Chevez Goodwin had 19 points and eight rebounds as Southern California built a 23-point lead Saturday before holding on for a 76-71 victory over host Temple in Philadelphia.

Isaiah White added 12 points and seven rebounds and Boogie Ellis contributed 11 points for the Trojans, who improved to 2-0. Drew Peterson had 10 points and eight assists.

Khalif Battle led the Owls (1-1) with five 3-pointers and 26 points. Battle was the only Temple player to score in double figures.

The game was tightly contested in the first half and was tied at 15 midway through before USC's Ethan Anderson dropped in a 3-pointer.

That sparked USC, as the Trojans - following a Forrester layup pulled Temple to within a point - quickly extended their lead with a 13-0 run. By the time end of the first half, when Ellis scored a layup as the buzzer, USC's lead was 46-27 lead.

The Trojans shot 60 percent (18 of 30) in the first half. The Owls, meantime, struggled with their shooting, going 1 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Goodwin opened the second half with a short jumper and the USC lead soon became 21. But Battle connected on a pair of deep treys and Zach Hicks added a 3-pointer closing the Owls to 55-41 with 13:53 to go, and they would make a game of it, after all.

After Ellis was fouled attempting a 3-pointer, he hit all three free throws to put the Trojans back ahead by 17.

Temple responded with a 10-0 spurt keyed by a dunk and 3-pointer by Battle, and Strickland soon hit a trey and the Owls' run reached 13-0, closing them to within 58-54.

Isaiah Mobley responded with a 3-pointer to extend USC's lead to seven, and although Temple stayed in contact, the Trojans held them at bay.

Battle made 1 of 2 free throws with 9.9 seconds left to get Temple to within 74-71, but Peterson was fouled and converted both to seal the victory for USC.

--Field Level Media