Men's Basketball Falls to Houston, Breaking Win Streak on Hooter the Owl's Birthday

Sunday, February 18

Liacouras Center

4:00 p.m.

Temple University

15-12, 7-8

Houston

21-5, 11-3

Houston

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men's Basketball Falls to Houston, Breaking Win Streak on Hooter the Owl's Birthday

2.18.18 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Players Post-Houston Press Conference Fran Dunphy Post-Houston Press Conference

PHILADELPHIA - The long streak of wins on Hooter the Owl's birthday came to an end, as Temple men's basketball got off to a rough start and never recovered in an 80-59 loss to Houston (21-5, 11-3) at the Liacouras Center. The Owls (15-12, 7-8) were down by 15 before getting on the scoreboard to start the game, and struggled mightily on the glass throughout the contest.

Keys to the Game
> Houston collected 53 rebounds, tying the arena record with Temple (53 rebounds vs. Arizona State, Nov. 30, 2004).
> The Owls managed just 22 rebounds, and Houston finished with a 14-4 edge in second chance points.
> The game got out of reach early for Temple, as Houston opened with a 15-0 run and the Owls never got within fewer than 13 the rest of the way.
> Temple had previously been 12-0 on Hooter the Owl's birthday, dating back to the first celebration in 2006.

Individual Highlights
> Sophomore Quinton Rose was the only starter to score in double figures for Temple with 13 points.
> Freshmen Nate Pierre-Louis and J.P. Moorman II came off the bench for 13 and 10 points, respectively. The pair were also the Owls' leading rebounders with Moorman grabbing five and Pierre-Louis adding four.
> Four players reached double figures in scoring for Houston, led by Corey Davis, Jr. with 20. Devin Davis scored 16 points and made it a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.

First Half
> It could hardly have been a worse start for the Owls, who missed their first six shots and turned the ball over four times in the first six minutes as Houston took a 15-0 lead.
> Senior Obi Enechionyia finally broke the drought with a dunk at 13:34, but the Cougars continued to push the pace.
> The Owls never cut the margin to single digits, and trailed by as many as 26 near the end of the half before scoring the final five points to go into the break down by 21, 41-20.
> Houston shot 44.4 percent from the field to Temple's 31 percent, and out-rebounded the Owls by a huge margin of 31-9.

Second Half
> After Temple hit the first two buckets of the second half, Houston exploded for an 18-3 run, taking a 32-point, 59-27 lead at 12:32.
> That lead would prove to be the largest of the game for the Cougars, but Temple never got within fewer than 21, doing so only by scoring the final four points of the contest.
> Moorman scored all 10 of his points in the second half, and the Owls hit 8-of-9 free throws, led by Pierre-Louis who went 6-of-7 at the line.

Next Up
> Temple has a week off before its next game, the Owls last at home of the regular season as they host UCF for Senior Day at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25 (ESPNU / 1210 AM WPHT).