Men’s Basketball Opens Conference Play at UCF Tuesday

Tuesday, December 31

Orlando, FL

2:00 P.M.

Temple University

UCF

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men’s Basketball Opens Conference Play at UCF Tuesday

12.29.19 | Men's Basketball

Watch Live Live Stats Game Notes

ORLANDO – Temple Men's Basketball opens American Athletic Conference play with a matinee game at UCF on New Year's Eve. The Owls, who posted an 8-3 record in non-conference action, take on the Knights, 9-3 overall, at 2 pm Tuesday afternoon on ESPNU.

Previewing the Owls
> Temple, under the direction of first-year head coach Aaron McKie, sports a balanced attack with three players averaging double figures and another five averaging 5.0 points or more.
> Senior guard Quinton Rose leads the Cherry and White in scoring (14.1 ppg) and assists (45) and is second in steals (18).
> Junior guard Nate Pierre-Louis tops Temple (3rd in AAC) in rebounding (9.0 rpg), steals (23) and blocks (6) while ranking second in scoring (11.9 ppg) and assists (36).
> Senior Alani Moore II (10.5 ppg) has more than doubled his offensive output from last year (4.1 ppg) while leading the AAC in threes per game (2.7).
> Rounding out the starting five are junior J.P. Moorman II (5.5 ppg), who ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg), and sophomore Jake Forrester (9.4 ppg), who has scored in double figures in four of the last five games.
> Junior De'Vondre Perry (7.5 ppg), who ranks second in the AAC in three-point percentage (.517), and redshirt junior Monty Scott (5.7 ppg) have provided the most impact from the Owls' deep bench.
> Temple is 2-4 in AAC openers and have lost its last three. The Owls opened last season with a 78-73 loss at UCF.

Scouting the Knights
> UCF, under direction of fourth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins, was picked to place ninth in the league by the American Athletic Conference coaches in the preseason poll.
> Like Temple, UCF has three players averaging double figures in scoring and seven tallying at least six points per game.
> Collin Smith leads the way with 13.6 points, while Ceasar DeJesus is averaging 10.4 points per game, and Dazon Ingram is at 10.0.
> The Knights are 6-1 at Addition Financial Arena with the lone loss a November contest to Miami (Fla.), 79-70.

Series History
> Temple and UCF are meeting for the 14th time in series history, with the Owls holding a narrow 7-6 advantage.
> The teams split last season's series. The Owls fell to the Knights, 76-58, on the road in February before defeating the then-ranked #25 team at the Liacouras Center in a 67-62 Senior Day victory.
> Temple is 3-3 at UCF, but has lost the last three road meetings.

Defense Does It
> Temple has been one of the top teams in the country defensively this season and currently ranks second in the AAC and ranks 8th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.362). The Owls are also second in the AAC (33rd in NCAA) in 3-point pct. defense (.282).
> TU also leads the AAC & ranks 6th nationally in defensive rebounds (30.55 pg).

Depth Chart
> The 2019-20 Temple team is one of the deepest in program history. Nine players average 12 or more minutes per game with two other reserves playing eight or more minutes per game.
> The Owls bench has accounted for 35.4 percent of the team's points (284 of 802) with the reserves scoring 60 of the team's 108 total against Saint Joseph's.
>Temple's bench have topped 30 points in two other games (36 vs. Miami, 31 at USC).