One game removed from knocking off the third-ranked team in the nation, Temple’s schedule didn’t get much easier as they headed to Kansas to take on the No. 6 Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Owls (10-3) were unable to win their second consecutive game against a nationally ranked team as they were dropped by Kansas (12-1) 69-62.
With a game against No. 6 Kansas being the guard’s last scheduled contest against a top-10 opponent, he tried to go out with one of the only ways he knows how, with flair.
The senior registered a game-high 26 points, including a 7-of-7 performance from the free throw line to bolster his stats as the team’s leading scorer.
A player who started the season with a 33-point effort against Kent State, but has struggled since, is graduate-senior guard Scootie Randall. The Philadelphia native’s shooting woes continued as he went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, en route to an eight-point performance. One miss came with little more than two minutes remaining that would have given the Owls a two-point lead. However the attempt was no good, and the Owls never regained a lead.
Containing senior center Jeff Withey was possibly Temple’s biggest concern. The seven foot big man is expected to be a first-round pick in April’s draft and drew matchups with senior forward Jake O’Brien and sophomore forward Anthony Lee for most of the day. The duo combined to hold Withey to right points on 3-of-10 shooting. The eight points tied a season-low.
Temple shot 4-of-17 from three-point range for 23.5 percent. While Kansas didn’t fare much better at 35.7 percent, they outrebounded the Owls 42-31.
Temple will look to rebound from the loss as they are set to begin conference play at Xavier (7-6) on Thursday, Jan. 10.
The Owls will face No. 17 Butler on January 26, in what is currently the last scheduled game against a ranked opponent.
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