Temple University Athletics
Friday, March 13
Hartford, Conn.
2:00 p.m.
Temple University
23-9
80
vs
75
Memphis (American Athletic Conference Quarterfinal)
18-14
1
2
F
Memphis
32
43
75
Temple
31
49
80
Fran Dunphy with Temple President Neil Theobald, VP and Director of Athletics Kevin Clark, and Temple men's basketball
Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference
Fran Dunphy Earns Win No. 500 as Men's Basketball Holds off Memphis, 80-75
3.13.15 | Men's Basketball
HARTFORD, Conn. - The 500th career win for Temple head coach Fran Dunphy was a nail-biter throughout, but the Owls' senior leader Will Cummings came through to lead his team to an 80-75 win over Memphis (18-14) in the American Athletic Conference Championship quarterfinals. The Owls (23-9) now advance to face #20/21 and top-seeded SMU on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
Cummings went 10-of-11 at the free throw line and finished with a game-high 21 points along with a game-high six assists. He was 10-for-10 in a second half that featured eight ties and five lead changes, and hit four of those free throws in the final 19 seconds to help hold off the Tigers.
Freshman Obi Enechionyia made some big plays for Temple in the final minute, including converting a three-point play, grabbing a huge defensive rebound with 11 seconds left and then hitting another pair at the line for the Owls. Enechionyia finished with nine points and a game-high three blocks.
The ninth and final tie of the game came at 71-71 with 48 seconds left after the Owls had led by as many as eight with 3:41 remaining. Temple's free throw shooting was able to keep Memphis from taking a lead in the remaining time.
Junior Quenton DeCosey scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while senior Jesse Morgan hit three shots from long range on his way to 13 points.
Only Morgan got off to a good start for the Owls, scoring a pair from behind the arc for Temple's first six points. Overall, Temple was just 2-of-9 from the field early and trailed 18-9 at 11:13.
The offense picked up in a big way with two separate runs for the Owls, the first being a 9-2 run to put them within two at 20-18 with 7:10 left.
Down 23-18 a couple minutes later, Temple got points from four different players in a 10-0 run that put the Owls up 28-23 under the five-minute mark. Temple's bench was key in both runs, coming up with a total of 10 points in that stretch.
Memphis closed the half strong, outscoring Temple 9-3 for a 32-31 halftime lead.
The second half was neck-and-neck most of the way, but the final lead for the Tigers came with 8:12 remaining just before the eighth tie of the game. Morgan and Josh Brown hit back-to-back three-pointers to break up what had been a constant back-and-forth stretch, and Temple went on to lead by eight, 66-58 at 3:41 after a 16-6 run.
The Owls led by six with 2:27 left before Memphis used an 8-2 run to tie the game for the final time with less than a minute left. Overall in the second half, Temple hit 17-of-20 free throws after making just 5-of-9 in the first, and they made all nine of their attempts in the final two minutes.
Temple also played the entire second half without junior Jaylen Bond, the conference's leading rebounder. Bond suffered a sprained right ankle in the closing minutes of the first half. His status for Saturday's semifinal is uncertain.
Box Score l Photo Gallery l Postgame Quotes | Temple Media Conference
Notes:
•The win is the 500th in the head coaching career of Fran Dunphy.
•The victory is the second of the year for the Owls over the Tigers, as Temple beat Memphis 61-60 at FedEx Forum Feb. 7 on Josh Brown's last-second shot.
•The victory is the second this season at XL Center for the Owls, who defeated UConn 57-53 in overtime in Hartford Dec. 31.
•With the victory, Temple evens the all-time series at seven wins each.
•There were 11 lead changes and nine ties in the contest. Memphis led for 21:35, while Temple led for 13:27. Memphis led by as much as nine in the game.
•Temple's Will Cummings scored 12 or more points for the 13th consecutive game.
•Temple moves to 5-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points.
•Temple advances to The American Championship semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2 against No. 1 seed SMU. The Mustangs swept the regular season series with a 60-55 win over the Owls in Philadelphia Jan. 14 and a 67-58 SMU victory Feb. 19 in Dallas.
Cummings went 10-of-11 at the free throw line and finished with a game-high 21 points along with a game-high six assists. He was 10-for-10 in a second half that featured eight ties and five lead changes, and hit four of those free throws in the final 19 seconds to help hold off the Tigers.
Freshman Obi Enechionyia made some big plays for Temple in the final minute, including converting a three-point play, grabbing a huge defensive rebound with 11 seconds left and then hitting another pair at the line for the Owls. Enechionyia finished with nine points and a game-high three blocks.
The ninth and final tie of the game came at 71-71 with 48 seconds left after the Owls had led by as many as eight with 3:41 remaining. Temple's free throw shooting was able to keep Memphis from taking a lead in the remaining time.
Junior Quenton DeCosey scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while senior Jesse Morgan hit three shots from long range on his way to 13 points.
Only Morgan got off to a good start for the Owls, scoring a pair from behind the arc for Temple's first six points. Overall, Temple was just 2-of-9 from the field early and trailed 18-9 at 11:13.
The offense picked up in a big way with two separate runs for the Owls, the first being a 9-2 run to put them within two at 20-18 with 7:10 left.
Down 23-18 a couple minutes later, Temple got points from four different players in a 10-0 run that put the Owls up 28-23 under the five-minute mark. Temple's bench was key in both runs, coming up with a total of 10 points in that stretch.
Memphis closed the half strong, outscoring Temple 9-3 for a 32-31 halftime lead.
The second half was neck-and-neck most of the way, but the final lead for the Tigers came with 8:12 remaining just before the eighth tie of the game. Morgan and Josh Brown hit back-to-back three-pointers to break up what had been a constant back-and-forth stretch, and Temple went on to lead by eight, 66-58 at 3:41 after a 16-6 run.
The Owls led by six with 2:27 left before Memphis used an 8-2 run to tie the game for the final time with less than a minute left. Overall in the second half, Temple hit 17-of-20 free throws after making just 5-of-9 in the first, and they made all nine of their attempts in the final two minutes.
Temple also played the entire second half without junior Jaylen Bond, the conference's leading rebounder. Bond suffered a sprained right ankle in the closing minutes of the first half. His status for Saturday's semifinal is uncertain.
Box Score l Photo Gallery l Postgame Quotes | Temple Media Conference
Notes:
•The win is the 500th in the head coaching career of Fran Dunphy.
•The victory is the second of the year for the Owls over the Tigers, as Temple beat Memphis 61-60 at FedEx Forum Feb. 7 on Josh Brown's last-second shot.
•The victory is the second this season at XL Center for the Owls, who defeated UConn 57-53 in overtime in Hartford Dec. 31.
•With the victory, Temple evens the all-time series at seven wins each.
•There were 11 lead changes and nine ties in the contest. Memphis led for 21:35, while Temple led for 13:27. Memphis led by as much as nine in the game.
•Temple's Will Cummings scored 12 or more points for the 13th consecutive game.
•Temple moves to 5-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points.
•Temple advances to The American Championship semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2 against No. 1 seed SMU. The Mustangs swept the regular season series with a 60-55 win over the Owls in Philadelphia Jan. 14 and a 67-58 SMU victory Feb. 19 in Dallas.
Team Stats
MEM
TU
FG%
.425
.455
3FG%
.250
.421
FT%
.571
.759
RB
37
42
TO
6
10
STL
3
3
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
10
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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