Men's Basketball Takes Momentum on the Road to ECU Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA - Winners of six of its last seven games including an upset of #17/15 Houston, Temple men's basketball takes a 13-3 record (3-1 AAC) on the road to ECU (8-8, 1-3) for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 16 (ESPN3 / 1210 AM WPHT).

Scouting Temple
> Temple is 3-0 in overtime games this season after its most recent win, an 82-80 OT defeat of USF on Jan. 12. Close games have nearly all gone the Owls' way, as they stand at 7-1 in games decided by five or fewer points.
> By knocking off previously unbeaten #17/15 Houston 73-69 on Jan. 9, Temple has now defeated a Top 25 program in 12 straight seasons.
> Sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis scored a season-tying 22 points to lead Temple in the USF win, and has averaged a team-best 20.5 ppg in the Owls' four AAC contests. He scored 18 points vs. #17/15 Houston, and earned his first-ever AAC Player of the Week and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week honors on Jan. 14.
> As a team, the Owls hit 25-of-28 free throws in the upset of Houston, with both Pierre-Louis and junior Quinton Rose making 9-of-10 at the line. Ernest Aflakpui was the hero at the end of the game, taking a charge in the final second to negate Houston's game-tying layup.
> At 13-3 overall, Temple is off to its best start since the 2009-10 team went 17-3 before dropping its fourth game.
> The Owls have won six of their last seven and got their first AAC victory in dramatic fashion, beating Wichita State in OT for a second year in a row. Shizz Alston, Jr. scored a team-high 22 points including the final seven of the 85-81 win.
> Alston, who ranks third among all players in the AAC with 19.0 points per game, has earned two co-AAC Player of the Week awards and three Weekly Honor Roll mentions including one on Jan. 7.
> Rose is averaging 16.8 ppg to rank eighth in the AAC, while also ranking third with 2.6 steals per game.
> As a team, Temple ranks 11th in the nation with 9.4 steals per game. The Owls have posted double-digit steals in nine of 16 games so far.

Scouting ECU
> The Pirates have lost two straight and three of four since beginning AAC play, most recently falling 76-65 at preseason favorite UCF.
> Three players average in double figures in scoring for ECU, led by freshman forward Jayden Gardner with a league-best 19.4 points per game along with 9.5 rebounds per game which ranks second in the AAC.
> Gardner, the co-AAC Freshman of the Week, has gone to the line for 147 free throw attempts, making 111 (75.5 percent).
> The Pirates have held opponents to just 26.6 shooting from long range, the third-best three-point defense in the nation.
> After leading Florida Gulf Coast to five conference titles and five consecutive 20-win seasons, Joe Dooley returned in 2018-19 for a second stint at the helm of the Pirates' program after also coaching ECU from 1995-98.

Series History vs. ECU
> Temple and ECU are meeting for the ninth time after beginning the all-time series in 2014-15. Temple leads, 5-3.
> The Owls had lost two straight before winning the only meeting in 2017-18 by a score of 90-73 at home.
> The teams split meetings in the regular season in 2016-17, with Temple winning 81-62 at home on Jan. 7 but falling 78-64 at East Carolina on Feb. 17. ECU then bested Temple in the AAC Tournament, winning 80-69 in the first-round contest.

Men's Basketball Takes Momentum on the Road to ECU Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Ernest Aflakpui

Shizz Alston, Jr.

Nate Pierre-Louis

Quinton Rose

Temple University Athletics