Second-Half Struggles Lead to 57-50 Loss to UNLV for Men's Basketball

Saturday, November 22

Barclays Center

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

2-2

UNLV

3-1

UNLV

Temple

Will Cummings

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Second-Half Struggles Lead to 57-50 Loss to UNLV for Men's Basketball

11.22.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BROOKLYN - Second-half struggles forced Temple men's basketball to make a late comeback attempt that fell short in a 57-50 loss to UNLV (3-1) in the consolation game of the Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Saturday night at the Barclays Center. The Owls (2-2) were forced to rely primarily on free throw opportunities in the final five minutes, and could not do enough to erase a nine-point Runnin' Rebels' lead.

Temple attempted 21 three-pointers against the zone defense of UNLV, a strategy that did not serve the Owls well as they hit just four from long range. They led for the entire first half behind the play of senior Will Cummings, but an early UNLV run in the second half gave the Rebels the lead the rest of the way.

Both teams shot in the mid 30's in the first half, but Temple's percentage took a dive in the second. The Owls made just two from the field in the final eight minutes, and solid free-throw shooting was not enough to re-take the lead.

Cummings finished with 21 points to lead all players, and hit 7-of-9 at the stripe. Junior Quenton DeCosey also scored in double figures with 11 points, and sophomore Mark Williams led Temple with nine boards.

Christian Wood had a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to lead UNLV, while Cody Doolin finished with 10 points and dished five assists.

Temple led all the way through the first half after the game's first bucket two minutes in, but it was a low-scoring period with just nine field goals made for both teams. After the Owls jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind five early points for DeCosey, the pace slowed the rest of the way.

The Owls led by six, 17-11 with just over nine minutes left in the period, but it would be their largest lead down the stretch. The Rebels twice cut the margin to one, and also hit the final bucket of the half to cut a five-point deficit to three, 27-24.

Of 15 players who saw action in the first half, Cummings was the only one to score more than five points, finishing with 13 to lead the Owls.

UNLV scored the first seven points of the second half to take a four-point lead, and the Owls were never able to tie the rest of the way. The Rebels twice led by as many as nine, the second time at 48-39 with 4:46 to go.

The Owls came within as few as three on an old-fashioned three-point play for Cummings at 2:13, but had too many missed opportunities in the final minutes and could come no closer.

Temple will return home for its next contest, a 7:00 p.m. game against Philadelphia Big 5 rival Penn on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

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