Men's Basketball Hosts Cincinnati on New Year's Day

PHILADELPHIA - For the first time this century Temple will host a New Year's Day men's basketball game when the Owls welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-4, 1-0) to the Liacouras Center for an ESPN-televised showdown Sunday (3 pm/1210 AM WPHT).

The last time the Owls (7-7, 1-0 AAC) hosted a New Year's Day game was 1999 when Temple defeated La Salle, 82-45. The last time Temple played on New Year's Day was 2014 with the Owls falling at Rutgers, 71-66, in the program's first-ever AAC contest.

PROMOTIONS
> Student for a Game
> First Responder Appreciation Day

SCOUTING TEMPLE
> Khalif Battle leads the team and ranks third in the American Athletic Conference in scoring (18.6 ppg) and has scored 20 points in seven games including four of his eight starts. He also leads the AAC in threes with 42 (3.0 pg) and is tied for 28th nationally.
> Damian Dunn, who missed the team's last game at East Carolina (concussion protocol), ranks second on the team in scoring (14.7 ppg), assists (2.6) and field goal percentage (.446). He tallied a career-high 38 points, the most points by an Owl since 2004, against Vanderbilt. He leads the Owls (tied 42nd in NCAA) in free throws made (59).
> Zach Hicks (9.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg), who leads the team in three-point shooting (33-91, .363/6th AAC) and Hysier Miller (8.0 ppg, 4.1 apg/4th AAC) are the only two Owls to start all 14 games.
> Jahlil White (4.3 ppg, .4.3 rpg), the team's top perimeter defender, matched his season high with 10 points in his return to the starting lineup at East Carolina.
> Nick Jourdain (4.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.4 bpg.), who made his first start of the season at East Carolina, has been on fire from the field of late, shooting 21-33 (63.6%) from the field over the last nine games.
> Kur Jongkuch (1.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg) has started two of the three games in place of injured big man Jamille Reynolds (11.1 ppg/6.3 rpg) while Emmanuel Okpomo also made his first start of the season at ECU.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI
> David DeJulius, a preseason second team all-AAC selection, leads the Bearcats in scoring (16.4 ppg) and steals (19). The 6-0 graduate student guard also ranks second in assists (46), threes (29) and field goal percentage (.476).
> Landers Nolley II (15.1 ppg, 35 threes) and Viktor Lakhin (12.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg) also average double figures for the Bearcats.
> Mika Adams-Woods (9.5 ppg, 51 assists), and Jeremiah Davenport (9.4 ppg) round out UC's starting five which has been constant all season.
> Dan Skillings, Jr. (5.2 ppg), Ody Oguama (4.0 ppg), Josh Reed (3.1 ppg) and Jarrett Hensley (3.1 ppg) all average 10 minutes or more off the Bearcats deep bench,
> Cincinnati leads the AAC in scoring (80.9 ppg/33^rd NCAA) and is 28^th nationally in turnovers per game (10.9), while ranking second in three-point percentage (.349).

SERIES HISTORY
> Temple and Cincinnati are meeting for the 37th time with UC holding a 25-11 lead.
> The Owls snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Bearcats with a series sweep last year. It was Temple's first sweep in the series since the 2015-16 campaign.
> Before being members of The American, the teams last met on Dec. 9, 2006 at the Atlantic City Lenape Trail Classic at Boardwalk Hall. Cincinnati won that game, 80-71.
> Temple won three contests in a row before 2006, each time upsetting Cincinnati as the Bearcats were ranked #11, 4 and 1.
> On Feb. 20, 2000, the 15th-ranked Owls upset #1 Cincinnati 77-69 on the Bearcats' home court. It is one of only two wins by Temple over the #1 team in the nation.
> Temple advanced to the Sweet Sixteen on March 14, 1999, after unranked TU topped #11 Cincinnati, 77-69 in the NCAA 2nd Round.

Men's Basketball Hosts Cincinnati on New Year's Day

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Players Mentioned

Khalif Battle

Damian Dunn

Zach Hicks

Kur Jongkuch

Nick Jourdain

Hysier Miller

Emmanuel Okpomo

Jamille Reynolds

Jahlil White

Temple University Athletics