Quentin Rose and Shizz Alston Jr. scored 25 points apiece as host Temple stayed undefeated by holding off Georgia Tuesday night, 81-77.
The Owls improved to 3-0 while Georgia fell to 1-1.
Rose and Alston were followed by Nate Pierre-Louis, who scored 16 points. Alston's effort enabled him to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career, becoming the 53rd player in Temple history to accomplish the feat.
Derek Ogbeide enjoyed his second-straight double-digit scoring game for the Bulldogs, finishing with 16 points, followed by Rayshaun Hammonds with 13.
The win enabled the Owls to avenge an 18-point loss to Georgia last season in Athens, Ga.
The game went down to the final buzzer.
With the Bulldogs trailing by five, Ogbeide hit a pair of free throws with 1:12 to go to draw Georgia to within 77-74.
However, Rose would answer, hitting a short runner to push the margin back to five before Hammonds' 3-pointer made the score 79-77 with 27 seconds left.
After forcing a turnover on the inbounds pass with 22 seconds left, Ogbeide tried a jumper from the free-throw line with four seconds left, only to have the shot hit off the iron. After a quick foul, Alston hit a pair of free throws to account for the final score.
Temple led, 45-34, at the half before the Bulldogs cut the lead to four on a dunk by Ogbeide with under 17 minutes to play.
Despite pulling back ahead by nine, the Bulldogs continued to hang around, getting back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyree Crump to cut the lead to 73-68 with four minutes left. However, Temple kept finding answers.
A combined nine straight possessions resulted in points for both teams, which ultimately enabled the Owls to hang on for the win.
The Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers.
--Field Level Media
Georgia | Temple | |
Tyree Crump 16 | Scoring | Shizz Alston Jr. 25 |
Rayshaun Hammonds 3 | Assists | Shizz Alston Jr. 6 |
Derek Ogbeide 11 | Rebounds | Ernest Aflakpui 9 |
Tye Fagan 4 | Free Throws Made | Nate Pierre-Louis 6 |
Nicolas Claxton 2 | Steals | Shizz Alston Jr. 3 |
Nicolas Claxton 1 | Blocks | Ernest Aflakpui 1 |