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Temple looks to rebound vs. struggling Tulane

When Temple visits Tulane in an American Athletic Conference basketball game Tuesday, the Owls will attempt to reverse their season-long struggles on the road.

When Temple visits Tulane in an American Athletic Conference basketball game Tuesday, the Owls will attempt to reverse their season-long struggles on the road.

Temple (11-11, 2-7 AAC) has an opponent in Tulane (4-17, 1-8) that has struggled to win in any venue.

This season Temple is just 1-7 on the road, although the Owls are 3-0 on neutral courts. Compounding their struggles, they are 0-5 on the road in AAC play.

"Tuesday is a huge game for us and we need to play our best basketball," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said in a telephone interview.

Despite Tulane's struggles, the Owls can't take anybody for granted. One of Temple's problems is that the Owls aren't getting to the foul line enough. They don't get in transition much and have often been settling for jumpers.

In their nine AAC games, Temple has attempted 112 free throws while its opponents have attempted 207. This discrepancy was apparent in Saturday's 79-66 loss at Houston. The Owls were 4 for 6 from the foul line while Houston went 18 for 21.

The Owls have attempted 249 three-point field goals, compared with 156 for their AAC opponents. Yet the Owls are shooting just .313 from three-point range in AAC play, while their opponents are shooting .327.

One player who has to be more aggressive is 6-foot-10 junior Obi Enechionyia, who slightly came out of his long-range shooting slump by going 4 for 9 from beyond the arc against Houston.

However, he didn't get to the foul line. In his last seven games he has attempted a total of four foul shots, including just one in the last three games.

Enechionyia has the ability to take a defender off the dribble to the basket and that aggressiveness is needed.

Not only do the Owls have to get to the line more, they have to do a better job once they get there. In the nine AAC games, Temple is shooting 67 percent from the foul line, while their opponents are shooting 74.4 percent.

The Owls will have a chance to gain some momentum in their final nine games. Five of those games are against Tulane, South Florida, and East Carolina, teams with a combined 3-24 AAC record.

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard