Men's Basketball Concludes Non-Conference Slate Sunday at Home vs. Buffalo

Game Info: Sunday, December 29 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Liacouras Center - Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: ESPU | Listen: Owlsports.com/listen | Live Stats: Stat Broadcast | Temple Game Notes

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Opening Tip

Temple closes out non-conference play on Sunday, Dec. 29 when it hosts the Buffalo at Liacouras Center.
A victory over the Bulls would give the Owls eight non-league wins in 2024-25, marking the most for a team since 2019-20.
The Owls had a three-game winning streak snapped in an 85-79 loss to Rhode Island at the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass. on Dec. 21.
Trailing by 16 points with just under 15 minutes to go, the Owls unleashed a furious comeback that saw them take a number of brief leads over the final five minutes.
Senior Shane Dezonie was a catalyst, scoring a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The guard scored 12 points after halftime.
Classmate Steve Settle III also had an outstanding offensive day, scoring a season-best 18 points on a career-high six three-pointers.
Dezonie knocked down a short jumper that tied the game at 79-79 with under a minute left, but a four-point play by URI's Sebastian Thomas with under 30 seconds on the clock proved to be a turning point.
The comeback marked the second consecutive game in which Temple had erased a double-digit deficit to take the lead in the second half. The Owls picked up a 62-61 win over Davidson after trailing by 11 points in the second stanza.
The meeting will be the first featuring Temple and Buffalo since the 2012-13 season, when the Owls defeated the Bulls, 54-39, in a game played in Western New York. The first game of the series came on Dec. 26, 1949, with Temple earning a 66-48 victory.

In De-Zone vs. Rhode Island

Temple senior guard Shane Dezonie scored a career-best 17 points against Rhode Island on Dec. 21, sparking the Owls to a furious comeback that ultimately fell just short.
Dezonie scored 12 of his 17 points after intermission and connected on a short jumper to tie the game at 79-79 with under a minute remaining.
The Pocono Mountains, Pa. product also registered a season-high three steals which also matched a career best.

Historic 2,000-Win Milestone Achieved on Dec. 18

Temple became just the sixth program in NCAA Division I history to win 2,000 games on Wednesday, December 18.
The Owls overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat Davidson, 62-61, and join five other programs in the exclusive 2,000-win club.
Temple joins UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Duke as the only schools to accomplish the feat.

Inside The Numbers

Analytical website KenPom.com ranks Temple as the 63rd-best team nationally (as of Dec. 22) when it comes to two-point field goal percentage defense and the Owls are also ranked in the Top 100 in three-point field goal percentage defense (98th).
All told, their effective field goal percentage defense ranks 60th nationally and second in the American Conference behind Rice (18th).
The team also ranks 14th nationally in non-steal turnover percentage at 5.6%.

Berry, Berry Good

Sophomore Quante Berry has become an important cog in Temple's rotation in 2024-25.
Berry, who averaged 10.1 minutes per game in 30 games played a season ago, is now playing 26.8 minutes per contest and has seen his scoring, rebounding, and assists per game all improve drastically.
He had career highs in points (18) and rebounds (15) in a road game at La Salle, and has scored in double figures five times.
He has also recorded multiple steals in seven of his 11 games this season and leads the team with 17.

Scouting Buffalo

The Bulls will also play their final non-conference game of the season on Dec. 29 and enter the contest with a 5-6 mark.
Buffalo has played six road games in the early going, with the lone win coming in the season opener at Old Dominion.
Ryan Sabol is averaging 16.9 points per game to pace the squad.
The Bulls are coached by George Halcovage III, in his second season at the helm after spending 15 seasons at Villanova under former head coach Jay Wright. Halcovage III and Temple head coach Adam Fisher were both graduate assistants under Wright during the 2008-09 season.