Temple falls at UConn, 73-59
STORRS, Conn. -- Kentan Facey scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead UConn to its second straight conference win, 73-59 over Temple on Wednesday night.
The 6-foot-10 senior hit nine of his 11 shots for the Huskies (7-9, 2-3 American). Amida Brimah added 13 points and had six of UConn's nine blocked shots. Guard Jalen Adams scored 11 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had 12 assists.
Shizz Alston Jr. had 13 points to lead Temple (10-8, 1-4).
The Huskies led by 11 at halftime and a jumper by Facey stretched that to 45-28 early in the second half.
Temple was able to cut that back to single digits before UConn stretched it back out. An alley-oop from Adams to Brimah pushed the lead back to 16 at 67-51 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining and that deficit was too much for Temple to overcome.
Brimah had three blocks in the game's first four minutes, and UConn outscored Temple 10-2 in the paint early. But it was a 3-pointer from the right corner by Adams that gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead. That was part of a 9-0 run that made it 22-9.
A 7-0 run, capped by crowd roar-generating dunks from Facey and Rodney Purvis, gave the Huskies a 37-23 lead. A 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer from Temple's Daniel Dingle (10 points, nine rebounds) cut it to 39-28.
Temple's Obi Enechionhia, who came in averaging 14.6 points per game, hit just three of his 17 shots and finished with seven points.
UConn finished with 42 points inside to just 20 for the Owls. The Huskies also had a 40-31 edge in rebounding.
BIG PICTURE
Temple: The Owls have been somewhat of an enigma this season, beating teams such as Florida State and West Virginia, but losing games to the likes of George Washington and by 24 points to Central Florida, a team UConn beat 64-49 on Sunday. This was the Owls' first visit to Gampel Pavilion.
UConn: UConn has only won back-to-back to games one other time this season, beating Boston University on Nov. 30 and Syracuse six days later, each by just two points.
UP NEXT
Temple: The Owls return home this weekend with the students, who have been out on winter break. The Owls host Tulsa on Saturday.
UConn: The Huskies travel to Washington D.C. to take on former Big East rival Georgetown on Saturday for their final non-conference game of the season.