Defense Holds Strong for Men's Basketball in 59-58 Win Over Tulsa

Wednesday, January 17

Liacouras Center

6:00 p.m.

Temple University

9-9, 2-5

Tulsa

10-9, 3-4

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Defense Holds Strong for Men's Basketball in 59-58 Win Over Tulsa

1.17.18 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Video Highlights Josh Brown Post-Tulsa Press Conference Obi Enechionyia Post-Tulsa Press Conference Fran Dunphy Post-Tulsa Press Conference

PHILADELPHIA - After two straight home games had ended in last-second heartbreakers for Temple men's basketball, the third time was a charm as the Owls (9-9, 2-5) pulled ahead with 28 seconds left and the defense held up for a 59-58 victory over Tulsa (10-9, 3-4).

Keys to the Game
> Defense was the key for Temple all game long, as the Owls forced 18 turnovers and held Tulsa to a season-tying low of 58 points.
> Temple trailed for most of the second half, but never by more than seven. The Owls were down four with 2:33 remaining, but the Golden Hurricane did not score again.
> More than half of the Owls' 71 field-goal attempts were from long range, but they did drain 11 of 36 attempts with Obi Enechionyia and Quinton Rose making four apiece.

Individual Highlights
> Rose scored a game-high 19 points, and Enechionyia added 15 along with three blocks.
> Including the final bucket of the game, Josh Brown scored eight points and dished six assists.
> J.P. Moorman II recorded a career-high four steals, the most in a game for any Owl this season. Moorman also led the Owls with seven rebounds.
> De'Vondre Perry was a spark off the bench in the first half, making three dunks early to get the Owls in the game and finishing with six points.
> Four players reached double figures in scoring for Tulsa, led by Junior Etou with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

First Half
> Both teams started slow out of the gate, with Tulsa going 0-for-10 from the field while the Owls started 2-for-9.
> After almost 12 minutes of action, the score was just 11-11.
> Neither team ever led by more than four in the period, and neither team ever scored more than five points in a row.
> The Owls forced 11 turnovers on Tulsa in just 20 minutes, with the Golden Hurricane coming in averaging just 12.9 per game.
> The sixth tie came with 15 seconds left and stood as the halftime score, 26-26.
> Only four Owls scored in the opening half, led by Rose with 12 points.

Second Half
> Enechionyia hit back-to-back treys while scoring nine straight for Temple early in the period, but Tulsa broke it up with an 8-0 run.
> With 12 minutes left, the Golden Hurricane increased their lead to seven, 45-38, but it would be their largest lead the rest of the way.
> Rose hit his fourth three-pointer to make it a one-point game, 48-47 with 7:28 left but Tulsa remained in the lead by one or two possessions for the next seven minutes.
> Down four with two minutes left, the Owls missed three straight layups but came up with a stop and got Enechionyia the ball for his fourth trey of the game at 1:24, putting Temple back within one at 58-57.
> After forcing Tulsa's 17th turnover, a huge offensive rebound by Moorman led to a Brown bucket for a one-point Temple lead, 59-58 with 28 seconds left.
> With fouls to give, the Owls were able to take time away from Tulsa on its last possession. The Golden Hurricane never got a shot off in the final time, and Rose knocked the ball to Alston for a steal with two seconds left that sealed the win for Temple.

Up Next
> Temple takes a break from AAC play for its last Philadelphia Big 5 game of the year, heading across town to Penn for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, Jan. 20 (NBC Sports Philadelphia / 1210 AM WPHT).