He’s back. The real Sterling Taplin. The one Tulsa so desperately needs.
Having valiantly fought through an ankle injury for most of the season, Taplin looked noticeably sharper and quicker against Temple on Saturday afternoon. Maybe not quite where he was, but getting there.
Taplin scored a game-high 14 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and only one turnover in 29 minutes to lead Tulsa to a stunningly easy 76-58 victory over Temple in front of a Reynolds Center crowd of 4,276 on Legends Day.
“I feel closer to 100 percent,” said Taplin. “I went through injuries all throughout the season."
With TU legends like Paul Pressey, Eric Coley and Jim “Country” King, among others, looking on, Taplin put on a show.
Taplin joked that some people think his hair has something to do with it. Something akin to a reverse Samson thing.
“Corey Haith and Coach (Frank) Haith always say its my haircut,” Taplin said of his hair that, while never long, is now closely cropped on the sides. “I got a haircut. I’m moving faster. It looks like I lost six pounds. But definitely I feel better, much better.”
Haircut aside, what former teammate and current TU assistant Corey Haith and his father, TU coach Frank Haith, know is that for Tulsa to be the team it hopes to be, Taplin must be “the guy” for Tulsa.
“Played great. That’s the Sterling of old. He looked like himself today,” said Frank Haith. “I think he’s getting healthier.
“He’s kind of the straw that stirs the drink for us. If he continues to play and grow and build on this game, I think we’ll have a nice stretch to end the season.”
Things haven’t been the same for Taplin as a senior since injuring an ankle in the final minute of a brilliant performance against No. 6 Nevada in game five of the season. In that game, Taplin was seven of 11 from the field for a season-high 22 points while adding seven assists and only two turnovers.
Although the tough Taplin hasn’t missed a game, his impact has diminished since then, especially in his ability to drive to the basket. A 46.2 percent shooter from the field last season, Taplin came into the game shooting 38.3 this season.
More telling is that in his next 18 games since the injury and leading up to the Temple game, Taplin only topped the 50 percent mark once from the field, and had two more games at 50 percent.
Against Temple (17-7, 7-4 AAC), Taplin was six of nine from the field (66.7 percent), including two of two on three-pointers.
One play in the game summed up his improved quickness. Near the end of the first half, with the shot clock nearing zero, Taplin did his trademark drive to the basket and made a difficult floater off the board with five seconds left in the half to up TU’s halftime lead to 39-31.
It was a psychological blow to the Owls, who had whittled down a 35-23 lead to 37-31. Temple was able to get within four points early in the second half, but Tulsa quickly built the lead back up.
The dagger by the Golden Hurricane was when Taplin hit a very well-guarded three to increase the lead to double digits at 58-46. Once the Golden Hurricane got the lead back up above single digits, it stayed in double digits.
Tulsa (14-10, 4-7) knew that Temple was dangerous and could have easily come back if the Golden Hurricane let up. That’s what makes Tulsa’s defense for the eight plus minutes of the game so amazing.
It was a defensive play by Elijah Joiner that triggered the defensive onslaught.
After getting the ball stolen from him, with Tulsa leading 63-51, Joiner grabbed Temple’s Nate Pierre-Louis’ jersey to keep him from getting an easy layup. Of course, a breakaway foul was called on Joiner, but it kept Temple from getting fired up about a steal and a layup.
Pierre-Louis only made one free throw at the 8:17 mark, and Temple failed to hit a field goal for the remainder of the game.
When Joiner got a steal that resulted in a layup and foul with 6:37 remaining, he converted on the free throw to increase TU’s lead to 68-52, and it was apparent that the game was over. Tulsa increased the lead to as much as 75-52 with 4:08 remaining on a another conventional three-point play by DaQuan Jeffries.
Tulsa shot 55.4 percent from the field, including eight of 15 (53.3 percent) on three-pointers, while holding Temple to 30.6 percent from the field, including 10 of 32 (31.3 percent) on threes.
Tulsa even managed to outrebound Temple 37-31, which is significant considering TU’s well-documented rebounding woes. Coming into the game being outrebounded by 9.1 boards per game in conference play, Tulsa emphasized rebounding all week in practice.
It also helped that Temple is a poor rebounding team as well, being beaten on the boards by an average of 7.5 per game in conference play.
Joining Taplin in double figures in scoring for TU was Jeffries (12), Martins Igbanu (12), Darien Jackson (10) and Jeriah Horne (10). Horne, who had all of his points in the first half, led Tulsa with eight rebounds.
Jackson continued his much improved play in markedly increased minutes lately, going five of six from the field and adding two steals, while providing the energy to the team, especially on defense, that Haith says Tulsa so desperately needed.
Temple guard Shizz Alston led the Owls with 13 points, but scored 11 of those points in the first 10 minutes. Averaging 18.3 points per game, Alston was held scoreless from the field over the final 30 minutes.
Tulsa displayed increased toughness, proven by scoring more than half of its points, 40, in the paint.
Tulsa fans know it is a good sign when walk-ons Lindsay Deline and Alex Foree are in at the end of the game. It was the first action all season for both, and the first game of Deline’s career at TU.
Next up for TU is a Valentine’s Day game at 8 p.m. on Thursday in New Orleans at Tulane.
