Temple blew a double-digit lead in the second half and was dominated on the boards as the Owls fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats, 72-68.
The Owls (15-5, 5-2 The American) had a 14-point lead with a little more than 18 minutes left in the second half but allowed the Bearcats (18-3, 7-1 The American) to claw their way back into the game. Cincinnati eventually took the lead with 5:34 left in the game and never trailed again.
Temple was out-rebounded overall, 46-22, but was particularly outgunned in the offensive rebound category. The Owls grabbed just three offensive rebounds while the Bearcats grabbed 16 of their own.
After making 25 of 34 free throws on Thursday vs. Memphis, Temple made just 19 of its 31 free-throw attempts vs. Cincinnati. Cincinnati, meanwhile, hit 25 of its 37 attempts from the free-throw line.
The losing effort negated a career night from sophomore forward JP Moorman, who had a career-high 20 points off of 8-of-11 shooting. Shizz Alston (18 points), Quinton Rose (16 points) and Nate Pierre-Louis (11 points) joined Moorman in double-digit scoring. That foursome accounted for 65 of Temple's 68 points.
The schedule will not get any easier for Temple, as the Owls will travel to Houston to play the No. 17 Cougars on Thursday in a rematch of Temple's 73-69 win earlier this month. Cincinnati, meanwhile, will host SMU on Saturday.
Listen to postgame interviews below.
- EDGE
- DT
- OT
- WR
- RB
- WR
- LB
- TE
- ATH
- WR
