Men's Basketball Rolls to a 77-52 Upset of #10/10 Kansas

Monday, December 22

Wells Fargo Center

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

8-4

Kansas

9-2

#10 Kansas

Temple

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Men's Basketball Rolls to a 77-52 Upset of #10/10 Kansas

12.22.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA (Wells Fargo Center) - Two years ago to the day, the Temple men's basketball team earned its last win over a Top 10 team team, beating #3 Syracuse, 83-79. Monday night, the Owls left little doubt as to who would be the victor, taking down #10/10 Kansas by a decisive score of 77-52. For the Owls (8-4), it marked a win over a ranked team for an eighth consecutive year, and the win was head coach Fran Dunphy's sixth over a Top 10 team.

Temple made 18 of its final 23 shots from the field, pulling away early in the second half and leading by no fewer than 20 for the final nine minutes.

Senior guard Will Cummings led the Owls with 19 points while hitting 7-of-7 free throws. Junior guard Quenton DeCosey hit 7-of-9 from the field and finished with 18 points, while senior guard Jesse Morgan scored 17 points and hit three from behind the arc.

The Owls got a game-high 10 boards from junior forward Jaylen Bond, who also finished with three steals and eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Kansas (9-2) had previously lost only to #1/1 Kentucky. The Jayhawks had just one player score in double figures, Frank Mason, III, with 20 points. Temple held Kansas to just 32 percent from the field, while the Owls shot a season-best 58 percent (28-of-48).

The Owls held the Jayhawks to just 1-of-8 from the field to start the game and jumped out to their first double-digit lead, 12-2, after six minutes of action. Temple kept it up the rest of the way, leading by no fewer than 10 for the final 10 minutes of the half.

Free throws were key for Temple in the opening half as the Owls hit 12-of-13 compared to zero for Kansas on its three attempts from the stripe. Cummings hit a pair at the 7:55 mark to give the Owls a 14-point lead, one they would match in the final three minutes. The Jayhawks' Mason hit his third trey of the half in the final second, cutting a 13-point Temple lead to 10, 35-25 at the break.

Cummings hit 6-of-6 free throws and finished the half with a team-best 11 points. Kansas committed 13 first-half turnovers, off which the Owls scored 13 points. Temple had seven miscues, but they proved not as costly with Kansas scoring just three points off turnovers.

The Owls got off to a slow start in the second half, but went on to turn things around quickly and for good. After allowing Kansas to narrow the gap to six early on, the Owls exploded for an 18-5 run and never looked back.

Morgan hit two treys in just over a minute near the midway point of the half, giving Temple its first 20-point lead with 9:38 remaining. Before the game's end, the Owls led by as many as 30 on a dunk by DeCosey with 1:12 left.

Temple has now won four of its last five, and will put its undefeated home record (5-0) on the line against Delaware State at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28 (ESPN3/1210 AM WPHT).

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