UPDATED at 8:36 p.m. on March 4, 2018
Just two weeks after Temple started its 21-point home loss to Houston by going scoreless for six minutes, 26 seconds, it managed to kick off its regular-season finale against Tulsa in worse fashion.
The Owls opened Sunday’s game at the Donald W. Reynolds Center without a basket in the first 10:04. In the meantime, Tulsa scored 24 consecutive points on the way to a 76-58 win.
The Golden Hurricane (19-11, 12-6 American Athletic Conference) entered Sunday’s action locked into the No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, which will give them a first-round bye. They’ll play in the quarterfinal round on Friday.
Temple (16-14, 8-10 The American) and Tulsa both entered Sunday’s action projected to reach the National Invitation Tournament, according to sports analytics site DRatings.com.
The Owls had a chance to move up to the sixth spot in The American’s standings entering the final day of regular-season action. With a Temple win and a Tulane win, the Owls could have passed Central Florida in the standings. Two other scenarios existed for Temple to move up to sixth.
Maybe just print this out and save it as you watch the #AmericanHoops games today. pic.twitter.com/nS4tRtnFYv
— American MBB (@American_MBB) March 4, 2018
The Owls will be the No. 7 seed and play No. 10 Tulane on Thursday in the first round at 7 p.m. in Orlando, Florida. The winner of that game will advance to face No. 2 Wichita State.
Final score: Tulsa 76, #TUMBB 58 in the final regular season game.
The seventh-seeded Owls will play 10th-seeded Tulane at 7 p.m. in the @American_MBB first round on Thursday, March 8.
— Temple Men's BBall (@TUMBBHoops) March 4, 2018
Despite falling behind by a large margin early, Temple made its way back into the game against Tulsa. Sophomore guard Quinton Rose had a personal 6-0 run early in the second half that cut Temple’s deficit to 34-24 and prompted a 30-second timeout from Tulsa coach Frank Haith with 17:54 left.
Then senior forward Obi Enechionyia made a 3-pointer for his first points of the game to extend Temple’s run to 9-0.
The Owls cut their deficit to seven points twice in the second half, but they couldn’t come any closer. The Owls shot 24 percent from 3-point range in their fourth loss out of their past five games.
Redshirt-senior forward Junior Etou, who entered the game fifth in The American in scoring, only scored six points. Nevertheless, Tulsa had three double-figure scorers led by senior guard Corey Henderson Jr.’s 21 points. Sophomore forward Martins Igbanu made eight of Tulsa’s 23 free throws as part of his 16-point day. Redshirt-sophomore guard Curran Scott scored 14 points off the bench.
Redshirt-senior guard Josh Brown didn’t score his first field goal until there were 3:18 left in the game. Junior guard Shizz Alston Jr. shot 3-for-15 from the field. Rose was Temple’s lone double-figure scorer with 17 points.
During Tulsa’s 24-0 first-half run, Temple didn’t grab any offensive rebounds and didn’t attempt any free throws. Rose broke Tulsa’s run with a jumper with 9:56 left in the first half.
The Owls cut their deficit to 15 points by halftime. Freshman forward J.P. Moorman II had a perfect first half, scoring a team-high eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from both 3-point range and the free-throw line.
Temple split its regular-season matchups with Tulane. The Owls lost to the Green Wave, 85-75, on Dec. 28 at the Liacouras Center. Tulane shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half, and junior guard Melvin Frazier scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field.
Temple beat Tulane, 83-76, on Feb. 4 in New Orleans for the third victory of its five-game winning streak. The Owls held the Green Wave to 3-for-18 from 3-point range and had 23 assists on 31 made field goals.
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