Quinton Rose scored 18 points, and Temple held on for a 79-77 win over Missouri on Tuesday night in Columbia, Mo.

Shizz Alston Jr. finished with 15 points for the Owls, and De'Vondre Perry had 11. Damion Moore added 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Ernest Aflakpui scored eight points and pulled down 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.

Temple (6-1) is off to its best start since the 2012-13 campaign, when it won eight of its first nine games. The Owls also prevailed in their first true road game of the year after winning four games at home and splitting two games on a neutral court.

Mark Smith scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting to lead the Tigers. Kevin Puryear notched 16 points and six rebounds for Missouri (3-3), which has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The Tigers trailed by 12 points with 7:22 to play before going on a 11-1 run to pull within 71-69 with 2:25 to go. Jeremiah Tilmon capped the run with back-to-back baskets, a tip-in and a slam dunk.

Perry drained with a 3-pointer to increase Temple's lead to 74-69 with 2:03 left, but Missouri's Jordan Geist quickly responded with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two points once more.

Temple coach Fran Dunphy called timeout to regroup his team with 1:15 remaining. The strategy paid off as Aflakpui scored on the next play to make it 76-72 with 1:05 to go. Alston made three free throws in the final 27 seconds to help seal the victory.

Temple built a 42-32 lead at halftime. Rose led the Owls with 13 points before the break, and Alston had 10.

Missouri led 28-26 before Temple closed the first half on a 16-4 run. Aflakpui initiated the momentum shift with a jump shot with 3:20 to go, and Rose added a layup 17 seconds later.

The Owls evened the all-time series at two wins apiece. The teams met for the first time since March 18, 1993, when seventh-seeded Temple ousted 10th-seeded Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

--Field Level Media