Men's Basketball Beats #22/23 Cincinnati 77-70 in American Conference Opener

Tuesday, December 29

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 p.m.

Temple University

6-5, 1-0

Cincinnati

10-4, 0-1

Temple

Cincinnati

Daniel Dingle

Photo by: Timothy D. Sofranko

Men's Basketball Beats #22/23 Cincinnati 77-70 in American Conference Opener

12.29.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CINCINNATI - For a ninth year in a row, Temple men's basketball defeated a nationally ranked team as the Owls (6-5, 1-0) started their American Athletic Conference schedule with a 77-70 road win at #22/23 Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1).

Temple broke open an extremely tight game with eight straight points in the final minutes, including three-pointers for both Devin Coleman and Daniel Dingle. The pair, who both finished with 14 points, were two of four players to score in double figures for the Owls.

Quenton DeCosey hit 10-of-11 at the line and led Temple with 19 points in the win. Coleman hit 4-of-7 from long range, while Dingle reached his career high in scoring by hitting 6-of-10 overall including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Josh Brown scored 11 points for the Owls, while Jaylen Bond pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

Temple matched its best shooting percentage of the season at 50 percent, and also matched its most three-pointers made with 10. Five players hit treys in the game, including freshman Levan Shawn Alston, Jr. who hit both of his attempts.

"It's a very very good win for us," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy, who now stands at 199 wins in his 10th season at Temple. "There's no question about it. I think the world of Cincinnati's program and of Mick and how he coaches. I've watched most of their films this year and they're a really good basketball team with a couple tough losses at home. This is a really good win for us."

The first half featured five ties and 10 lead changes, but it was the Owls who took the lead for the final three minutes with a 6-0 run. Temple shot an impressive and season-best 57.1 percent from the field in the opening period, also hitting 5-of-11 from long range.

The Bearcats led by as many as seven early in the half, 14-7 after a 7-0 run, but Temple used a 14-4 run to lead 21-18 at the nine-minute mark. The teams then stayed within three points of each other for the next seven minutes, with the lead changing hands a number of times. Two free throws for DeCosey at 3:08 started a 6-0 run that put the Owls in the lead for good, once by as many as five.

Cincinnati's Octavius Ellis converted a three-point play in the final seconds of the half, cutting Temple's lead to two, 39-37 at the break.

Another four ties and six lead changes came in the second half. Temple had some early five-point leads, the last at 60-55 just past the midway point. With back-to-back buckets at six and five minutes left, Cincinnati took a 63-62 lead, but it would be the last advantage for the Bearcats.

After the game's 11th tie, 65-65 with three minutes left, two DeCosey free throws were followed by treys for Dingle and then Coleman, putting Temple up 73-65 and in the lead for good. The Bearcats rallied back to make it 73-70 with 37 seconds to go, but 4-of-6 at the line to close out the game was enough for Temple to remain ahead. The Owls were aided by a strong defensive rebound from Bond and a key steal by Brown with 11 seconds to go.

Up next for Temple is its home conference opener, with the Owls set to host Houston at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 2 (ESPNews/1210 AM WPHT).

Box Score (PDF) l Photo Gallery | Fran Dunphy Postgame Interview | Video Highlights