Owls’ poor offensive showing in second half leads to 14 point loss

With 13 minutes and 14 seconds remaining in the second half, Southern Methodist junior forward Isiaha Mike blocked redshirt-junior guard Monty Scott at the rim. On the ensuing Mustangs’ possession, junior guard Tyson Jolly threw down a windmill dunk putting the Mustangs ahead 40-36. 

Temple University basketball (10-7, 2-4 The American Athletic Conference) lost 68-52 on the road to the Mustangs (13-4, 3-2 The American) on Saturday night. 

The Owls led 27-25 at halftime and held the Mustangs to a 31.3 percent field goal percentage. Temple’s defense forced the Mustangs to shoot 2-of-10 from three-point range while the Owls shot 3-of-5 from three-point range. 

In the second half, the Mustangs shot 54.4 percent from the floor and outscored the Owls 43-25.

Jolly finished the game with a team-high 25 points while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor. Jolly also shot 2-of-3 from behind the arc and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

The Mustangs’ second-leading scorer was Mike who scored 12 total points on 5-of-9 shooting. Mike also compiled two converted three-pointers, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. 

Temple’s offense struggled in the second half. 

The Owls shot 24.1 percent from the field including a low 23.1 percent from three-point range. Temple committed eight turnovers and only had five assists in the second half while the Mustangs had 13 assists. 

Temple also got outrebounded by 14 in the second half and were outrebounded by 15 for the game. 

Sophomore forward Jake Forrester scored 10 points in the first half, including six of the Owls’ first 10 points. Forrester would finish the game with just 14 total points. 

Forrester’s third basket came with 14 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first half when junior guard Nate Pierre-Louis passed the ball to Forrester who proceeded to dunk through the hoop. 

The Owls’ leading scorer, senior guard Quinton Rose, only scored 10 points in the game. Rose came into the game averaging 14.9 points per game. Rose shot just 36.4 percent from the floor and turned the ball over five times. 

Temple’s next game is at home against Cincinnati (10-7, 3-2 The AAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.