Temple Hangs On to Earn Road Victory at Rice, 73-70

Saturday, January 11

Houston, Texas

2:00 P.M.

Temple University

10-6,2-1AAC

Rice

11-6,2-2AAC

Temple

Rice

Temple Hangs On to Earn Road Victory at Rice, 73-70

1.11.25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas - Senior Shane Dezonie recorded the third double-double of his Temple career with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead the Owls past Rice, 73-70, on Saturday afternoon. Graduate student Jamal Mashburn Jr. led Temple in scoring with 24 points as the visiting Owls improved to 10-6 on the year and 2-1 in American Athletic Conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Temple put together a strong defensive effort in the first half, holding Rice to 33.3 percent shooting en route to a 35-31 lead.
Mashburn Jr. scored 13 of his 24 points in the opening half, and senior Matteo Picarelli contributed six points off the bench.
The visiting Owls used a 15-2 run to take a 25-15 lead, and led by as many as 11 in the stanza before Rice came back to make it close heading into the locker room.
Andrew Akuchie played a big role for the home team, tallying nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the first half.
Temple continued to lead well into the second half before a jumper from Trae Broadnax gave Rice a 59-58 lead.
The two teams went back and forth from there, with freshman Babatunde Durodola converting on a putback layup to put Temple in front, 62-61.
That was the last field goal Temple scored in the game, but the visiting Owls went 11-for-14 from the free throw line over the final 1:12 and fended off a last-gasp comeback attempt by Rice to claim the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Mashburn Jr. recorded his 11th game this season with 20 or more points, and added four rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
Dezonie was a beast on the glass, with five of his 15 boards coming at the offensive end. His 15 rebounds matched the high game for an Owl this season (Quante Berry, 15 vs. La Salle).
Berry added 11 points, as did Durodola who had his best scoring game since a 13-point effort against Monmouth.
Facing one of the top rebounding teams in the AAC in Rice, Temple outboarded its opponent, 47-37.
The free throw line was a key for Temple, as they outscored Rice by a 23-6 margin at the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

Temple returns home for a matchup with nationally-ranked Memphis at the Liacouras Center on Thursday, January 16.
The contest will air live on ESPN2, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased at OwlsTix.com.
Fans are encouraged to wear white as part of the annual "White Out" promotion