Temple kept the score close against Memphis Sunday until the middle part of the second half. The Owls had upset the Tigers a month prior and looked to be on the verge of another win — this time in enemy territory.
But Memphis flipped the game on its head, pouring 10 points in quick succession to take control of the game.
The icing on the cake came with five minutes remaining in the game when Memphis forward Nicholas Jourdain slammed down a dunk and guard PJ Haggerty sunk a step-back three to push the lead to 15 points.
Temple gave one last push at staying within reach and cut the lead to just six points. However, the Owls never got any closer and their attempt for a season sweep of Memphis came crashing down.
Temple (14-10, 6-5 American Athletic Conference) couldn’t keep up with No. 17 Memphis (20-4, 10-1 AAC) in a 90-82 Sunday afternoon at the FedExForum. The loss pushes the Owls down to sixth in the conference.
When the two teams first faced off on Jan. 16, the Owls pulled away with a seven point win. Guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. was the main catalyst in the victory, but Temple was without its leading scorer for a second straight game due to a foot injury.
Both teams were aggressive on both ends of the floor through the first half. The Owls were looking to take another game from the top seed in the AAC and the Tigers were looking to protect their nationally-ranked reputation.
Neither team could pull away and the game was tied seven times with 10 lead changes within the first 20 minutes. Temple and Memphis could only take a two and five point advantage in the first half, respectively.
Memphis forward Dain Dainja kicked off the scoring but Temple forward Steve Settle III responded right away with a three-point play. With Mashburn not on the court, Settle picked up the weight in the first half with 10 points.
The Owls capitalized off turnovers to help them keep the game tight. Both teams struggled protecting the ball and continued to make simple mistakes that allowed their opponent to swipe the ball. Temple finished the first half with 10 turnovers, just one less than Memphis. However, the Owls scored 11 points off the miscues where the Tigers could only put up four.
Haggerty scored 21 points against Temple the last time they faced each other but the Owls held him to just six in the first half Sunday. However, Haggerty gained steam once the second half commenced, dropping 14 points to go with seven assists.
The Tigers scored five straight points to take a 21-17 lead and had the momentum to continue pushing halfway through the opening half. However, Settle grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up to flip the energy to his squad. He followed it up by dunking the ball after a Memphis turnover.
The teams continued trading baskets until the Tigers embarked on a seven-point run, the largest run of the game. The run was capped off by a three-pointer from Jourdain. The Owls immediately found a spark to end the run in guard Shane Dezonie who responded with a jumper.
Guard Aiden Tobiason has given Temple a boost in the absence of Mashburn. The freshman went 2-2 from three-point range and sunk both his free throw attempts in the first half and finished the night as the Owls’ leading scorer with 18 points. One of his triples came with 15 seconds remaining to tie the game at 35 entering halftime.
The second half was much of the same as the first with it being a back-and-forth battle offensively and defensively. However this time, Memphis found momentum early and went on a 7-0 run to take the 47-42 lead. Temple once again destroyed the Tigers’ spark with four quick points from guard Quante Berry.
The Owls started to get in trouble from there. Temple got in foul trouble and Memphis took an eight-point lead behind five consecutive free throws. Owls’ forward Elijah Gray knocked down a three but it didn’t ice the Tigers as they pushed the lead to 11 points at 60-49.
Temple was in desperation mode with 10 minutes left to play. They were trailing by 10 points and tried to get their offensive engine going again as the clock was ticking down. The Owls brought their deficit down to just six points but they were unable to slow down the Tigers.
Settle and Tobiason each made another bucket from downtown in an attempt to get one more lead change before the clock expired. It was too late though as the Owls only scored one more time in the final minute and dropped their second straight game.
Temple will return to The Liacouras Center to take on Tulsa (9-15, 3-8 AAC) on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
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