Men's Basketball Falls to Tulsa on the Road

Sunday, February 22

Tulsa, Okla.

6:00 p.m.

Temple University

19-9, 10-5

Tulsa

19-7, 12-2

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Men's Basketball Falls to Tulsa on the Road

2.22.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. - It was just not Temple's day as the Owls dropped a 55-39 decision at Tulsa in the second game of a long road trip. Temple (19-9, 10-5) has now dropped two straight after previously winning seven in a row. Tulsa improves to 19-7 overall and 12-2 in the American Athletic Conference.

Senior Will Cummings led the Owls with 15 points despite spending much of the game on the bench in foul trouble. His absence led to an out-of-rhythm offense for much of the first half, but the Owls were able to stay in the game early with strong defense.

The second half was a different story, as Tulsa dominated the entire way. The Golden Hurricane outscored Temple 19-4 over the first 13 minutes, and three of the Owls' six second-half field goals were not scored until the final minute and 38 seconds.

Cummings hit 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-7 at the line en route to his 15 points. Junior forward Jaylen Bond struggled offensively but led the Owls with 11 rebounds. Tulsa's Rashad Smith recorded a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds, while James Woodard scored a game-high 16 points for the Golden Hurricane.

Defense kept the Owls in the game in their lowest-scoring first half of the season with just 22 points. Despite Cummings sitting on the bench with foul trouble for over 10 minutes, Temple never trailed by more than five.

After Cummings scored six early points with his third field goal at 15:51, he went to the bench with two fouls and the Owls did not score a field goal for seven and a half minutes. Sophomore Josh Brown ended the drought with back-to-back field goals to tie the game at 16-16 with 7:35 remaining in the half.

Cummings converted a three-point play that was followed by a layup for Quenton DeCosey, tying the game again at 22-22 with 2:34 left, but Temple could not score again in the half. The Owls went into the break down 26-22. Cummings was tied for the game lead with nine points at halftime, but also picked up his third foul late in the period.

Bond was the only player to score for Temple in the first 13 minutes of a second half that got away from the Owls quickly. They held Tulsa to just nine field goals, but gave the Golden Hurricane opportunities at the free throw line where they were 10-of-15 in the half.

Temple will return home for its next game, a 7:00 p.m. contest against Houston on Thursday, Feb. 26 (CBS Sports Network/1210 AM WPHT).

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