NEW YORK – Sophomore guard Quinton Rose lobbed a pass from half court to senior forward Obi Enechionyia in transition and it swished in for a 3-pointer.
Temple coach Fran Dunphy called it luck, but took it as a good omen. University of South Carolina coach Frank Martin knew it wasn’t his team’s night to beat the Owls.
Rose led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting as the Owls beat the Gamecocks, 76-60, at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. He also only had one turnover after committing a team-high five turnovers in Temple’s loss to La Salle on Sunday.
“He probably took it a little personally about the La Salle game and obviously he can score it,” Dunphy said. “I think he handled the ball much better tonight.
Dunphy on @qrose_3's performance tonight: pic.twitter.com/0L0d9Iq4R9
— Tom Ignudo (@TomIgnudo) December 1, 2017
Martin said Rose took advantage freshman forward Justin Minaya on offense. Minaya, who is 6-foot-5, is three inches shorter than Rose.
The lead changed eight times midway through the game until the Owls went on a 21-6 run.
With 10 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half, junior guard Shizz Alston Jr. found Rose on an alley-oop layup. Rose scored 11 of Temple’s first 18 points.
Temple also forced 17 South Carolina turnovers during the contest. Temple scored 18 points off of those turnovers.
Rose stole a pass off Minaya off an inbounds pass and dunked the ball to score Temple’s first points of the game.
“What [Rose] understands is to get to a spot and jump up and shoot over a shorter player and he did that,” Martin said. “He’s a strong player. And then we turned it over, so now you turn him loose in the open court and he’s coming downhill at you hard. He’s a good player.”
Junior center Ernest Aflakpui picked up his second foul nearly four minutes into the game. He didn’t return for the rest of the first half.
Sophomore center Damion Moore replaced Afalkpui and had a career game.
During a two-minute stretch midway through the second-half, Moore scored eight straight points for Temple. He finished with his first career double-double on a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.
Moore played with a toughness underneath the basket. After missing a layup attempt, he followed his miss, went up strong and got fouled on the putback by sophomore forward Maik Kostar. He then went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to extend Temple’s lead to 15 points with 3:35 left in the first-half.
Damion Moore on his game tonight: pic.twitter.com/YzbufCp4wh
— Tom Ignudo (@TomIgnudo) December 1, 2017
Moore said he hasn’t had a game scoring the ball like that since his Callaway High School days in Jackson, Mississippi
Rose said when Moore is scoring effectively like that under the basket, it makes it easier for him when he’s driving to the hoop.
“The big on defense has to make a decision earlier,” Rose said. “If he has it going, he knows I’m dumping it off, but he also has to step up and stop me from scoring.”
“[Damion] can really score it,” Dunphy said. “I thought he probably could’ve had a few more points as well. He missed a layup inside, he missed a number of foul shots as well. He knows how to play and I thought his rebounding was pretty good tonight too.”
Enechionyia had a career night on the defensive of the ball. His six blocks against the Gamecocks tied a career-high he set against Florida State University last season.
South Carolina forward Maik Kostar on how @EasyZer0 disrupted the Gamecocks' offense: pic.twitter.com/dxqv1bwzOb
— Tom Ignudo (@TomIgnudo) December 1, 2017
Dunphy said Enechionyia also probably affected a few other South Carolina drives to the basket with his presence at the rim. Twenty-six of South Carolina’s 60 points came in the paint. Enechionyia also poured in 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and had five rebounds.
Freshman guard Nate Pierre-Louis made his season debut with 5:27 left in the first half. Redshirt-senior guard Josh Brown suffered a knee contusion, Dunphy said, that allowed Pierre-Louis to enter the game. Brown reentered the game after Pierre-Louis subbed in and finished with seven points, one assist and two rebounds.
Dunphy said an opportunity came for @Nate_PL to get in after Josh Brown suffered a knee contusion: pic.twitter.com/uXhkgsLmJC
— Tom Ignudo (@TomIgnudo) December 1, 2017
Forward De’Vondre Perry was the first freshman off the bench against the Gamecocks. He finished with two points, two rebounds and a block.
Perry and Pierre-Louis were each poised when they entered the game, Dunphy said. Pierre-Louis had three points, three rebounds and one assist in seven minutes.
With less than two minutes left in the contest, freshman center Justyn Hamilton made his debut. Freshman forward J.P. Moorman II also played the final two minutes.
“I wish we were playing more guys than we played for the most part tonight,” Dunphy said. “It’s exciting because I think those guys, all of the freshmen have done a good job of making practices more competitive and I think it’s helped us.”
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