Taking the floor without its leading scorer for the second consecutive game, Temple played Memphis tightly for 20 minutes before falling behind in the second half and dropping a 90-82 loss to the 17th-ranked Tigers Sunday at FedExForum.
Owls guard Jamal Mashburn Jr., who came into Sunday’s game as the nation’s second-leading scorer, sat out Sunday with the toe injury that kept him out of Thursday’s overtime loss at South Florida. Despite his absence, Temple shot 50% in the first half, knocked down five three pointers and scored 11 points off 11 Memphis turnovers in forcing a 35-35 tie at halftime.
The Owls (14-10, 6-5 American Athletic Conference) kept things close through the first four minutes of the second half and grabbed a short-lived, 42-40 lead off a Steve Settle III three at the 16:32 mark of the second half before the Tigers (20-4, 10-1) slowly began to pull away. They pieced together a 20-7 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a 60-49 advantage following a three from Colby Rogers off a Shane Dezonie turnover.
Memphis’ lead grew as large as 15 points when P.J. Haggerty, who sits just behind Mashburn at third nationally in scoring, hit a step-back three-pointer with 4:33 to go. Temple clawed back to get within six at 85-79 with 1:01 left following a Quante Berry three-point play, and the Owls had a chance to make it a one-possession game a little more than 30 seconds later, but Settle missed a three and Temple never got closer than six the rest of the way.
The Owls, who upset an 18th-ranked Memphis team at the Liacouras Center back on Jan. 18, placed five scorers in double figures Sunday, led by freshman Aiden Tobiason’s 18 points, which tied a career high. Settle finished with 17, Berry added 16, Dezonie chipped in 13 and reserve forward Elijah Gray had 10. Haggerty’s game-high 20 points paced Memphis, while forward Dain Dainja scored 18 to with a game-high eight rebounds.
Temple managed to shoot 50% (27-for-54) without Mashburn and 11-for-22 from three, but Memphis scored 18 points off 16 Owls turnovers and outscored Temple 40-26 in the paint and by 20-6 on fastbreak points.
The Owls return home to host Tulsa Wednesday at the Liacouras Center with a 7 p.m. tip-off time.
