Men’s Basketball Clinches Bye with Senior Day Win Over South Florida

Sunday, March 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 PM

Temple University

17-11,10-7AAC

South Florida

8-22,3-15AAC

South Fla.

Temple

Photo by: Jesse Garber

Men’s Basketball Clinches Bye with Senior Day Win Over South Florida

3.6.22 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Aaron McKie Media Conference Damian Dunn, Zach Hicks Media Conference

PHILADELPHIA – Temple celebrated its Senior Day with a resounding 75-47 win over South Florida to clinch a first-round bye in the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Sunday afternoon at the Liacouras Center.

Damian Dunn led all scorers with 27 points while grabbing a career-high nine rebounds and tying his career mark for assists (5). Zach Hicks added 12 points on four three-pointers while adding seven boards. Colin Day, one of five players celebrating Senior Day and the lone one to exhaust eligibility this season, scored a Temple career high seven points, hitting both three-point attempts in the final five minutes.

The Owls finish the regular season with a 17-11 overall record and 10-7 in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls fall to 8-22, 3-15.

First Half
> After a slow start, Temple used a 16-5 run to take a double-digit lead (24-13) with just under eight minutes to play in the half.
> The Owls would extend their lead to a dozen (30-18) following a Dunn three-pointer with 4:14 on the clock, and close out the period with an 11-point cushion, 37-26.
> Dunn scored 14 points in the half while grabbing four rebounds and dishing three assists.
> Hicks connected on three triples for nine points while pulling down six rebounds.

Second Half
> The Owls led by double figures for the final 17 minutes and broke the game open with an 13-0 run to take it a 61-35 lead with just under seven left.
> Temple would lead by as many as 33, 71-38, following a Daly three with 3:43 to play.

Statistically Speaking
> Jake Forrester returned to action for the first time since the team's win at Tulsa on Jan. 12. Forrester scored five points and grabbed two rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
> The Owls stifling defense held the Bulls to 28.8 percent (17-59) shooting from the field and 5.6 percent (1-18) from long range.
> Temple also out-rebounded USF, 46-33, and committed just 10 turnovers on the day.
> Temple is now 14-2 all-time when celebrating Hooter The Owl's birthday.
> Besides Daly, Forrester, Arashma Parks, Tai Strickland and Sage Tolbert III also celebrated Senior Day as did managers Despina Evangelopolous and Luke Moritz.

Next Up
>Temple has earned the four-seed in the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship and will travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on fifth-seed Tulane on Friday, March 11 at 3 p.m. ET.