Owls Close Strong in 81-77 Road Triumph at Tulsa

Tuesday, March 4

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 P.M.

Temple University

16-14,8-9AAC

Tulsa

11-19,5-12AAC

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Robin Hsiao

Owls Close Strong in 81-77 Road Triumph at Tulsa

3.4.25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – Trailing by two with 2:06 to play, the Temple men's basketball team closed on a 9-2 run to defeat Tulsa, 81-77, on Tuesday night at the Reynolds Center.

The Owls (16-14, 8-9 AAC) earned back-to-back wins and snapped a six-game road losing streak heading into their final regular-season contest. The Golden Hurricane (11-19, 5-12) close the regular season at Wichita State on Sunday.

Sophomore guard Zion Stanford led Temple with 20 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. After missing one game due to illness, senior forward Steve Settle III joined Stanford in double figures by scoring 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbing a game-high eight boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Temple jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Tulsa tied the game with a pair of 3-pointers. A Stanford jumper put the Owls up by two at the first media timeout.
The Golden Hurricane reeled off seven straight points for a 12-8 edge, but Temple answered with a Dillon Battie putback to trim the deficit to two.
Following a jumper from Matteo Picarelli to tie it at 12, the sophomore guard put Temple ahead 15-14 by converting three free throws. Another Tulsa 3-pointer evened the score again at 17.
With the game tied at 19, Temple found its rhythm behind a 16-4 surge for a 36-23 lead. After starting 7-for-19 from the field, the Owls sank eight of their last 11 shots of the half.
Tulsa trimmed the margin to eight by the break with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, but Temple still held a 40-32 advantage. The Owls had 22 of their 40 first-half points in the paint and outrebounded the Golden Hurricane 19-12.
Out of halftime, Tulsa scored six straight to cut Temple's lead to two. A three-point play from Settle III pushed the margin back to five at 45-40.
The teams continued to trade buckets, with Tulsa briefly taking a 55-54 lead. Battie quickly put Temple back in front with an and-one layup before another Tulsa 3-pointer knotted the score again.
Leading 63-62, Temple used two free throws by Stanford and a 3-pointer from Aiden Tobiason to go up four. With the Owls trailing 74-72 and just over two minutes left, Tobiason faked a jumper and drove for a layup, then added two more free throws to give Temple a two-point edge.
After Tulsa missed a foul shot, Quante Berry stepped to the line and hit four straight free throws, twice pushing the Owls' lead to three in the final seconds. Elijah Gray added one more from the stripe to seal the 81-77 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Despite using only eight players, all eight Owls that made an apperance scored at least seven points.
Temple went 21-of-26 (81 percent) at the line, while Tulsa finished 17-of-26 (65 percent). The Owls are now 12-5 this season when making at least 20 free throws.
Temple held a 38-29 edge on the boards, with four players grabbing at least five rebounds.
The Owls have forced season splits with all five AAC opponents they have faced multiple times. They will have one more chance to do so against North Texas on Sunday.
Twenty-four of Temple's 30 games, including 16 of 17 AAC contests, have been decided by 10 or fewer points this season.
The Owls ended a six-game road losing streak, earning their first away victory since Jan. 11 at Rice.
While Berry and Settle III returned, AAC leading scorer Jamal Mashburn Jr. (lower body) missed his seventh game in the past eight, and Shane Dezonie (illness) was also out.

UP NEXT

Temple concludes the regular season on Sunday, March 9, against North Texas at the Liacouras Center.
The Senior Day matchup tips off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Tickets are available at OwlsTix.com.