Men’s Basketball Returns To Play, Drops 79-68 Decision at SMU

Monday, January 11

Dallas, TX

3:00 P.M.

Temple University

1-3,0-3AAC

SMU

7-2,3-2AAC

Temple

SMU

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men’s Basketball Returns To Play, Drops 79-68 Decision at SMU

1.11.21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Aaron McKie Postgame Interview Damian Dunn Postgame Interview

DALLAS – Temple (1-3, 0-3 AAC) returned to the court Monday afternoon to meet its last opponent, SMU (7-2, 3-2), this time at Moody Coliseum. Unfortunately for the Owls, who had been sidelined since Jan. 1 due to a COVID positive case, the result was the same as the Mustangs pulled away midway through the second half for a 79-68 win.
Grad transfer Brendan Barry and redshirt freshman Damian Dunn led the Owls with 17 points each while Kendrick Davis topped SMU with 22 points and seven assists.

First Half
> Temple got off to a sluggish start, turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes while SMU connected on three of its first four three-pointers to take a double-figure lead, 18-8, with 12:48 left in the period.
> SMU built its lead to a dozen, 23-11, on Emmanuel Bandoumel's third three-pointer, but the Owls' Barry, who leads the AAC in three-point accuracy, hit his third of the half to cut the margin back to single digits, 23-14.
> Barry, who made all five of his three-point attempts in the half, and Quincy Ademokoya (5 points) kept the Owls close with Dunn scoring four straight points, the last on a follow of his own miss, to close the margin to two, 33-31, with 1:47 on the clock.
> Davis then drained a three and connected on another basket before the Owls' J.P. Moorman II drained a long three as time expired to cut the SMU lead to 37-34.

Second Half
> Ethan Chargois (12 pts) scored eight points in a 10-4 run to extend the Mustangs' lead to 47-38 in the opening minutes.
> Temple used a 10-4 run of its own to cut the margin back to a one possession game, 51-48.
> SMU then ran off 11 straight points to take its biggest lead, 71-56, with just under seven minutes remaining.
> The Owls ran off five straight points to cut the deficit to 10, but the Mustangs would allow the visitors to get no closer over the final five minutes.

Statistically Speaking
> Ademokoya scored his first collegiate points in the game.
> Barry finished the game making five of seven from three-point range, but was held to just a pair of free throws after intermission.
> The Owls committed on nine total turnovers after having four early miscues.
> Moorman led the Cherry and White with eight rebounds while Dunn topped the squad with five assists.

Next Up
> Temple returns home for a Thursday matinee tilt with UCF (12 pm/ESPN+/1210 AM WPHT).