Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half in 72-68 Loss to Cincinnati

Sunday, January 27

Philadelphia, Pa.

12:00 p.m.

Temple University

15-5, 5-2

Cincinnati

18-3, 7-1

Cincinnati

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half in 72-68 Loss to Cincinnati

1.27.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Cincinnati used a dominant performance on the glass to overcome a 14-point second half lead by Temple, handing the Owls (15-5, 5-2) a 72-68 loss at the Liacouras Center on Sunday. The Bearcats (18-3, 7-1) pulled down 46 boards to the Owls' 22, including a 16-3 lead on the offensive glass.

Game Summary
> Temple led from the first bucket through to the 5:34 mark of the second half, when a second 11-2 Cincinnati run put the Bearcats in the lead for good.
> After hitting 7-of-16 from long range in the first half, the Owls made just 2-of-8 in the second.
> Temple held Cincinnati to just 3-of-18 from behind the arc, but the extra possessions gained by the Bearcats' rebounding were enough to overcome their long range woes.
> The Owls led by as many as 14 on three occasions, the last at the 18-minute mark of the second half.
> For more than 13 minutes in the second period, J.P. Moorman II was the only Owl to score from the field.
> The Owls also struggled from the line in a game that saw nearly 70 total free throws, hitting just 19-of-31 (61.3 percent).

Individual Highlights
> Moorman had a career performance, scoring 13 first-half points and finishing with a career-high 20 on 8-of-11 shooting from the field including 3-of-5 three-pointers.
> Shizz Alston, Jr. added five assists to 18 points, and Quinton Rose scored 16 for the Owls.
> Rounding out four players in double figures for Temple was Nate Pierre-Louis with 11 points, a team-high six rebounds and a career-high tying three blocks.

First Half
> The Owls hit seven of 16 three-point attempts in the opening period (43.8 percent), while holding Cincinnati without a single one in seven tries.
> Rose hit two of those long range buckets in a 12-2 opening run for the Owls' first double-digit lead, and they would match that 10-point advantage three more times before increasing it in the final five minutes.
> The third trey of the half for Moorman was part of a 6-0 run that gave Temple its largest lead of 14 points, 33-19 with 3:41 to go.
> After committing zero turnovers in the first 17 minutes of the half, the Owls gave the ball up three times in the final three minutes and also sent the Bearcats to the line for eight tries, of which they made six.
> Moorman made Temple's last two buckets of the period, following his final three-pointer with a layup at 2:09, the only points for Temple in a 6-2 Cincinnati run to close out the half.
> The Owls still took a 10-point, 35-25 lead into the break, led by Moorman with 13 points.

Second Half
> After a Rose layup two minutes in, Moorman was the only Owl to score from the field until 5:17 remained.
> Over a three-minute stretch, Cincinnati used an 11-2 run to cut an 11-point Temple lead down to two, 49-47 near the the 10-minute mark.
> With 5:34 to go, Keith Williams hit a three-pointer for the Bearcats' first lead of the contest, 57-55. The trey became part of a second 11-2 Cincinnati run, putting the Bearcats up 63-57 at 3:17.
> Temple fell into a seven-point hole with 1:37 left before a Pierre-Louis three-point play got it back to a four-point deficit.
> Cincinnati gave the Owls hope as three players hit just 1-of-2 free throws in the final 19 seconds, but an ill-timed turnover with 12 seconds left sealed Temple's fate.
> Alston hit a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds to go, but the one free throw made by Cincinnati was all the Bearcats needed to ensure the victory.

Up Next
> Temple is on the road for its next two games, starting with a 7 p.m. contest at Houston on Thursday, Jan. 31 (ESPN2 / 1210 AM WPHT).