Cummings Hits 1,000-Point Mark in Leading Men's Basketball to 61-48 Win at USF

Wednesday, February 4

Tampa, Fla.

6:30 p.m.

Temple University

16-7 (7-3)

USF

7-16 (1-9)

Temple

USF

Will Cummings

Photo by: Jessica Hill

Cummings Hits 1,000-Point Mark in Leading Men's Basketball to 61-48 Win at USF

2.4.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. - Senior point guard Will Cummings became the 50th player in Temple men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau while leading the Owls to a 61-48 win at USF on Wednesday night. Cummings scored 19 points including 13 in a big second half that lifted Temple (16-7, 7-3) to its fourth straight win. Cummings, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., achieved his career feat in front of 18 family and friends including his parents and his brother.

After a lackluster, 23-point first half, the Owls turned things around with 38 points in the second. Even while struggling offensively early, Temple's defense held strong. The Owls forced 13 USF turnovers while committing only seven, and held the Bulls to 34.5 percent shooting for the game.

Cummings was the only player to finish in double figures in scoring for Temple, but Jesse Morgan scored nine while Quenton DeCosey and Josh Brown added eight apiece. Jaylen Bond grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while also scoring six points and leading all players with three steals.

USF (7-16, 1-9) got 16 points from Corey Allen, Jr., and a game-high 14 rebounds from Ruben Guerrero.

The Owls were never able to get much going in the first half, hitting just 8-of-28 from the field and only 1-of-10 from long range. They led only in the first two minutes before trailing the rest of the half, at one point by as many as eight.

Allen, Jr., scored nine points in a row for USF starting near the nine-minute mark, and his three-point play at 5:10 gave the Bulls their largest lead of 21-13. From there, Temple was able to close out the half on a 10-3 run to come within a point, 24-23 at halftime.

The 23-point first half matched Temple's lowest of the season. The Owls held USF to 30 percent shooting, but a couple extra shots from behind the arc kept the Bulls in the lead.

Early in the second half the Owls used a 10-2 run to take the lead, and held it the rest of the way. The game within reach for USF most of the half, with Temple not taking its first 10-point lead until near the six-minute mark.

With 6:19 remaining, Cummings hit career points 1,000 and 1,001 at the free throw line to give the Owls a 10-point, 52-42 lead.

The Bulls soon came within six but could get no closer, and Temple closed out the game on a 6-0 run in the final, low-scoring three and a half minutes.

The Owls remain on the road for their next game, a 1:00 p.m. (EST) match-up at Memphis on Saturday, Feb. 7 (ESPNews/1210 AM WPHT).

Box Score l Dunphy Interview l Cummings Interview