Comeback Effort Falls Just Short for Men's Basketball at Houston in 76-73 Loss

Saturday, December 30

Houston, Texas

5:00 p.m. CST/6:00 p.m. EST

Temple University

7-6, 0-2AAC

Houston

12-2, 2-0AAC

Temple

Houston

Photo by: Zach Bland

Comeback Effort Falls Just Short for Men's Basketball at Houston in 76-73 Loss

12.30.17 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HOUSTON - After cutting a 15-point deficit down to a single point, the final chance to tie came up just short for Temple men's basketball in a 76-73 loss at Houston (12-2, 2-0). The Owls now fall to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in the American Athletic Conference.

Keys to the Game
> The two halves were extremely different, with Houston making a huge second-half run after a first-half battle that saw 12 lead changes and four ties.
> The Cougars pulled down 42 rebounds to the Owls' 27, and finished with a 15-4 edge in second-chance points.
> After Temple made the opening bucket of the second half to go up by its largest lead of six, Houston used a 20-2 run to pull away and eventually led by 15 points with seven minutes left.
> In the final five minutes, junior Shizz Alston, Jr. scored eight points and freshman J.P. Moorman added six as the Owls were able to make it a one-point game on Alston's third trey with nine seconds left.
> Houston's Rob Gray, the conference's leading scorer (19.9 ppg) was held to just eight points, but hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left for the final tally.

Individual Highlights
> Alston led Temple with 18 points and sophomore Quinton Rose added 14.
> For a second game in a row, freshman Nate Pierre-Louis made a big impact off the bench and scored a career-tying 11 points while also tallying a game-best and career-tying three steals.
> Moorman finished with a career-high nine points, as did senior Josh Brown who led all players with five assists.

First Half
> Neither team ever led by more than four in a tight half that saw 12 lead changes and four ties.
> Both teams shot exactly 50 percent from the field, but the Owls had the edge thanks to four three-point field goals while the Cougars made just one.
> For a second game in a row, Pierre-Louis made his presence felt off the bench immediately, scoring eight points including 2-of-3 from long range.
> Temple had a pair of four-point leads, both in the final minute, and took its second one into the break, leading 36-32.

Second Half
> Temple quickly took its largest lead of six points to open the second half, but from there the Cougars caught fire.
> A 7-0 run later turned into a 20-2 run for Houston that put the Cougars up by 12, 52-40 at 12:47.
> Near the midway point, Houston's Breaon Brady left the game with an ankle injury after scoring a career-high 21 points and grabbing nine boards.
> Just under the seven-minute mark, Houston led by its largest margin of 15 points, 64-49 before the Owls finally got back in it.
> Temple cut the margin to nine on four occasions, the last during a 7-0 run that got the Owls within four, 70-66 with 48 seconds left.
> Houston twice went back up by five, but each time the Owls cut it to three.
> Alston made a three-pointer with nine seconds left to make it a one-point game, 74-73, but Gray hit a pair of free throws at seven seconds, and Alston's final three-point attempt near the buzzer fell short.

Up Next
> Temple returns home to host #21/22 Cincinnati at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4 (ESPN2 / 1210 AM WPHT).