Battle’s Double-Double Leads Men’s Basketball Past Tulsa, 76-67

Tuesday, January 26

1:00 P.M.

Temple University

4-4,3-4AAC

Tulsa

8-6,5-4AAC

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Battle’s Double-Double Leads Men’s Basketball Past Tulsa, 76-67

1.26.21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Aaron McKie Interview Khalif Battle Interview De'Vondre Perry Interview

PHILADELPHIA – Sophomore transfer Khalif Battle had a career day, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double to lead Temple to a 76-67 win over Tulsa at the Liacouras Center Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Owls evened their record at 4-4 (3-4 AAC) while the Golden Hurricane fell to 8-6 (5-4 AAC).

Battle, who shot 6-of-10 from the field (3-of-6 from long) while also dishing three assists over 32 minutes, led four Owl double-figure scorers. He was joined by De'Vondre Perry (17), Damian Dunn (10), and Jake Forrester (10).

Temple built an early lead and held a double-digit margin for most of the contest. Tulsa, led by Rey Idowu (20 pts), made a late run, cutting a 22-point lead to single digits over the final 10 minutes, but the Owls held on for the victory.

Recapping the Game

First Half
> The Owls jumped out to a quick start, scoring the first six points en route to a 14-8 lead after the first five minutes. Four of the five starters scored in the opening stretch with the lone scoreless Owl, Jeremiah Williams, dishing four assists on six baskets.
> Tulsa cut the margin to 14-12, but Temple answered with nine straight points to expand its lead to 23-12. Battle keyed the run with a three-point play and an assist to a wide-open Quincy Ademokoya for a three-pointer.
> After a three-pointer by Keyshawn Embery-Simpson trimmed the Tulsa deficit to seven (26-19), the Owls used an 8-0 mini-run to take a 34-19 lead. Perry jump started the run with two free throws and a trey before Battle made a nifty drive in the lane for a three-point play to cap it.
> A basket by Perry and threes by Battle and Brendan Barry extended the margin to 22, 42-20.
> The Golden Hurricane scored five of the final seven points of the half to cut the deficit to 44-25 with the lone TU basket coming from Battle, who led all scorers with 12 in the half.

Second Half
> Tulsa scored nine of the first 13 points of the half to quickly make a dent in the wide margin, 48-34.
> Battle snapped the run with a three while Perry added a basket as the Owls ran off five of the next seven to push the lead back to a comfortable 53-36.
> After Tulsa closed it to 53-38, Temple reeled off six straight points, four by Dunn, and following a Golden Hurricane free throw, Forrester made a nice reverse layup off a loose ball to give the Owls a 61-39 lead.
> Trailing 66-45, Tulsa ran off eight straight points to cut the deficit to 66-53 on a Brandon Rachel layup with 4:19 remaining.
> After the teams traded baskets, Tulsa used a 6-2 run to cut the lead to single digits, 70-62, on two Idowu free throws with just over two minutes remaining.
> After two Perry free throws brought the Temple lead back to 10, Elijah Joiner was fouled on a three and calmly drained the trio of free throws to bring the margin to seven, 72-65 with 51 seconds left.
> That would be as close as the Golden Hurricane would come as the Owls made four free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Statistically Speaking
> Battle's points were the most by an Owl this season and joins Dunn as the only Temple players to score 20 points in a game. Dunn has done it twice.
> Williams had a career-high eight assists to go along with six points. He also played a team-high 36 minutes.
> Forrester, limited to just 15 minutes due to foul trouble, scored 10 points on five-of-six shooting. He also pulled down six rebounds.
> Temple shot a season-high 51 percent (25-49) from the field while holding Tulsa to 40 percent (22-50).

Next Up
> Temple remains home to take on Tulane Sunday (12 pm/ESPN+/1210 AM WPHT).