Temple University Athletics
Thursday, March 8
Orlando, Fla.
7:00 p.m.
Temple University
17-14
82
vs
77
Tulane (AAC First Round)
14-17
1
2
F
Tulane
35
42
77
Temple
39
43
82
Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference
Men's Basketball Holds off Tulane, 82-77; Advances to AAC Quarterfinals
3.8.18 | Men's Basketball
ORLANDO - Holding off a late surge by Tulane (14-17), Temple men's basketball won 82-77 to advance to the Aaron's American Athletic Conference Championships quarterfinals against #11/14 Wichita State. The seventh-seeded Owls (17-14) will face the second-seeded Shockers at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 9 (ESPNU / 1210 AM WPHT).
Keys to the Game
> The Owls led by as many as 13 points on two occasions in the second half, giving them cushion for a late run by Tulane as the Green Wave came within a point in the final minute.
> Temple went 23-of-29 at the free throw line including 4-of-4 in the final 16 seconds.
> After starting the game making just one of seven three-point attempts, the Owls went an impressive 10-of-14 the rest of the way, getting five treys from senior Obi Enechionyia.
> The Owls committed just six turnovers in the game compared to 11 for Tulane, and finished with a 16-8 edge in points off turnovers.
Individual Highlights
> Enechionyia (5-of-7 three-pointers) scored 19 points to lead four Owls in double figures, and also led all players with three blocks.
> Junior Shizz Alston, Jr. added a game-high eight assists to 17 points, committing just a single turnover, and senior Josh Brown scored 15 points while tying for game-high rebound honors with six.
> Freshman J.P. Moorman II came off the bench for 10 points, and sophomore Quinton Rose added nine.
First Half
> Temple missed its first four shots while Tulane started hot and raced out to leads of 10-1 and 13-4.
> The Owls still trailed by eight, 15-7, before a quick spurt got them within three, 15-12 at 12:47.
> The Green Wave once more matched their largest lead of nine points, 23-14 just before the midway point before the Owls began to hit their stride from long range.
> After going 1-for-7 from beyond the arc to start the game, Temple hit its next four attempts. The third of those gave the Owls their first lead, 30-28 with 4:17 left.
> Tulane tied the score at 30-30, but the Owls took the lead and held it the rest of the way, going into halftime up 39-35 after a late jumper by Alston.
> Temple, ranked second in the AAC in 3-point defense, proved why after holding the Green Wave to just 2-of-10 threes in the opening period.
Second Half
> Temple drained its first three field-goal attempts in an 8-0 run, and soon led by its largest margin of 13 points, 52-39 on Enechionyia's third three-pointer.
> Still up by 12, 54-42, the Owls gave up a quick 6-0 run to let Tulane back within six at the 12-minute mark.
> The second 13-point lead came on Enechionyia's fourth trey, 63-50 at 9:45 to cap a 7-0 Temple run.
> The Owls saw their last double-digit lead with 6:41 remaining (66-55) before a 10-2 run by the Green Wave made it a three-point game with 4:18 left.
> The contest was a back-and-forth one the rest of the way, but back-to-back Cameron Reynolds three-pointers put Tulane within one, 78-77 with 32 seconds to go.
> Alston made a pair of free throws, and the Green Wave missed their final attempt from long range with five seconds left. They fouled Brown just before the buzzer, who sank 2-of-2 for the final score.
Quotable
> "I thought Tulane gave us a great effort, and I thought the difference in the game was the amount of times we got to the foul line. We drove it well, we pressed the issue a little bit. We had talked about it, but obviously it opened up for us a little bit tonight. Big shots were made. J.P. Moorman made some, Shizz Alston had a couple big foul shots down the stretch. The last piece would be turning the ball over just six times which is something we take a lot of pride in but it doesn't always happen that way. We're thrilled to be moving on." - Temple head coach Fran Dunphy
Keys to the Game
> The Owls led by as many as 13 points on two occasions in the second half, giving them cushion for a late run by Tulane as the Green Wave came within a point in the final minute.
> Temple went 23-of-29 at the free throw line including 4-of-4 in the final 16 seconds.
> After starting the game making just one of seven three-point attempts, the Owls went an impressive 10-of-14 the rest of the way, getting five treys from senior Obi Enechionyia.
> The Owls committed just six turnovers in the game compared to 11 for Tulane, and finished with a 16-8 edge in points off turnovers.
Individual Highlights
> Enechionyia (5-of-7 three-pointers) scored 19 points to lead four Owls in double figures, and also led all players with three blocks.
> Junior Shizz Alston, Jr. added a game-high eight assists to 17 points, committing just a single turnover, and senior Josh Brown scored 15 points while tying for game-high rebound honors with six.
> Freshman J.P. Moorman II came off the bench for 10 points, and sophomore Quinton Rose added nine.
First Half
> Temple missed its first four shots while Tulane started hot and raced out to leads of 10-1 and 13-4.
> The Owls still trailed by eight, 15-7, before a quick spurt got them within three, 15-12 at 12:47.
> The Green Wave once more matched their largest lead of nine points, 23-14 just before the midway point before the Owls began to hit their stride from long range.
> After going 1-for-7 from beyond the arc to start the game, Temple hit its next four attempts. The third of those gave the Owls their first lead, 30-28 with 4:17 left.
> Tulane tied the score at 30-30, but the Owls took the lead and held it the rest of the way, going into halftime up 39-35 after a late jumper by Alston.
> Temple, ranked second in the AAC in 3-point defense, proved why after holding the Green Wave to just 2-of-10 threes in the opening period.
Second Half
> Temple drained its first three field-goal attempts in an 8-0 run, and soon led by its largest margin of 13 points, 52-39 on Enechionyia's third three-pointer.
> Still up by 12, 54-42, the Owls gave up a quick 6-0 run to let Tulane back within six at the 12-minute mark.
> The second 13-point lead came on Enechionyia's fourth trey, 63-50 at 9:45 to cap a 7-0 Temple run.
> The Owls saw their last double-digit lead with 6:41 remaining (66-55) before a 10-2 run by the Green Wave made it a three-point game with 4:18 left.
> The contest was a back-and-forth one the rest of the way, but back-to-back Cameron Reynolds three-pointers put Tulane within one, 78-77 with 32 seconds to go.
> Alston made a pair of free throws, and the Green Wave missed their final attempt from long range with five seconds left. They fouled Brown just before the buzzer, who sank 2-of-2 for the final score.
Quotable
> "I thought Tulane gave us a great effort, and I thought the difference in the game was the amount of times we got to the foul line. We drove it well, we pressed the issue a little bit. We had talked about it, but obviously it opened up for us a little bit tonight. Big shots were made. J.P. Moorman made some, Shizz Alston had a couple big foul shots down the stretch. The last piece would be turning the ball over just six times which is something we take a lot of pride in but it doesn't always happen that way. We're thrilled to be moving on." - Temple head coach Fran Dunphy
Team Stats
TLN
TU
FG%
.475
.444
3FG%
.421
.524
FT%
.647
.793
RB
37
28
TO
11
6
STL
2
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballEp. 4: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Men's Soccer Captain Lukas Egarter
Tuesday, September 16
Temple Men's Basketball | Babatunde Durodola Day In The Life
Saturday, September 13
Ep. 3: Temple Volleyball Head Coach Linda Hampton-Keith || Lacrosse Student-Athlete Jenna Facciolli
Friday, September 12
Ep. 2: Temple Football Alum Tyler Matakevich || Gymnastics Junior Amelia Budd
Friday, September 05
