Tulsa Falls to Temple 69-64

Wednesday, January 12

Reynolds Center

6:00 PM

Tulsa

6-8,0-3AAC

Temple

10-6,3-2AAC

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Falls to Temple 69-64

1/12/2022 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME BOX SCORE I SEASON STATS

TULSA, OKLA. –– Trailing by as many as 11 points, Tulsa's comeback attempt against the Temple Owls fell short Wednesday night by a score of 69-64 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa fell to 6-8 overall and 0-3 in American Athletic Conference play, while Temple won its third straight league game and improved its record to 10-6 and 3-2 in conference action. The Owls captured its first win at Tulsa in its eighth appearance in T-Town.

Tulsa, coming off an eight-day break since its last game due to covid protocol issues, had its worst shooting night of the season at 35-percent and also hit just 26-percent from behind the arc.

Jeriah Horne ended the game with a team-high 15 points for Tulsa with 12 coming in the second half, but it was an unlikely pair that helped pace the Hurricane scoring attack. Rey Idowu had 14 points and LaDavius Draine scored 12 points, all coming on three pointers and all in the first half. It was Draine's first double-figure scoring game of the season and Idowu's third.

After combining for only three first half points, Horne and Sam Griffin totaled 18 points in the final 20 minutes. Horne had 10 second-half points and Griffin scored eight.

Temple connected on 46-percent of its field goals and, a 68-percent free throw shooting team on the season, knocked down 83-percent from the charity stripe tonight, making 19-of-23. The Hurricane had a 21-13 edge in points off turnovers, 31-11 in bench points and 13-9 for second-chance points. The visitors had the lead for 33:25 of the game.

The Owls had four players in double figures with Nick Jourdain leading the way with 23 points, while Damian Dunn added 17.

Tulsa had a 47-42 lead when the Owls entered the double-bonus with 11:43 remaining in the contest. From that point, Temple converted 13-of-14 free throws down the stretch.

Tulsa battled back from a three-point halftime deficit to take its first lead of the second half at the 14:39 mark.

Horne knocked down his first field goal on a three-pointer at 15:37 mark of the half to put Tulsa within two points at 39-37. Griffin's first points of the night came on two free throws nearly a minute later to tie the score at 39.

The 39-39 score was the first tie since it was 8-8 in the early stages of the contest. Griffin made two more freebies to give Tulsa a 41-39 lead, its first since 17:46 of the first half. Horne's layup put the Hurricane ahead 43-39 at the 14:09 mark. Tulsa moved its lead to 47-42 before Temple went on a 13-0 run to retake the lead at 55-47 with 7:12 remaining in the game.

Griffin ended the Temple run with a jumper followed by a Idowu traditional three points on a layup and free throw to bring Tulsa to within three digits at 55-52 with 6:01 left.

Tulsa closed the gap to two points with 0:21 on the clock at 65-63, but the Owls sank 4-of-4 from the line and Tulsa was 0-for-3 from the field as Temple held on for the road win.

In the first half, Temple took an 11-point lead with 3:51 on the game clock after an 11-3 run as the Hurricane went scoreless from the field for nearly seven minutes thus allowing the Owls to take a 31-20 lead.

Tulsa closed out the half on an 8-0 run to cut its halftime deficit to just three points.

Darien Jackson's layup with 3:15 left stopped Tulsa's drought from the field to make the score 31-22. Draine and Jackson each hit three-pointers in the final 1:56 to make the halftime score 31-28.

Draine kept the Hurricane in the game in the first 20 minutes with three treys for nine first-half points, while Idowu added seven. Tulsa's top two season scorers, Horne and Griffin, combining for 33.7 points on the year, tallied only three first-half points, which came on three Horne free throws.

The first four minutes of the contest saw the two teams exchange baskets to keep it within two points until Temple went ahead by four at 12-8 on a Damian Dunn layup. The Owls took a six-point lead at 14-8 at the 12:52 mark and again at 18-12 with 10:34 on the clock before expanding that lead to its 11-point advantage.

Tulsa will be back in action Saturday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the nation's No. 11-ranked Houston Cougars.