Men's Basketball Heads to UCF on Wednesday for AAC Opener

PHILADELPHIA - Temple men's basketball will take its 10-2 record on the road to start American Athletic Conference play, heading south to UCF, also 10-2, for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 2 (ESPNews / 1210 AM WPHT). The Owls play their first two AAC games on the road before returning home to host #22/19 Houston on Jan. 9.

Scouting Temple
> Heading into its American Athletic Conference opener at UCF, Temple is an impressive 10-2 to start the season, which is the Owls' best start since the 2012-13 team also went 10-2 before dropping its third game.
> Temple is 22-14 in conference openers dating back to 1982 when the Owls joined the Atlantic 10.
> The Owls have won three straight, the first two of those by just two points before recently downing Drexel 82-64 at the Palestra before the holiday break.
> Senior guard Shizz Alston, Jr. and junior guard Quinton Rose have both surpassed 1,000 career points this season, becoming the 12th duo to do so in program history. Rose did so in Temple's most recent game at Drexel and now has 1,011 points in just his third year. Alston hit the mark in Temple's win vs. Georgia on Nov. 13 and has now scored 1,178 points to rank 41st all-time in program history.
> Alston, who leads all players in the AAC with 19.3 points per game, has earned two co-AAC Player of the Week awards. He has twice hit the 30-point mark this season, scoring a career-high 31 points in Temple's come-from-behind win vs. UMass on Dec. 12.
> Rose is averaging 16.3 ppg to rank seventh in the AAC, while also ranking fourth with 2.4 steals per game.
> As a team, Temple ranks 16th in the nation with 9.2 steals per game and 18th with just 10.2 turnovers per game.
> The 2018-19 season is the 13th and final year at the helm for head coach Fran Dunphy. Taking the reins in 2019-20 will be current associate head coach Aaron McKie. Dunphy has an overall record of 567-317 in his 29+ year career, and has a 257-154 record in his 12+ seasons with the Owls.
> Temple was picked to finish sixth of 12 teams in the AAC Coaches Preseason Poll after finishing seventh last season.

Scouting UCF
> The Knights have won four straight heading into the AAC opener, and are 7-1 on their home court so far this season.
> UCF's two losses have come by a combined three points (80-79 vs. Florida Atlantic and 64-62 at Missouri in OT).
> Redshirt senior guard B.J. Taylor averages a team-best 17.5 points per game while transfer and redshirt junior guard Aubrey Dawkins has scored in double figures in all 12 games so far with the Knights, and averages 15.6 ppg.
> The Knights' 7-6 senior center Tacko Fall leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game. Fall leads the AAC with an 80 percent field goal percentage and is fourth in the nation with 3.33 blocked shots per game.
> The Knights were picked to win the AAC, a first for the program in its Division I history.

Series History vs. UCF
> Temple and UCF are meeting for the 12th time, with the Owls holding a slim, 6-5 lead in the series.
> The Knights had won three straight before Temple won 75-56 on its Senior Day near the end of last season. The victory avenged a 60-39 defeat at UCF earlier in the year on Jan. 7.
> UCF swept Temple in the regular season in 2016-17 (77-53 at UCF, 71-69 at Temple).
> Prior to UCF's recent three-game streak, the Owls had won four straight against the Knights, sweeping the season series in both 2015-16 and 2014-15.
> Four of the 10 all-time meetings have been decided by two points.

Men's Basketball Heads to UCF on Wednesday for AAC Opener

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Players Mentioned

Shizz Alston, Jr.

Quinton Rose

Temple University Athletics