Men's Basketball Makes Sunday Super with an 83-76 Win at Tulane

Sunday, February 4

New Orleans, La.

2:00 p.m. CST / 3:00 p.m. EST

Temple University

13-10, 5-6

Tulane

13-9, 4-6

Temple

Tulane

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men's Basketball Makes Sunday Super with an 83-76 Win at Tulane

2.4.18 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Video Highlights

NEW ORLEANS – Freshman guard Nate Pierre-Louis scored 18 points off the bench and junior Shizz Alston, Jr. added 15 and a career-high 10 assists to lead Temple to its third straight win, 83-76, at Tulane Sunday afternoon. It was the fifth win in the Owls' last six games as TU improved to 13-10 overall and 5-6 in American Athletic Conference play. Tulane fell to 13-9 and 4-6 in conference action.

Keys to the Game
> Trailing 72-69, Temple scored six straight points to retake the lead with Alston dishing consecutive assists to junior center Ernest Aflakpui (8 points, 10 rebounds) and finishing the run on a runner in the lane.
> The Owls defense held tight down the stretch, holding the Green Wave without a field goal over the final six minutes. Tulane missed its final six shots and turned the ball over three times.
> Pierre-Louis scored two baskets over the final 90 seconds with Alston closing the win out with two free throws.
> There were 10 ties and nine lead changes in the game, but the Owls trailed for just 3:05 in the second half.
> The Owls made 15 of 27 shots (55.6%) from the field over the final 20 minutes, including five-of-eight (62.5%) from three-point range.

Individual Highlights
> The Owls had four players top double-figures with Quinton Rose (12 pts) and Obi Enechionyia (11) joining Pierre-Louis and Alston in the scoring column.
> Alston, who had only one turnover in the contest, became the first Owl with double-figure assists since Will Cummings dealt 10 against Delaware on Dec. 18, 2014.
> It was Aflakpui's second double-digit rebound game of the season (11 vs. Memphis) and the seventh of his career.
> Four players topped double figures for the Green Wave with Jordan Cornish leading the way with 20 points.

First Half
> It was an up-tempo opening period featuring eight ties and six lead changes.
> Tulane, which saw its leading scorer and rebounder (Melvin Frazier) leave the game due to injury in the opening minutes, used an 8-0 run to open up an early 17-10 advantage.
> The Owls answered back with 13 straight points, capped by long threes from Enechionyia and Pierre-Louis, to take a 23-17 lead at the midway point of the period.
> The Green Wave utilized two mini-runs (6 & 7 pts) to go ahead, 39-34 with a 2:35 remaining.
> A Rose dunk and three-pointers by Alston (11 pts) and Enechionyia, down the stretch accounted for an 8-3 closing run as the teams entered intermission deadlocked at 42.

Second Half
> Temple jumped on top quickly, using a 10-3 run to take a 52-45 advantage over the first three minutes.
> The Owls' starting backcourt of redshirt senior Josh Brown and Alston had to take seats on the bench a minute later as each picked up their third foul.
> Their rest was short-lived as they both returned three minutes later when Tulane cut the Temple lead to 55-54 on a three-point play by Cornish.
> Tulane used a 10-3 run with Cornish draining two of his three triples to give the hosts a 66-65 edge with 8:27 to play.
> After Brown tied it with a free throw, the Green Wave got baskets by Samir Sehic (18 pts) and Cameron Reynolds (16 pts, 10 rebs) to take their largest lead of the frame, 70-66.
> Temple then scored nine of the next 11 points to pull away with its defense holding Tulane without a basket over the final six minutes.

Quotable
"Our first half defense was not very good. I thought we made some decent adjustments at halftime. I thought we rebounded the ball in the second half and we obviously made some key shots, especially down the stretch." – Temple coach Fran Dunphy.

Up Next
> Temple returns home to host ECU on Wednesday at the Liacouras Center (7 pm/ESPNews/1210 WPHT).