Temple University Athletics
Saturday, March 1
Liacouras Center
9:00 PM
Temple University
7-21, 2-14
79
vs
89
Houston
15-14, 7-9
1
2
F
Houston
43
46
89
Temple
39
40
79
Photo by: Mike McAtee
Men's Basketball Falls to Hot-Shooting Houston, 89-79
3.1.14 | Men's Basketball
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PHILADELPHIA - It was a five-point game in the final minute and a half, but Houston (15-14, 7-9) closed out strong to take an 89-79 win over Temple (7-21, 2-14) at the Liacouras Center on Saturday night.
Dalton Pepper's 24-point performance led three Owls in double figures, and he scored 18 of those in a strong first half. Will Cummings picked up the scoring load in the second half and finished with 18 points, while tying his career-high with eight assists. Quenton DeCosey scored 12 points, and Anthony Lee led the team in rebounds with six.
Houston shot 61.5 percent from the field for the game, including a blistering 72.7 percent in the second half as Temple's defense struggled to contain the Cougars. Houston also finished with a 36-23 edge on the glass. Four players reached double figures in scoring for Houston, led by TaShawn Thomas with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
The Owls started strong in the first half, hitting four of their first six attempts from the field and eventually jumping out to a nine-point, 17-8 lead at 13:19. Their shooting percentage was in the high 60's at that point, but the offense then went cold.
Temple missed nine shots in a row while Houston used an 18-1 run to take a 10-point, 31-21 lead with 6:35 left in the half. Cummings ended the scoring drought with a layup at 5:24, starting what became an 11-2 run to get the Owls back into the game.
Pepper scored seven points in the run and hit his fourth trey of the half in the final minute to lead all scorers at halftime with 18 points.
The run put Temple within one near the three-minute mark, but Houston continued to hold the lead in the final minutes. Pepper's trey cut the deficit to two, but a Houston jumper by J.J. Richardson with 21 seconds left put his team up 43-39 at the break.
Temple had another early run of success in the second half, tying the score at 49-49 within the first three minutes, but the Owls were unable to take a lead. Houston hit seven of its first nine shots and used a 12-2 run to go back ahead by double digits.
Devontae Watson made a strong move near the seven-minute mark and cut the margin to six after converting an old-fashioned three-point play. The Owls were within five with 6:21 remaining, but a 9-0 run for the Cougars put them ahead by 14 with four minutes remaining.
Pepper was quiet for the majority of the half, scoring his first points with 3:43 left. Cummings scored five straight points to cut the margin to five with 1:16 remaining, but Temple could get no closer.
The Owls missed five of their final six attempts from the field, while Houston went 5-of-7 at the stripe to close out the game.
One bright spot for Temple was its ball-handling, as the Owls matched their season low with just four turnovers, and they finished with a 15-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Temple will honor its lone senior, Pepper, prior to its final home game on Tuesday, March 4 against UCF at 6:30 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA - It was a five-point game in the final minute and a half, but Houston (15-14, 7-9) closed out strong to take an 89-79 win over Temple (7-21, 2-14) at the Liacouras Center on Saturday night.
Dalton Pepper's 24-point performance led three Owls in double figures, and he scored 18 of those in a strong first half. Will Cummings picked up the scoring load in the second half and finished with 18 points, while tying his career-high with eight assists. Quenton DeCosey scored 12 points, and Anthony Lee led the team in rebounds with six.
Houston shot 61.5 percent from the field for the game, including a blistering 72.7 percent in the second half as Temple's defense struggled to contain the Cougars. Houston also finished with a 36-23 edge on the glass. Four players reached double figures in scoring for Houston, led by TaShawn Thomas with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
The Owls started strong in the first half, hitting four of their first six attempts from the field and eventually jumping out to a nine-point, 17-8 lead at 13:19. Their shooting percentage was in the high 60's at that point, but the offense then went cold.
Temple missed nine shots in a row while Houston used an 18-1 run to take a 10-point, 31-21 lead with 6:35 left in the half. Cummings ended the scoring drought with a layup at 5:24, starting what became an 11-2 run to get the Owls back into the game.
Pepper scored seven points in the run and hit his fourth trey of the half in the final minute to lead all scorers at halftime with 18 points.
The run put Temple within one near the three-minute mark, but Houston continued to hold the lead in the final minutes. Pepper's trey cut the deficit to two, but a Houston jumper by J.J. Richardson with 21 seconds left put his team up 43-39 at the break.
Temple had another early run of success in the second half, tying the score at 49-49 within the first three minutes, but the Owls were unable to take a lead. Houston hit seven of its first nine shots and used a 12-2 run to go back ahead by double digits.
Devontae Watson made a strong move near the seven-minute mark and cut the margin to six after converting an old-fashioned three-point play. The Owls were within five with 6:21 remaining, but a 9-0 run for the Cougars put them ahead by 14 with four minutes remaining.
Pepper was quiet for the majority of the half, scoring his first points with 3:43 left. Cummings scored five straight points to cut the margin to five with 1:16 remaining, but Temple could get no closer.
The Owls missed five of their final six attempts from the field, while Houston went 5-of-7 at the stripe to close out the game.
One bright spot for Temple was its ball-handling, as the Owls matched their season low with just four turnovers, and they finished with a 15-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Temple will honor its lone senior, Pepper, prior to its final home game on Tuesday, March 4 against UCF at 6:30 p.m.
Team Stats
HOU
TU
FG%
.615
.446
3FG%
.583
.280
FT%
.857
.824
RB
36
23
TO
13
4
STL
1
3
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
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