Second Half Dooms Tulsa in Loss at Temple

Sunday, February 19

Philadelphia, PA

1:00 PM

Tulsa

5-21,1-14AAC

Temple

15-13,9-6AAC

Tulsa

Temple

Photo by: Bill Powell

Second Half Dooms Tulsa in Loss at Temple

2/19/2023 4:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Gamebook (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. –– Despite keeping it close at halftime, Tulsa was unable to stop the Temple offense in the second half as the Golden Hurricane men's basketball team fell 76-53 in front of more than 6,900 fans at the Liacouras Center on Sunday afternoon.

Temple (15-13, 9-6 AAC) shot 62.5 percent in the second 20 minutes, including 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range. For the game, the Owls hit 56.6 percent of its shots and 10 triples. Tulsa (5-21, 1-14) shot 37 percent from the floor and 45 percent from deep, connecting on nine 3-pointers. Neither team got to the free throw line often as Tulsa finished 4-of-6 and Temple 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Sam Griffin paced Tulsa with 16 points in addition to a pair of assists. Tim Dalger also finished in double figures with 15 and a team-high seven boards. Bryant Selebangue was the next highest scorer, totaling seven points and five rebounds in the loss. Damian Dunn was the game's high scorer, pouring in 24 for the Owls alongside 11 each from Hysier Miller and Nick Jourdian.

Trailing 37-30 at the break, Tulsa came out and cut the lead to four after a pair of Temple free throws, taking advantage of a pair of turnovers. Tulsa fought to keep the lead in single digits, with a Griffin triple bringing TU within 7, 53-46 at the 11:16 mark, which was the closest the game would get.

The Owls took control with a 21-2 run over the next 7:20 of action to take a commanding 74-48 lead with under four minutes to play. Dalger ended the run with a 3-pointer before Temple hit its last shot of the night with 2:10 remaining. Ari Seals and Peyton Urbancic provided some time on the floor for Tulsa, and Seals connected on a layup with 10 seconds to go to end the scoring.

In the first half, Tulsa and Temple went shot for shot in the opening minutes. Griffin responded to a Temple three with one of his own to start the game. Tulsa took its first lead 8-7 on a 3-pointer from BB Knight after Dalger fought to keep the play alive with an offensive rebound.

Tulsa took its largest lead of the game off a Griffin 3-pointer to make it 15-11 with a little under 12 remaining in the half. A pair of free throws from Dunn gave Temple back the lead for good with 10:20 to play.

After Selebangue split a pair of free throws to cut the Temple lead to 23-19, the Owls outscored 11-3 to push its lead to double digits, 34-22 with 2:37 to play in the opening half. Tulsa didn't fold, however, cutting the lead to six with the help of a four-point play from Dalger before a Temple free throw sent the teams to the locker rooms with the Owls leading 37-30.

Dalger and Griffin both scored nine in the opening half with Dalger's five rebounds pacing the Hurricane.

The Hurricane return home for the final two home games of the season. It's a quick turnaround with East Carolina waiting on Tuesday before finishing the home schedule with UCF for Senior Day on Sunday. Tipoff for ECU matchup is set for 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.