Owls Return Home For Hooter's Birthday Against UTSA

Game Info: Sunday, February 18, 2024 - 2:00 p.m. EST
Location: Liacouras Center - Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: ESPN+ | Listen: 1210 WPHT | Live Stats: Owlsports.com | International Feed | Tickets

Social Media
Twitter/X: @TUMBBHoops | Instagram: @tumbbhoops
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Promotions
**Sunday is Hooter's Birthday!**

Local mascots from area sports teams and businesses
Face painting and activities on the concourse
First 1,000 kids 14 and under will receive a Temple Owls drawstring bag
Players will be available for postgame autographs and photos
Kids tickets on gameday are $10

Opening Tip
The Temple University men's basketball team returns home for a matinee against the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners on Sunday, February 18. Tipoff from the Liacouras Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The game is presented by Steamfitters Local Union 420.

A New Owl In The Nest
TU welcomed its newest member on Saturday when the team signed 13-year old Cairo through Team IMPACT, an organization that matches children with life-threatening illnesses with college sports teams to promote mental health and teamwork as part of the healing process. Cairo is the 13th Team IMPACT member to be paired with a Temple sports team in the past nine years. A full press release can be found here.

Last Time Out - Men's Basketball Gives No. 24 Florida Atlantic All It Can Handle
Temple gave No. 24 Florida Atlantic all it could handle, but the Owls were upended by FAU 80-68 on Thursday night.

BY THE NUMBERS

Jordan Riley led Temple with 19 points, hauling in six boards
Sam Hofman dropped 12 in the contest, going 4-for-4 from distance, his fifth game this season with three or more treys.
Hysier Miller scored 10 and added five assists
Jahlil White finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Last Of The Firsts
Sunday's game against UTSA is the seventh and final time the Owls will have a first-time matchup against an opponent this season. TU also played (in order) Columbia, UAlbany, Nevada, Portland, North Texas and Florida Atlantic for the first time this season.

Valuing The Ball
Thursday at FAU was the second game in a row and 10th overall time this season the Owls turned the ball over less than 10 times. It has given the ball away a season-low five times twice, at Drexel on November 14 and versus Charlotte on February 11. TU is fourth in the American and in the top-75 nationally at 10.6 turnovers per game.

Winning The Turnover Battle
In addition to not giving the ball away, Temple is third in the AAC and in the top-65 in NCAA Division I in turnover margin at +2.2. In large part, that is due to the Owls averaging 7.6 steals per game, a jump of more than two swipes a night from last season.

Dialing From Deep (Part I)
After struggling in his previous two games, Sam Hofman found his stroke from three-point territory, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc at Florida Atlantic. It was his fifth game this season with three or more triples.

Dialing From Deep (Part II)
The game between the Owls and Roadrunners is definitely one that those who like long-range shooting will enjoy. Both Temple and UTSA enter the contest in the top-20 nationally in most three-pointers taken with both squads making more than eight treys per contest.

Closing In
Entering Sunday, Steve Settle III is two points away from 1,000 in his career.

Scouting Report
UTSA enters 8-17 overall with a 2-10 mark in the American and is coming off a 79-70 loss against Charlotte on Thursday. Much like the Owls, the Roadrunners have been more competitive than their record would indicate in conference play with five of their 10 losses coming either by four points or less or in overtime.

Leading the offense for UTSA is Jordan Ivy-Curry at 16.7 points per game. Christian Tucker and Carlton Linguard, Jr. are also around double figures, tallying 12.0 and 9.8 a night, respectively. Linguard and Trey Edmonds top the team in rebounding at 5.9 a contest. Tucker leads the AAC and is in the top-40 nationally with 131 assists.

The bench has been a big lift for the Roadrunners this season, who are averaging 31.4 points per game from their reserves. They have also done a good job on the offensive glass with 13.2 a contest. UTSA also enjoys taking its threes, ranking 11th nationally in attempts and 18th in makes.

The Roadrunners have struggled with their shot at times this season, sitting 13th in the conference and in the bottom-50 nationally at 41.4 percent. While they do a good job of scoring the ball, they have struggled to keep teams off the board, ranking 351st in scoring defense at 83.4 an outing, surrendering 88 or more on nine occasions this season and given up triple digits three times.

Steve Henson is in his eighth season as the head coach of UTSA with a record of 107-140. His best year came in 2017-18 when he guided the team to a 20-15 mark.

All-Time Series
Sunday is the first matchup between the Roadrunners and Owls in men's basketball.

Up Next
The Owls go on the road for a pair of games, starting with a trip to Wichita State on Sunday, February 25. Tipoff from Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST with the game airing on ESPN.

Owls Return Home For Hooter's Birthday Against UTSA

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Hofman

Hysier Miller

Jordan Riley

Steve Settle III

Jahlil White

Temple University Athletics

Owls Return Home For Hooter's Birthday Against UTSA

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Hofman

Hysier Miller

Jordan Riley

Steve Settle III

Jahlil White

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