc in the second, making 5 of 10 attempts. Wyatt added 13 points of his own, albeit on 4-for-16 shooting.
"In the second half, Scootie Randall and Khalif Wyatt, I'm looking at these numbers, they probably don't tell the story," Wright said, examining a box score. "Scootie scored, but I thought Khalif was so good off ball screens. Even though he didn't score, we just really struggled with him and ball screens.
While Wyatt and Randall righted themselves in the second, it was fellow senior Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson keeping the team afloat in the first half. His coach has often remarked over his four-year career that Hollis-Jefferson was not blessed with the greatest set of hands, but the 6-foot-6 power forward dished out a career-high seven assists Wednesday night, five of them in the first half. He added eight points and five rebounds.
"And Jefferson," Wright added. "Jefferson hit jumpers early, and he really found people. I just really like their team."
The comfortable win was much-needed for a Temple team heading into its toughest matchup of the early season. The Owls travel to the Meadowlands this Saturday for a 3:15 p.m. tip with No. 2 Duke at the Izod Center. Temple upset the No. 3 Blue Devils at the Wells Fargo Center last January.
After playing six opponents with a combined 20-30 record in its first six games, Temple's in store for something a whole lot different this weekend.
"We have to get ready for a terrific program and basketball team on Saturday," Dunphy said. "It'll be a great opportunity for us, great challenge.
"We know how good they are."
Temple's played down to its competition thus far. It's time to play up.
E-mail Nick Menta at nmenta@comcastsportsnet.com
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