Temple 71, Southern Methodist 64: Dalton Pepper scored 24 points as last-place Temple stunned visiting Southern Methodist in American Athletic Conference play.
Will Cummings had 13 points and seven assists while Quenton DeCosey added 13 points and four steals as the Owls (7-17, 2-10) snapped a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in 14 games. Mark Williams contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for Temple, which avenged a 23-point loss to the Mustangs on Feb. 6.
Markus Kennedy scored 18 points and Nic Moore added 15 for the Mustangs (20-6, 9-4). Nick Russell tallied 10 points for SMU, which was just 14-of-26 from the free-throw line.
Pepper hit two free throws with 4:16 remaining to give Temple a 61-58 lead and the Owls extended it to seven as the Mustangs missed seven consecutive free throws. Cummings hit three of four free throws in a 17-second span to increase the lead to 10 with 33.7 seconds left and SMU was unable to get closer than five while seeing its four-game winning streak halted.
The Owls trailed by nine before the game was four minutes old but closed the first half with a 17-6 run to take a four-point lead. SMU used an 11-2 surge early in the second half to take a 43-39 advantage before Temple ratted off 16 of the next 22 points to hold a 55-49 lead midway through the stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Temple was 8-of-24 from 3-point range while the Mustangs were 2-of-10. … SMU was outrebounded 38-25, failing to hold an advantage on the boards for only the fifth time this season. … Owls F Anthony Lee, who averages 14 points and 8.9 rebounds, missed the contest with a hyperextended left knee suffered in Friday’s loss to Louisville.
Southern Methodist | Temple | |
Markus Kennedy 18 | Scoring | Dalton Pepper 24 |
Nic Moore 4 | Assists | Will Cummings 7 |
Markus Kennedy 5 | Rebounds | Devontae Watson 8 |
Nic Moore 4 | Free Throws Made | Will Cummings 7 |
Nic Moore 4 | Steals | Quenton DeCosey 4 |
Cannen Cunningham 1 | Blocks | Josh Brown 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Southern Methodist | 64 | 48.0 | 2-10 | 14-26 | 9 | 22 | 4 | 10 | 10 |
Temple | 71 | 39.6 | 8-24 | 21-25 | 15 | 32 | 1 | 6 | 14 |