Dunn Scores 22 to Lead Men’s Basketball Past East Carolina, 73-58

Wednesday, January 18

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

11-9,5-2AAC

East Carolina

10-10,1-6AAC

East Carolina

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Dunn Scores 22 to Lead Men’s Basketball Past East Carolina, 73-58

1.18.23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Damian Dunn scored a game-high 22 points, and Temple used a 14-0 run midway through the second half in defeating East Carolina, 73-58, Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center. It was a season sweep for Temple which improved to 11-9 overall and 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina dropped its fifth straight game, falling to 10-10, 1-6 in AAC play.

Dunn, who missed the first game against ECU, had 10 points in the Owls' decisive run. He made 16-of-18 from the line for the game with the 16 made free throws tying for the fourth most in a game by a Temple player in school history. He had 18 free throws made against Wagner in the season opener, which is tied for first all-time at the school.

Khalif Battle added 20 points and a team-high seven rebounds for Temple. Quentin Diboundje led the Pirates with 14 points while Brandon Johnson had a game-high 11 rebounds.

First Half
> The Owls started off slowly, falling behind 8-2 in the first three minutes before the team's leading scorers Battle and Dunn entered the game.
> Battle quickly drained a corner three, but the Pirates answered with seven straight points, two coming from free throws off a flagrant foul called against Nick Jourdain, to make it 15-5 with 13:24 on the clock.
> A Zach Hicks three capped a 7-2 Owls run to cut the deficit to 17-12. The Pirates answered with consecutive baskets, but Dunn, who lives near the ECU campus, scored seven unanswered points to cut the margin to a single possession, 21-19, with just over six minutes remaining.
> The Owls would cut it to one, 25-24, on a Battle three, but ECU scored eight of the last 12 points in the half to take a 33-28 lead at the break.
> Temple struggled from the field in the frame, shooting just 30 percent (8-27) and were out-rebounded 29-14 in the frame.
> ECU, however, turned the ball over nine times while Temple only had two miscues.

Second Half
> Temple scored five quick points, the last a Hicks three, to tie the game at 33 in the first minute after intermission.
> The game stayed tight until the Owls ran off 14 straight points, 10 by Dunn, to take a 56-46 lead with 9:27 remaining.
> The Owls would extend the lead to 14 points twice, the last on a dunk by Jahlil White to make it 64-50.
> The Pirates would go on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 66-57 with 3:08 on the clock, but Dunn would hit three free throws to extend the lead back to double figures and the Owls would keep the margin in double digits the remainder of the game.

Statistically Speaking
> Temple shot 52 percent from the field in the second half while holding East Carolina to 28.6 percent from the floor.
> The Owls forced 17 turnovers while committing just eight miscues.
> White added eight points (4-7 FGs), five rebounds and four assists for the Owls.

Next Up
> Temple travels to the Houston Sunday to take on the top-ranked team in the nation. The game tips off at 3 pm ET and will be televised live on ESPN. It will also be broadcast on 1210 AM WPHT and streamed on The Varsity Network App.