With a balanced offensive attack featuring five players totaling double-digit points, the Owls advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament with a 79-62 win against South Florida on Friday at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
Jaylen Bond led the Owls, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. In the team’s previous 31 games, the senior forward scored 17 or more points three times. Bond also added eight rebounds and four steals on Friday.
In the last three games, Bond has scored 42 total points while totaling 34 rebounds.
Off the bench, junior forward Mark Williams and senior guard Devin Coleman scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Williams came into Friday’s game with seven total 3-pointers and the junior knocked down 3-of-3 attempts from behind the 3-point line. It was the second game this season Williams has scored 10 or more points.
Senior guard Quenton DeCosey and sophomore forward Obi Enechionyia were the other two Owls to score 10 or more points, totaling 14 and 13 points, respectively.
After leading by as many as 14 points in the first half, South Florida freshman Jahmal McMurray hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to cut the Owls’ double-digit lead to eight, 35-27, the Owls used a 9-0 run in the first three minutes, 23 seconds of the second half to regain their double-figure lead.
With 11:58 remaining in the game, a 3-pointer from Coleman gave the Owls a 20-point lead, which grew to 23 points with 6:43 remaining in the game.
The Bulls would not get within less than 14 points the rest of the game.
With the win, Temple will play Connecticut on Saturday at 3 p.m. in third round of the American Athletic Conference.
Michael Guise can be reached at michael.guise@temple.edu or on Twitter @Michael_Guise
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