Men's Basketball Begins Three-Game Homestand Tuesday with Houston

Tuesday, January 7

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

Houston

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NCAA Basketball 2019 - Missouri at Temple

Photo by: Ken Inness/ZUMA Press

Men's Basketball Begins Three-Game Homestand Tuesday with Houston

1.5.20 | Men's Basketball

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PHILADELPHIA - After playing just three home games in December, Temple men's basketball will host Houston Tuesday (Jan. 7/7 pm/CBSSN) for the first of a trio of contests at the Liacouras Center. The Owls (9-4, 1-1 AAC) will be looking to rebound from their worst defeat of the season at Tulsa while the Cougars (11-3, 1-0) are looking to extend their win streak to six games.

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PREVIEWING TEMPLE
> Temple, under the direction of first-year head coach Aaron McKie, sports a balanced attack with two players averaging double figures and another six averaging 5.3 points or more.
> Senior guard Quinton Rose leads the Cherry and White in scoring (14.1 ppg) and assists (52) while ranking second in steals (24).
> Junior guard Nate Pierre-Louis tops Temple (5th in AAC) in rebounding (8.8 rpg), steals (28) while ranking second in scoring (10.6 ppg) and assists (40).
> Senior Alani Moore II (9.9 ppg) has more than doubled his offensive output from last year (4.1 ppg) while leading the AAC in threes per game (2.6).
> 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 (7.8 ppg).
> Junior De'Vondre Perry (7.3 ppg), who ranks third in the AAC in three-point percentage (.459), freshman Josh Pierre-Louis (5.5 ppg) and redshirt junior Monty Scott (5.3 ppg) have provided the most impact from the Owls' deep bench.

SCOUTING HOUSTON
> Houston, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, has won five straight and nine of its last 10 games.
> Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes leads the Cougars and is tied for fifth in the league at 14.8 points per game. > Sophomore forward Nate Hinton ranks second in the league with 9.7 rebounds per game, while senior center Chris Harris Jr. stands second with 2.4 blocked shots per contest.
> In the preseason coaches poll Houston tied for first with Memphis, but had the most (7) first place votes.

SERIES HISTORY
> Temple and Houston are meeting for the 11th time, with Houston holding a 7-3 lead in the series.
> After three straight losses to Houston, Temple won 73-69 at home last season, snapping the #17 Cougars unbeaten start at 15 games.
> Houston swept the Owls in 2017-18, winning 80-59 at Temple and 76-73 in Houston. The Cougars also handed the Owls a 79-66 loss in the only meeting of the 2016-17 season.
> Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson is 5-5 against Temple, losing for the first time 61-43 (March 17, 1996) in the NCAA First Round while he was the head coach at Oklahoma.

NET WORTH
> Temple is ranked 57th in the NET and 13th in SOS through Jan. 4.

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 18th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.376). The Owls are also second in the AAC (32nd in NCAA) in 3-point pct. defense (.286).
> TU also leads the AAC & ranks 11th nationally in defensive rebounds (30.0 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 seven or more minutes per game.
> The Owls bench has accounted for 36.1 percent of the team's points (328 of 908) 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).