Men’s Basketball Snaps Skid with Impressive Performance at USF

Wednesday, February 24

Tampa, FL

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

5-10,4-10AAC

USF

8-9,4-7AAC

Temple

South Fla.

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Men’s Basketball Snaps Skid with Impressive Performance at USF

2.24.21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Aaron McKie Interview Khalif Battle Interview

TAMPA – Tough defense and hot shooting propelled Temple to a 65-47 win over USF at the Yuengling Center Wednesday night. In the second meeting between the teams in four days, the Owls held the hosts to 28.8 percent shooting from the field while making 47.8 percent from long range to snap their six-game losing streak. Temple improved to 5-10 overall and 4-10 in American Athletic Conference play. USF fell to 8-9 and 4-7.

Khalif Battle led Temple in scoring for the third straight game, tallying 22 points. He was joined this time by three of his teammates, Jeremiah Williams (11), De'Vondre Perry (11) and J.P. Moorman II (10). Battle also led the Owls in assists (5) and tied Moorman for team honors with six rebounds.

Justin Brown led USF with 16 points and six rebounds.

Recapping the Game
First Half
> Battle, who had a career-high 32 versus USF Sunday, picked up right where he left off, scoring the first seven points for the Owls in a back-and-forth opening four minutes.
> Temple went on a 12-0 run, capped by two three-pointers by Moorman II, over a three-minute stretch to open a 21-12 lead with just under 12 to play.
> USF answered by scoring 12 of the next 15 points, including eight straight following a Perry three, to cut the Owls lead to tie the game at 24 with 3:39 on the clock. The Owls, who hit eight of their first 11 attempts, made just 1-for-12 during the eight-minute stretch.
> After two free throws by Williams put Temple back in front, Caleb Murphy drained a three to give USF a 27-26 advantage.
> Williams then connected on two three-pointers in an 8-3 Temple run to close out the half with the Owls leading 34-30.
> Temple made seven-of-14 from three-point range in the half, but Brendan Barry, the team's top marksman, missed all three of his attempts from long range.

Second Half
> Temple continued its sharpshooting to start the second half with Nick Jourdain and Perry draining threes to help the Cherry and White open a double-digit lead, 42-32, by the first media timeout.
> The Owls extended their lead to 51-34 with Jake Forrester converting a three-point play and Battle making two baskets to force a Bulls timeout with 12:58 to play.
> Collins made a layup to snap a 0-for-8 drought to start the half for USF, making it 51-36.
> Temple would run off seven more points before Brown would hit a three-pointer for just the second basket of the half for USF, cutting the lead to 58-39 with 5:42 remaining.
> The Bulls, who shot 20 percent (4-of-20) from the field over the final 20 minutes, would get no closer than 16 the rest of the game as the Owls never let up in posting its largest margin of victory of the season.

Statistically Speaking
> Moorman scored double figures in both games he has come off the bench, marking his first 10-point games since the opening two contests of the season.
> Jourdain made two three-pointers (on three attempts) for the second straight game.
> The 28.8 percent shooting by USF was the lowest percentage by a Temple opponent all season, as was the 47-point output.
> Temple's 11 three-pointers were a season-high.
> Damian Dunn (knee) did not dress for the third straight game while Arashma Parks was sidelined with a hip injury.

Next Up
> Temple remains in Florida, traveling east to Orlando to take on UCF Saturday afternoon (4 pm/ESPNU/1210 AM WPHT).