Second-Half Flurry Leads Men's Basketball Past Wichita State in AAC Opener, 91-85

Friday, January 3

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 P.M.

Temple University

9-5,1-0AAC

Wichita State

10-4,0-1AAC

Wichita St.

Temple

Second-Half Flurry Leads Men's Basketball Past Wichita State in AAC Opener, 91-85

1.3.25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Temple men's basketball guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Owls past Wichita State, 91-85, in the American Athletic Conference opener for both schools on Friday night. The Owls used a late second-half run to secure the victory and improve to 9-5 overall (1-0 in AAC play), and a perfect 6-0 at Liacouras Center in 2024-25.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A slow start for the Owls led to an 11-2 advantage for the Shockers in the early going, before the home team got it going offensively.
Temple made its next six shots from the floor, and a three-pointer by Elijah Gray capped a 10-0 run to put the score at 12-11 in favor of the home side.
The Owls led the majority of the first half from there, pushing the margin to as many as six points before the Shockers closed strong to take a 39-37 lead at the break.
Mashburn Jr. led all scorers through the first 20 minutes with 13 points for Temple, while Xavier Bell had 10 for Wichita State.
Triples by Quante Berry and Mashburn Jr. regained a lead for the Owls early in the second half, and the two teams battled tooth and nail to gain control of the game from there.
The Shockers withstood a strong first 10 minutes of the period by Temple, and took a 66-62 lead following a fast-break dunk by Harlond Beverly with 8:15 to go.
Temple came right back and scored on its next possession, with Mashburn Jr.'s jumper igniting a 14-3 run over a 3:20 stretch to allow the home team to get some breathing room.
With the deficit still at one for the Owls at 69-68, Steve Settle III and Berry knocked down threes on consecutive possessions to give Temple a five-point cushion.
Another three from Zion Stanford and a bucket by Mashburn Jr. upped the lead to double-digits at 81-71 with 3:40 left.
From there, the Owls hit 10 free throws over the final 2:39 to seal the victory and improve to 1-0 in AAC play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

In addition to Mashburn Jr.'s 24 points, Gray added 15 points off the bench and a total of five different Temple players reached double figures.
Berry and Settle III added 14 apiece, while senior Shane Dezonie had 10 points including a 6-for-8 showing from the free-throw line.
The Owls went 24-for-31 from the free-throw line (77.4%), while Wichita State shot 16-of-28 (57.1%).
Temple's bench, led by Gray's output, outscored the Shockers, 30-17.
Justin Hill had 25 points to lead four players in double figures for Wichita State.

UP NEXT

The Owls hit the road for their next two American Athletic Conference games, beginning Wednesday, Jan. 8 at East Carolina.
The contest will air live on ESPN+, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.