Battle Goes for 32, But Men’s Basketball Falls to USF, 83-76

Sunday, February 21

2:00 P.M.

Temple University

4-10,3-10AAC

USF

8-8,4-6AAC

South Fla.

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Battle Goes for 32, But Men’s Basketball Falls to USF, 83-76

2.21.21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Aaron McKie Interview Khalif Battle Interview

PHILADELPHIA –  Khalif Battle scored a career-high 32 points to lead all scorers, but Temple was done in by costly turnovers in falling to USF, 83-76, at The Liacouras Center Sunday afternoon. The Owls dropped their sixth-straight and fall to 4-10 overall and 3-10 in American Athletic Conference play. USF improves to 8-8 and 4–6 in AAC play.

The story of the game was the Owls' turnovers as Temple made 17, leading to the Bulls attempting 17 more field goals. USF had just seven miscues.

It was the second-straight game for Battle scoring a game-high.  He became the program's first 30-point scorer since Shizz Alston, Jr. tallied 34 vs, UConn on March 7, 2019. He also led Temple in rebounding (10), for his second double-double of the season, and in assists with five. All were game highs.

Jake Forrester and J.P. Moorman II each had 10 for the Owls while Xavier Castaneda led the Bulls with 18.

Recapping the Game
First Half
> Both teams started strong offensively with the Owls making eight of their first nine shots, including two of three from long range to take a 19-18 lead after eight minutes
> The Bulls hit four-of-five three-pointers and made 50 percent of their shots during the same stretch.
> USF then ran off seven-straight points over a four-and-a-half-minute stretch to open a 25-19 lead.  The run was aided by three Temple turnovers
> Two free throws by Forrester broke the five-minute scoring drought for the Owls.
> Forrester's free throws did not wake up the offense, as USF would run off the next eight points to extend its lead to 33-21 as the Owls' shooting woes (0-10 over 10 minutes) continued.
> Battle finally broke the run with two free throws and Brendan Barry drained a top of the key three-pointer to cut the deficit to 33-26 with 37 seconds remaining.
> Battle then drained a three to give him 13 points for the half, making it 33-29, but Castaneda quickly hit a jumper before the buzzer sounded to make it a 35-29 USF lead at the break.

Second Half
> The teams went back and forth until the Owls ran off five-straight with a Battle three-pointer closing the gap to two, 44-42, at 14:50 on the clock.
> USF answered with five-straight in just under a minute capped by a Castaneda three to push the margin back to seven, 49-42.
> Battle continued his hot hand, scoring five points within a minute and Forrester added a free throw to make it a one-possession game, 51-48.
> The teams would trade baskets over the next 10 minutes with the Owls never falling back further than six points.
> Temple twice cut it to a single point, the last on two free throws by Battle with 6:24 to play, 62-61, but USF answered with five-straight points to bring it back to six, 67-61.
> After a Battle basket made it 67-64, USF would finally push the margin past six points, scoring five of the next six with a David Collins basket making it 72-65 with 1:46 remaining.
> After a Castaneda basket gave USF a 10–point lead with 48 seconds left, Battle was fouled hard going to the basket. It was called a flagrant foul with the Temple guard connecting on all four free throws and Nick Jourdain followed with a dunk on the ensuing possession to cut the margin to four, 79-75, with 30 seconds remaining.
> That would be as close as the Owls would get as the Bulls scored four of the final five points, all at the line, to seal the win.

Statistically Speaking
> Jourdain made his first start and had new highs in points (8), rebounds (4), and minutes (25) while matching his high with two blocks.
> After making eight of their first nine shots, the Owls connected on just 14-of-41 (34.1%) the rest of the game.
> Damian Dunn, Temple's leading scorer (13.8 ppg), missed his second straight game due to a knee injury.

Next Up
> It will be déjà vu as the Owls and Bulls square off again, this time in Tampa on Feb. 24 (7pm/ESPNU/1210 AM WPHT).