Owls Outlast Dragons in Big 5 Opener

Tuesday, November 14

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

3-0,0-0AAC

Drexel

1-2,0-0CAA

Temple

Drexel

Photo by: Kenny Dango

Owls Outlast Dragons in Big 5 Opener

11.14.23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – In its first Big 5 game of the year, the Temple University men's basketball team held off the Drexel Dragons and ran its record to 3-0 on the season with a 66-64 win.

BY THE NUMBERS

Hysier Miller led the Owls with 19. He also had six rebounds.
Sam Hofman filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Matteo Picarelli was in double figures, scoring 11.
Steve Settle III had a trio of blocks in the game.
Temple turned the ball over just five times, its first game with five or fewer since 2015.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a rough first couple of minutes, the Owls settled into the game. An 11-3 run by Temple gave TU its first lead of the night, 14-13, on a Zion Stanford free throw at the 11:08 mark.
From there, the Owls exploded, extending the run to 26-6. In the process, they held Drexel to 1-for-12 shooting and forced five turnovers. The Dragons recovered and battled back, but the Owls still held a 32-25 lead into intermission.
Both teams had some highlight reel plays early in the second half. Drexel cut the lead to 37-34 with a bucket three and a half minutes in, but back to back defensive stops lead to transition hoops for Temple, who reestablished the halftime margin at 41-34 at the first media timeout of the frame.
Things got tight at the end as Drexel chopped the lead to two, but some clutch free throws down the stretch and a final defensive stand allowed TU to come away with the win.

UP NEXT
Temple returns to the Liacouras Center for the first time in two weeks, hosting the Columbia Lions in non-conference action on Saturday, November 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.