Great Effort Comes up Short as Men’s Basketball Falls to #5 Maryland

Thursday, November 28

Orlando, FL

11:00 A.M.

Temple University

4-1,0-0AAC

#5 Maryland

6-0,0-0Big Ten

Maryland

Temple

Photo by: Mary Holt

Great Effort Comes up Short as Men’s Basketball Falls to #5 Maryland

11.28.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

ORLANDO – Senior Alani Moore II scored 22 points and junior J.P. Moorman II added 14, but their efforts were not enough as Temple dropped a 76-69 decision to #5 Maryland in the opening game of the Orlando Invitational. It was the first loss for the Owls (4-1) and their first-year head coach Aaron McKie while the Terrapins (6-0) remained unbeaten.

Game Summary

Moore, who scored his most points since tallying a career high 26 against Yale (2/26/16) as a freshman, made a career-high six three-pointers on 10 attempts. He also added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Moorman, who scored eight of his points in the first 3:21 to give the Owls a 13-7 early lead, posted season highs in points and rebounds (9).
Temple's leading scorers entering the game, junior Nate Pierre-Louis (15.8 ppg) and senior Quinton Rose (15.0 ppg), struggled on the day. Pierre-Louis was held without a field goal (0-7) for the first time since the final game of his freshman season. He finished with three points, five rebounds and four assists. Rose (4-16, 1-7 3pt) had one of the worst shooting days of his career, but did tie Moorman for the lead in rebounds (9) while dishing four assists and making two steals.
Sophomore Jake Forrester, who was cleared to play by the NCAA on Tuesday, made an immediate impact. He came off the bench to score six points and grab two rebounds in 12 minutes.
Redshirt junior Monty Scott had his best game of his Temple career, tallying eight points with one steal.
All-Big 10 guard Anthony Cowan, Jr. led all scorers with 30 points. The senior playmaker, who also dished four assists, made 11 of 19 shots, including four-of-eight from long range.
Sophomore guard Eric Ayala contributed 13 points while sophomore forward Jalen Smith added 12 and nine rebounds.
Temple again won the battle of the boards (39-32) against a bigger opponent, but the Terps controlled the paint, outscoring the Owls, 28-14, down low.

First Half

Temple quickly jumped out to an early lead thanks to the hot hand of Moorman, who made two threes and a basket to give the Owls a 16-7 lead at the first media timeout.
The Owls led for almost the entire half with the nine-point margin being its' biggest of the period.
Jumpers by Moorman and Moore (a three) gave Temple a five-point cushion which they would hold until an Ayala free throw tied the game for the second time at 26.
The Owls then ran off six straight with the run capped by a nifty Rose steal and dunk to make it 32-26 with a minute to play.
After a Maryland three, Moore stole the ball and made a driving lay-up at the buzzer to give Temple a 34-29 edge at the break.

Second Half

Cowan scored seven points in a 9-3 Maryland run to lift the Terps to a 38-37 lead.
Temple answered with five straight points with Forrester making his first basket as an Owl to give TU a 42-38 lead.
Cowan led another Terp run, scoring the final four in an 11-2 Maryland's stretch to put UM back on top 49-44.
Facing its largest deficit, the Owls would respond by scoring eight of the next 11 points to tie the game at 52. Moore and junior De'Vondre Perry (6 points) capped the run with consecutive three-pointers.
The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes before a Moorman jumper in the paint and a Moore three put the Owls back on top 60-57.
Cowan then scored five points and assisted on a Smith three-pointer to put Maryland ahead by three, 65-62, with 2:35 to play.
Maryland stretched its lead to six a minute later on an Ayala three, 70-64, but Moore connected on his sixth triple on the Owls' next possession to close it to a one-possession game, 70-67.
Temple, which averaged 11.3 steals coming into the game, could not come up with a key takeaway over the final minute as Maryland closed the game out by hitting four free throws over the final 12 seconds to preserve the victory.

Next Up

Temple takes on Texas A&M, which lost to Harvard, 62-51, in the consolation bracket of the Orlando Invitational on Friday. The game will tip off will be at 2 pm and will be televised on ESPNews (1210 AM WPHT).