Men's basketball heads to Philadelphia to face Temple

Thursday, January 24

Philadelphia, Pa.

6 PM

University of Memphis

Temple

Tickets

Kareem Brewton (5) made a career-best six 3-pointers in last weekend's win over SMU.

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Men's basketball heads to Philadelphia to face Temple

Jan 23, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Notes (vs. Temple)Temple Notes (vs. Memphis)

Tigers' guard Kareem Brewton hit game-winner vs. Owls a year ago

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – When the University of Memphis travels to Temple for an American Athletic Conference game Thursday night, Tigers senior guard Kareem Brewton Jr., will have fond memories walking into the Liacouras Center.

Brewton hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer last season to give the Tigers a 75-72 overtime victory.

Thursday, Brewton will be coming off a career-high performance – he made six 3-pointers in Saturday's league victory over SMU. He also scored a team-high 20 points, helping the Tigers (12-6) improve to 4-1 in league play. Memphis won for thseventh time in eight games.

Brewton doesn't put much stock in what happened last January. It's a new team, a new coach and a new season.

"That was last year," Brewton said. "You don't know what's going to happen this year."

This year has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. But Brewton has handled the ups and downs with patience and is being rewarded.

Brewton made his fourth start of the season against SMU and was recognized by the conference for his efforts in the win. He was named to The American's Weekly Honor Roll, a first for the Claxton, Ga., native.

In the Tigers' past four games, Brewton is averaging 16.0 points per game. He scored a career-high 25 points Jan. 6 at nationally ranked Houston to kick off the four-game stretch. In those four outings, he is shooting 62 percent (24-of-39), including 55 percent (11-of-20) from beyond the arc.

Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said Brewton has continued to push himself, despite beginning the season as a reserve.

"He kept working, he kept studying and then he started to get into a rhythm," Hardaway said.

Temple (14-4, 4-1) will present a challenge. The Owls are 7-1 at home and the only team this season to defeat nationally ranked Houston.

Temple is led by guards Shizz Alston Jr. and Quinton Rose. Alston is averaging a team-best 18.9 points., which ranks third in the league. Rose, who is 6-foot-8, averages 16.6 points.

Owls coach Fran Dunphy is in his 13^th and final season at Temple. He has taken the Owls to seven NCAA tournaments and twice been named the AAC Coach of the Year.

QUICK NOTES

In the Tigers' past four games, senior guard Kareem Brewton is averaging 16 points. He scored a career-high 25 points in a Jan. 6 conference game at nationally ranked Houston. During that same four-game time frame, he is shooting 62 percent (24-of-39), including 55 percent (11-of-20) from beyond the arc.
Temple's 6-foot-4 guard Shizz Alston Jr., is averaging a team-high 18.9 points per game. He also leads the Owls with 56 made 3-pointers and 91 percent shooting from the free throw line.
In last year's game against Temple, Kareem Brewton dropped in the winning 3-pointers with 0.7 seconds remaining in the UofM's 75-72 victory at Philadelphia.
Temple beat No. 15 Houston, 73-69, two weeks ago in Philadelphia. It remains Houston's only loss this season. Temple has defeated a Top 25 team each season for the past 12 years.
Four of the UofM's six losses are to teams currently ranked in the Top 25, including top-ranked Tennessee. The others are No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 17 Houston and No. 25 LSU.