First-Half Struggles Doom Temple in Conference Loss at UCF

Saturday, December 31

Orlando, Fla.

4:00 p.m.

Temple University

9-6, 0-2AAC

UCF

11-3, 2-0AAC

Temple

UCF

Photo by: Rich Schmitt

First-Half Struggles Doom Temple in Conference Loss at UCF

12.31.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ORLANDO - Unable to recover from a lackluster first half, Temple men's basketball fell 77-53 at UCF (11-3, 2-0) in a New Year's Eve road game. The Owls (9-6, 0-2) rebounded from an 11-point first half to outscore the Knights 42-39 in the second, but had fallen in far too deep a hole by halftime.

Sophomore Shizz Alston, Jr. scored a team-high 16 points for Temple, while senior Daniel Dingle added 11. Freshman Quinton Rose came off the bench for a team-best seven rebounds to go with seven points, and tied his season-high with a game-high four steals.

UCF got 17 points apiece from Matt Williams and Tacko Fall.

Temple played with a small lineup for much of the game as the Owls were whistled for nearly double the Knights' fouls. Junior Obi Enechionyia fouled out with five minutes left, and Temple was without sophomore Ernest Aflakpui (three fouls) for much of the contest.

The first half was Temple's worst in years, as the Owls scored just 11 points on 13.8 percent shooting from the field. After scoring the first bucket of the game, Temple missed nine shots in a row as UCF used a 15-0 run to take a 15-2 lead at 12:25.

Freshman Alani Moore II stopped the run with a three-pointer at the 12-minute mark, but it would be one of just three shots the Owls connected on in their first 19 tries. UCF took its first 20-point lead with 6:48 remaining, and then held Temple without a field goal for well over six minutes to end the half. After scoring the final seven points of the period, the Knights led 38-11 at halftime.

Williams led UCF with 14 points at the break, while no player had more than three points for the Owls. The Knights hit 13-of-16 free throws, while the Owls got just two attempts but made both.

UCF opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of 34 points, 49-15 at 16:46. The Owls had a 9-0 run ending near the eight-minute mark to cut the deficit to 25, but never came within fewer than 23 points in the period.

Temple quadrupled its first-half field goals made in the second period, hitting 16-of-35 (45.7 percent).

The Owls will play another conference road game at SMU on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 9 p.m. EST (CBSSN / 1210 AM WPHT).