Owls Hold On Against Florida Atlantic to Advance to AAC Finals

Saturday, March 16

Fort Worth, Texas

5:00 P.M.

Temple University

16-19,5-13AAC

Florida Atlantic

25-8,14-4AAC

Temple

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos

Owls Hold On Against Florida Atlantic to Advance to AAC Finals

3.16.24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas - Hysier Miller scored 18 second half points and Jordan Riley had his second consecutive double-double as the Temple men's basketball team downed second-seeded Florida Atlantic, 74-73 to advance to the AAC title game.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Hysier Miller scored 21 in the game. He also had four steals, setting an AAC tournament record with 13 swipes so far during the championship.
Jordan Riley netted 16 with 10 rebounds.
Shane Dezonie scored nine. Matteo Picarelli tallied eight.
The Owls shot 57.1 percent in the second half and went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Temple tied a season-high with 12 made three-pointers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Temple got off to a good start as three-pointers from Riley and Picarelli pushed TU up 6-2. A cold snap followed as Florida Atlantic took a 9-6 lead, before an old-fashioned three-point play from Jahlil White knotted the score. FAU responded with 12 in a row, opening a 21-9 advantage at the 7:24 mark.
Trailing 26-14, Temple got a spark from distance as Miller and Riley connected on back-to-back treys in a span of just 41 seconds. That deficit remained in place as FAU took a 33-25 lead into the break.
TU came out in the second half on fire, connecting on five of its first eight shots, four of them from beyond the arc as Temple closed the gap to 42-41 by the 16:25 point. Moments later, TU got a triple from Steve Settle III, tying the game at 46-46.
Continuing to perform on both ends of the floor, Temple used an 11-4 run to build a 57-50 lead and force a Florida Atlantic timeout. TU eventually built the edge to eight before FAU made one last run. A jumper and three free throws by Florida Atlantic pulled it to within a point with 29 seconds remaining, but a pair of Dezonie free throws gave Temple the final points it needed.

UP NEXT
The Owls now compete for their first AAC title when they take on UAB on Sunday, March 17. Tipoff from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. eastern with the game to be aired on ESPN.