Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half of 81-73 Loss at Memphis

Tuesday, February 26

Memphis, Tenn.

9:00 p.m.

Temple University

20-8, 10-5

Memphis

18-11, 10-6

Temple

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half of 81-73 Loss at Memphis

2.26.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - In a battle between the American Athletic Conference's two leading scorers, Jeremiah Martin from Memphis had the edge as he scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Tigers (18-11, 10-6) past Temple. The Owls (20-8, 10-5) got 22 points from Shizz Alston, Jr. but gave up 48 second-half points including two big runs by Memphis.

Game Summary
> The Owls had a lead with 12 minutes to go and only trailed by three with seven minutes left, but a 9-0 Memphis run put the Tigers up by 12 and put the game out of reach for Temple.
> Memphis shot nearly 58 percent from the field in the second half compared to the Owls' 32.4 percent, and made six of its last seven attempts.
> Coming into the game, Martin averaged 19.0 points per game with Alston at 18.9 ppg. Martin is now at 19.4 ppg with Alston at 19.0 ppg.

Individual Highlights
> Alston hit 8-of-8 from the line in his 22-point effort, and also tied for game-high honors with five assists.
> J.P. Moorman II notched his third career double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds to go with 14 points (6-of-9 shooting). Moorman also led all players with three steals.
> After struggling in the opening half, Nate Pierre-Louis scored all of his 16 total points in the second half.
> De'Vondre Perry came off the bench for seven points and a career-high nine rebounds.

First Half
> After an early 9-0 Memphis run gave the Tigers a 9-2 lead, the Owls drained a trio of three-pointers in less than two minutes to go back up 11-9.
> Temple trailed 17-16 before a 6-0 run gave Memphis its largest lead of the half, 23-16 with 9:28 to go.
> Still down by five, 30-25 at 4:15, the Owls exploded for an 11-0 run with six different players scoring. The 36-30 lead with 1:19 remaining was Temple's largest of the half.
> Martin scored three points for Memphis, the third being a single free throw with eight seconds left, but Alston made a layup just before the buzzer for a 38-33 Temple lead at the break.
> The Owls' advantage came despite a mismatch on the glass that saw the Tigers with 23 rebounds to Temple's 16, and a 9-2 lead in second-chance points.
> Eight different players scored for Temple in the opening period, led by Alston with 13 and Moorman with seven.

Second Half
> Memphis opened the period with an 8-0 run for a 41-38 lead, but the Owls got it back with a 6-0 run that included back-to-back buckets by Pierre-Louis.
> Another lead change quickly followed as Memphis used a 10-1 run for a six-point, 53-47 advantage just past the 11-minute mark.
> The Owls twice got back within three points, the second time with seven minutes to go before a 9-0 Memphis run began to put the game out of reach.
> The Tigers later led by as many as 15 points at 75-60 with 2:45 left and Temple was able to come within no fewer than eight points the rest of the way.

Up Next
> The Owls return home to host Tulane for Hooter the Owl's birthday celebration at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 3 (ESPNU / 1210 AM WPHT).