Men’s Basketball Falls in Last Seconds at SMU, 72-71

Wednesday, February 8

Dallas, Texas

8:00 PM

Temple University

14-11,8-4AAC

SMU

9-16,4-8AAC

Temple

SMU

Photo by: Andrew Kim

Men’s Basketball Falls in Last Seconds at SMU, 72-71

2.8.23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DALLAS – Zhuric Phelps made one of two free throws with three seconds left to lift SMU to a 72-21 win over visiting Temple at the Moody Coliseum Wednesday. The Owls fall to 14-11, 8-4 in American Athletic Conference play while SMU improves to 9-16, 4-8.

Khalif Battle led all scorers with a season-high tying 27 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field, 5-of-10 from three-point range. Zach Hicks and Damian Dunn added 11 points each with Dunn dishing a game-high six assists. Phelps led the Mustangs with 19 points while Efe Odigie and Samuell Williamson each added 10.

First Half
> The Owls started off sluggishly, falling behind 19-2 before Damian Dunn drained a three-pointer with 12:28 remaining. The Owls shot one-for-11 prior to the Dunn three and committed six turnovers while SMU made eight of its first 14 shots, including three-of-four from long range.
> Hysier Miller, Jamille Reynolds and Nick Jourdain all picked up two fouls in the first eight minutes.
> The Owls then turned up the defense, running off nine unanswered to cut the margin to seven, 21-14.
> Temple would continue to stymie SMU, cutting the margin to four, 25-21, by the final media timeout at 3:58. The Cherry and White defense held the Mustangs to just one field goal (10 attempts) over an eight minute stretch while forcing four turnovers.
> The Owls would take their first lead of the half, 26-25, capping a 6-0 run on a Hicks three off Dunn's fourth assist of the period at the three minute mark.
> The lead went back and forth until a Phelps three with 10 seconds remaining gave the Mustangs a 32-30 lead at the break.

Second Half
> SMU scored the first two baskets to push the lead to six, 36-30, but the Owls would quickly level the score at 39 with a 9-3 run capped by a Hicks three.
> The Owls took their first lead of the half, 44-41, on a Battle three and the margin would stay within one possession until SMU scored eight straight to take a 55-49 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining to force a Temple timeout.
> Temple would tie the game again, with Battle scoring all eight of the Owls points in an 8-2 run to make it 57-all.
> The lead went back and forth with neither team able to extend it more than a possession.
> After a Dunn basket made it a one-point deficit (70-69) with 2:30 to play, neither team was able to score until 25 seconds on the clock when Phelps made one of two free throws to give SMU a two-point lead.
> A driving layup from Miller tied the game with 11 seconds left (71-71), but a free throw from Phelps eight seconds later broke the tie and sealed the Mustangs' victory.

Statistically Speaking
> Battle extended his free throw streak to 27 straight made over four games.
> The Owls snapped a five-game winning streak in road conference play, the first for the team since 1987-88.

Up Next
> Temple stays on the road, traveling to Memphis for a Super Bowl Sunday showdown with the Tigers (12 noon/ESPN2/1210 AM WPHT).