Wyatt Brings Temple Back From 10 Down To Knock Off Dayton, 72-71, On The Road

Saturday, February 9

Dayton, OH

11:00 AM

Temple University

16-7, 5-4 A-10

Dayton

13-10, 3-6 A-10

Temple

Dayton

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Wyatt Brings Temple Back From 10 Down To Knock Off Dayton, 72-71, On The Road

2.9.13 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

| Box Score (PDF) | Wyatt Interview

DAYTON, OHIO – Everyone at UD Arena knew that Khalif Wyatt was going to take the final shot for the Owls, but the senior guard was not to be denied. Despite being tightly-guarded by Vee Sanford, Wyatt drained a long three with 7.1 seconds remaining to cap an improbable comeback and lead the Owls to a 72-71 win at Dayton Saturday. With the win, Temple improves to 16-7 and 5-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton falls to 13-10 and 3-6.

Wyatt's trey capped a 14-3 Temple run over the final 4:31 that wiped away a 10-point deficit (68-58). Scootie Randall and Jake O'Brien drained huge threes following a Will Cummings free throw to jump start the stretch drive. Randall, who scored five of his six points in the run added a jumper to cut the margin to two, 69-67, with 1:49 remaining.

After the Flyers' Devin Oliver (12 pts, 12 rebs) hit a jumper in the lane to make it 71-67, Wyatt found a cutting Anthony Lee (13 pts, 9 rebs) to make it 71-69.

Temple then played strong defense on the ensuing possession, trapping Dayton guard Kevin Dillard (16 pts, 5 assists) at midcourt and forcing the preseason first team all-conference performer to travel.

That set up Wyatt's heroics. The 6-4 playmaker, who finished with a game-high 20 points, took the ball at the top of the key, was bumped by Sanford, recovered and buried the winning basket.

Following a timeout, Dayton pushed the ball to center court, but Dillard lost it again for his second miscue in the final 20 seconds.

Then craziness set in.

First the Flyers fouled Randall with 1.6 seconds to play. The senior swingman missed both shots. Lee was then called for a deadball foul on Josh Benson on the inbounds play. Benson, who had made two of five from the line thus far in the contest, missed both attempts.

O'Brien, who was fouled on the rebound with 1.3 seconds to play, missed the first and then intentionally missed the second. Unfortunately, he failed to hit the rim, which gave Dayton the ball for one final shot.

Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (9 pts, 3 stls) deflected the inbounds pass to end the game, allowing the Owls to hold on for a huge win in one of the A10's toughest arenas. The Flyers had won three straight home conference games, and six of seven dating back to last season.

For the second straight game Temple posted four double figure scorers with Cummings and O'Brien joining Wyatt and Lee with 11 points each.

The win also marked the 150th of head coach Fran Dunphy's career at Temple. He is now 150-72 in his seven seasons and is one win away from tying Don Casey (151, 1973-82) for fourth on the Owls' all-time coaching win list.

Temple will look to win its third straight game for the first time since opening the season with six consecutive victories when the Owls host Duquesne Thursday at the Liacouras Center. Tip time is 7:00 p.m. with the game being videostreamed by OwlAccess and broadcast on 1210 AM WPHT.