Owls Dominate Second Half Against SMU to Advance to Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 14

Fort Worth, Texas

9:00 P.M.

Temple University

14-19,5-13AAC

SMU

20-12,11-7AAC

Temple

SMU

Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos

Owls Dominate Second Half Against SMU to Advance to Quarterfinals

3.14.24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Temple University men's basketball team outscored SMU 39-17 in the final 15 minutes of the game as the Owls topped the Mustangs 75-60 in the Second Round of the American Athletic Conference Championships on Thursday night.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Hysier Miller led Temple with 21 points, adding six assists and a career-high six steals.
Steve Settle III scored 14 and contributed on the defensive end with a personal best five blocks.
Shane Dezonie and Jahlil White netted 12 and 10, respectively.
Sam Hofman tallied eight with a team-high six rebounds.
TU posted its best shooting effort of the year, connecting on 51.9 percent from the floor.
The eight total blocks were a season-high.
After committing six turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game, TU only gve the ball up on five occasions in the final 32:03.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The teams traded baskets through the opening couple minutes of the game before a pair of Temple turnovers led to a 7-0 run for the Mustangs. Trailing 19-11, the Owls found their stroke from beyond the arc as consecutive threes by Miller and Dezonie chopped the lead to one.
SMU maintained the lead through the remainder of the half, but TU never let the advantage get too far away thanks to good shooting from distance and turning up the defense. The Owls forced nine turnovers from the Mustangs in the opening 20 minutes. As time wound down in the frame, Miller drove from the left wing and banked home a teardrop that sliced the SMU edge to 33-32 at the break.
As the second half opened, it looked like SMU would start to pull away as it took a 43-36 lea at the 15:17 mark. Temple refused to fade, going on an 8-1 run in a matter of 1:09, tying the game on a Dezonie layup with 13:52 to go. The Owls continued to pour on the pressure, extending the run to 17-3, taking a 53-46 lead with under 10 minutes to play.
From there, Temple extended its lead as the half went on. SMU made a late run to slice the gap to nine, but TU was able to shut the door, coming up with a pair of late steals.

UP NEXT
The Owls are back in action on Friday, March 15 when they take on third-seeded Charlotte in the AAC Quarterfinals. Tipoff from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT with the game to be aired on ESPNU.