Men's Basketball Edged 78-73 at UCF in AAC Opener

Wednesday, January 2

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

10-3, 0-1

UCF

11-2, 1-0

Temple

UCF

Men's Basketball Edged 78-73 at UCF in AAC Opener

1.2.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - Despite a season-high 13 three-point buckets, Temple fell 78-73 at UCF (11-2, 1-0) in its American Athletic Conference opener. The Owls (10-3, 0-1) narrowed a 13-point second-half deficit down to three on a few occasions, but came up short of tying the game.

Game Summary
> Temple was chasing for most of the contest, holding a lead for just four and half total minutes of playing time.
> UCF's largest lead was 13 points with 8:41 remaining, but Temple's three-point shooting stayed strong and got the Owls within three on multiple occasions, the last with nine seconds to go.
> The Knights had five players score in double figures and dominated the game in the paint with 44 points in the paint to Temple's 16.
> The Owls committed an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers while failing to take advantage of 15 UCF miscues and trailing 19-9 in points off turnovers.

Individual Highlights
> Sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis hit 7-of-11 from the field including 3-of-4 from long range and led Temple with 21 points, just one shy of his season-high 22 points in the Owls' recent win at Drexel.
> Senior Shizz Alston, Jr. and junior Quinton Rose added 18 and 17 points, respectively, with Alston making four treys and Rose making three.
> Rose and senior Ernest Aflakpui each led the team with four steals and four rebounds apiece. The four steals marked a career high for Aflakpui.

First Half
> After a 9-2 run had UCF leading by eight just over five minutes in, the Owls responded with a trio of three-pointers to take a 16-15 lead at 12:46.
> From there, it was a one possession game for all but six seconds over the next 10 minutes, with five lead changes.
> An Aflakpui layup near the three-minute mark was the final bucket for Temple as the Owls went cold in the final stretch while the Knights closed out on an 8-0 run for a 37-28 lead at halftime.
> UCF shot 62 percent to the Owls' 36 percent, and outscored Temple 22-6 in the paint.

Second Half
> B.J. Taylor (24 points) hit a three-pointer to give UCF a 12-point lead to start the second half, but Pierre-Louis scored six points in an 11-4 run that got the Owls back within five, 44-39 at 16:23.
> The Knights twice went back up by eight, with the Owls getting the deficit back to three both times before a third UCF run saw the Knights pull away further.
> With a 10-0 spurt over a three-minute stretch, UCF took its largest lead of 13 points, 62-49 with 8:41 to go.
> The Owls' long-range shooting picked back up, sparked by Pierre-Louis, and got them back in the game.
> Pierre-Louis ended the UCF run with Temple's 10th trey and soon drained the Owls' 12th three-pointer near the four-minute mark to make it a three-point game, 66-63, but it would be Temple's last field goal until just 16 seconds remained.
> The Knights' defense came up with the stops it needed to keep the Owls at bay, not allowing another Temple field goal for close to four minutes.
> Rose hit the Owls' final three-pointer to give them life at 16 seconds, but what looked to be a potential UCF turnover went the way of the Knights after an official review. Taylor made two final free throws with four seconds left to seal the deal for UCF.

Up Next
> The Owls continue their road trip at AAC foe Wichita State on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m. Central / 4 p.m. Eastern (ESPNews / 1210 AM WPHT).