Through the first 40 minutes of the game, Temple was hanging onto South Florida by a thread. The Owls were without the country’s second leading scorer in guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. due to injury but withstood every blow the Bulls dealt and had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation.
Guard Zion Stanford went up for a potential game-winning three, but USF forward Jamille Reynolds swatted the ball away to send the contest to its first overtime period. The Owls were in the same position to close out the first overtime when forward Steve Settle III had an open look from three, but the shot was off the mark and a second overtime was needed.
Temple had pulled out two straight overtime wins heading into the game, but its wheels came off in the extra time on Thursday. The Bulls took complete control of the game while the Owls hit just a single field goal in the second extra period, snapping their two-game winning streak.
Temple (14-9, 6-4 American Athletic Conference) was unable to deliver late game heroics against USF (12-11, 5-5 AAC) in a 100-91 loss Thursday night at The Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. The game marked the first time in school history that Temple played three consecutive overtime games.
Temple was at a disadvantage before the game even started as Mashburn was in street clothes with a lower body injury. Mashburn leads the team in points per game with 22.1 and has scored more than 30 points in three of his last five. This is the first game the guard missed this season after playing the entire game against East Carolina on Feb. 1.
Temple ranks second in the AAC in three-point shooting but missed each of its first five attempts. Meanwhile, the Bulls jumped out of the gate hitting four of its first five attempts just five minutes into the game.
The Owls were down by nine points at 19-10 before hitting back-to-back shots from downtown to make it a three point game in a flash. Guard Aiden Tobiason was the first to hit a three and forward Elijah Gray followed it up with a triple of his own.
While the Owls were struggling from the field, only shooting 37.5% in the first half, they were given free chances to put points on the board. Temple was handed 15 attempts at the free throw line and converted on 11 shots in the first 20 minutes.
The Owls tied the game at 21 behind Stanford who scored five consecutive points. Settle hit back-to-back shots from downtown and Stanford added a jumper to give Temple its largest lead at 33-28 with six minutes remaining before halftime. Stanford stepped up in the absence of Mashburn with 23 points along with Settle who contributed a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Tobiason also stepped up for his squad. The freshman came into the game attempting just two shots per game but capitalized with 14 points and six rebounds.
USF didn’t let the Owls keep their five-point lead for long and quickly took back the advantage. The score was locked at 37 apiece with just more than two minutes remaining in the first half when USF embarked on a seven-point run.
Reynolds ended the opening 20 minutes with five consecutive points to go into halftime up 44-39. Reynolds, who spent the 2022-23 season at Temple, continued his performance into the second half and finished the night with a career-high 25 points along with 12 rebounds against his former team.
Temple opened the second half looking to flip the script in a hurry. Forward Babatunde Durodola scored the first five points for the Owls but they still could not find a way to stop Reynolds.
Reynolds once again scored five points in a row to give the Bulls a 54-46 lead. Tobiason knocked down a three hoping to spark some momentum,but Reynolds regained it as he responded with an alleyoop dunk.
Guard Quante Berry, who has been the Owls’ second-best guard nearly all season by averaging 11 points per contest, struggled immensely without Mashburn on the court and didn’t record a single point. The guard shot 0-10 from the field and 0-5 from three-point range on the night while also struggling on defense.
Gray and Tobiason came up clutch for the Owls again with three minutes left in regulation and tied the game at 79. Stanford sent off a shot that would have clinched the win, but Reynolds was there once again to deny the spark of energy by slapping away the shot.
Both teams went on a run in the overtime period and were tied yet again. Despite both sides getting a chance at a late shot to take the game, a second overtime was needed. The Bulls jumped out to a seven-point lead and it was ultimately too much for the Owls to overcome in the final period.
Temple will look to get a road victory in its next matchup against No. 17 Memphis (19-4, 9-1 AAC) on Feb. 9 at 2 p.m.
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