Quenton DeCosey didn't take anything for granted at Temple

Share

CSNPhilly.com's printable bracket.

Brackets: East | Midwest | South | West

BOX SCORE

NEW YORK — Temple guard Quenton DeCosey had spent much of Friday afternoon doing the impossible.

He had to do it once more when he settled into a seat on the interview-room dais to rehash the Owls’ 72-70 overtime loss to Iowa in an NCAA Tournament first-rounder.

Along with fellow senior Jaylen Bond, he was asked to reflect on his career, to discuss what he had learned. Tough to do, with the emotion still raw. With thoughts of the buzzer-beating stick-back by Hawkeyes center Adam Woodbury — a play on which Woodbury appeared to shove Owls forward Obi Enechionyia out of the way — still dancing in everybody’s heads.

DeCosey nonetheless managed to summarize four years in four sentences.

“Just not taking anything for granted,” he said. “Always think about others. Don't think about yourself. That's it.”

He zeroed in on his first thought when he returned to the locker room a little while later.

“When you come in as a freshman, you don’t really think about when you become a senior and each game means a lot,” he said.

So, he said again, “Just don’t take anything for granted.”

Least of all losing.

The Owls have been in close games all season, going 9-5 in those decided by six points or fewer before Friday, and this turned out to be another one. They were down 12 in the first half, eight with 5:08 remaining in regulation, four with 18 seconds to play. And they were still trailing 63-60 after Iowa forward Peter Jok made a free throw with eight seconds left.

He missed the second, and here came Temple.

The ball found its way to DeCosey deep on the left wing, and he rose for a potential game-tying three-pointer, only to be hacked on the wrist by Anthony Clemmons with 2.1 seconds left.

Three shots to tie it.

DeCosey admitted that yes, he was “a little nervous.”

“I was in that spot before and I missed a free throw,” he said, “so I was just thinking, ‘Let me just take my time and hold my follow-through.’”

He swished the first, then the second. Then Iowa coach Fran McCaffery called a 30-second timeout.

Somebody later asked Owls coach Fran Dunphy how he deals with a player in such a situation: Does he not speak with him, as baseball players do when a pitcher has a no-hitter, or does he just go about his business as he normally would?

“Well, we had to make sure we set our defense,” Dunphy said, “and we just talked about, ‘When Q makes this third shot, we're going to make sure we keep everybody right in front of us and not give up a quick blow-by for a good look.’ So that's all we talked about. That's what most coaches will do.”

DeCosey did in fact drill the third shot.

“Tough player, man,” said Temple guard Josh Brown, who like DeCosey, hails from New Jersey and is a close friend. “He’s been doing that all his life.”

So, overtime.

DeCosey gave the Owls their last lead of the season — and the last of his career — on a three-point play with 2:40 remaining in the extra period.

And with the game tied at 70-all and the final seconds melting away, Hawkeyes guard Mike Gesell airballed a jumper from the right baseline, long. It found its way into the hands of Woodbury, who scored as time expired.

Push?

Dunphy said he didn’t see it. Woodbury said it was “just one of those right-place, right-time kind of deals.”

Enechionyia had his own view.

“The shot went up, I felt someone in my back and the ball was in the hoop,” he said, while also allowing that maybe he “could have boxed out a little better.”

At any rate, game over. Season over. And in the case of DeCosey and the other seniors, career over.

He finished the game with 26 points, and his career with 1,513, leaving him 14th on TU’s all-time list.

And he leaves having taken nothing for granted.

Especially on this day, on the sport’s biggest stage.

Contact Us