Temple's Scootie Randall regaining his shooting touch

Temple guard Scootie Randall (33) drives against Xavier in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Cincinnati. Randall scored 13 points in the game won by Xavier 57-52. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Temple guard Scootie Randall (33) drives against Xavier in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Cincinnati. Randall scored 13 points in the game won by Xavier 57-52. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Temple guard Scootie Randall (33) drives against Xavier in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Cincinnati. Randall scored 13 points in the game won by Xavier 57-52. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)GALLERY: Temple guard Scootie Randall (33) drives against Xavier…
By Keith Pompey, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: March 16, 2013

NEW YORK - Temple is more than the Khalif Wyatt show.

Swingman Scootie Randall, who is working with a shooting coach, is quietly in the midst of a strong bounce-back stretch.

So much so that maybe Randall - not Wyatt, the Atlantic Ten player of the year - is the biggest reason for the Owls' seven-game winning streak.

 No. 3 seed Temple (23-8) expects to add to that streak in Friday night's A-10 tournament quarterfinal round here at the Barclays Center against sixth-seeded Massachusetts, a 77-72 winner over George Washington late Thursday night.  

Randall has averaged 14.8 points during the streak after struggling for much of the season. Making shots, the recent graduate is drawing extra defensive attention, which has led to the Owls' recent balanced attack. With teams focusing on Wyatt and Randall, Jake O'Brien has also been getting plenty of three-point looks.

Randall attributes his success to the shooting coach, who he says prefers to remain anonymous.

But the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder was shooting just 36.5 percent prior to the streak, and 48 percent since.

"It's just to get my shot [release] a little faster," he said, "and prevent all the bad habits that I developed over the years, in general, shooting. So it helps a lot."

The Communications Tech product said he has been working with the instructor "for a while."

"He is a friend of a friend," Randall said. "He knows a lot. Probably like since the beginning of the season, we were working together.

"But he does a lot of other stuff. So the timing for both of us is kind of hard, because he does his stuff. And with [Temple] sending us the [the team's weekly practice] schedule Sunday night, it's hard to [schedule frequent sessions.]"

Randall's shooting slump had been more mental than anything else. Randall even admitted to losing confidence during the season. It returned after he scored 11 points in an 83-82 victory at UMass on Feb. 16.

After UMass closed the gap to one point, he caught a pass from Wyatt and drained a wide-open three-pointer. That gave Temple an 83-79 lead with 1 minute, 25 seconds left.

"I have a great group of guys," Randall said. "They always tell me, 'Keep shooting no matter how many you miss.' So each and every time out, you just got to build your confidence back up. And I think this is the time to have it."

Contact Keith Pompey at kpompey@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @pompeysgridlock

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