Tigers' Rally Falls Short At Temple

Thursday, January 24

Philadelphia, Pa.

6 PM

University of Memphis

12-7, 4-2

Temple

15-4, 5-1

Memphis

Temple

Jan 24, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (TU 85, UM 76)Memphis Season Statistics Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Only)

Martin, Thornton lead Memphis; Tigers dominate the glass.

By: Phil Stukenborg

PHILADELPHIA – Jeremiah Martin scored a season-high 28 points and Raynere Thornton added a season-high 14, but the University of Memphis saw its three-game American Athletic Conference winning streak snapped Thursday night at Temple in an 85-76 loss.

The Owls (15-4, 5-1 The American) jumped to an early double-digit lead in the first half and survived several spirited Memphis rallies that began late in the opening half and continued throughout the second half.

Memphis (12-7, 4-2 The American) never led, but was able to cut the Temple advantage to two points at 69-67 with 5:31 to go. But it was the closest the Tigers would get.

Despite playing valiantly, the Tigers were undone by their inability to connect from long range. Memphis finished 1-23 from beyond the arc.

"When you play on the road it goes to a different level," Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said. "We just didn't meet their challenge early.

"We won every category except for 3-point shooting. And it's hard to win like that."

Memphis out-rebounded Temple, 46-34, but shot only 39.7 percent, including 35.3 percent in the first half.

Quinton Rose led Temple with 26 points and Nate Pierre-Louis added 15.

In addition to Martin and Thornton, Kareem Brewton Jr. contributed 15 points. Kyvon Davenport led the team with nine rebounds.

"It was just a bad shooting night," Brewton said. "But I knew we would get back into it."

Memphis opened the half giving up a quick jumper to face a 10-point deficit, but the Tigers recovered quickly. They put together a 9-2 run, ending on a Martin layup to cut Temple's advantage to 45-42 with 16:42 to go.

Each time the Tigers made a run, Temple had an answer, usually with a strong drive to the rim.

"We got it down to two to three points and then we'd miss a layup," Martin said.

At the half, Memphis trailed by eight points (41-33) despite falling behind by as many as 20.

The Tigers had difficulty connecting from long range in the opening 20 minutes. They were 1-of-14 from beyond the arc at halftime. Martin had 14 points to keep the Tigers within striking distance.

The UofM struggled from the outset missing its first nine 3-point attempts and committing nine turnovers midway through the opening half. As a result, Temple led by 20 (28-8) following three free throws by Shizz Alston Jr.

Memphis chipped away at the lead and cut it to single digits by putting together a 10-0 run in the closing four minutes of the half. Thornton scored twice during the run, and Tyler Harris dropped in a 3-pointer, the only one of the half.

Rose had 18 of his points in the first half to pace Temple.

The Tigers play preseason league favorite UCF at 3 p.m. (CT) Sunday at FedExForum.

NOTABLES

The Tigers entered Thursday's game against Temple having won seven of their past eight games, the best streak since the 2013-14 season.
Temple coach Fran Dunphy, who spent 17 seasons at Penn, is in his 13^th and final season with the Owls.
The 1-for-14 shooting from 3-point range in the first half matched the worst performance from long range this season for the Tigers. They were 1-for-14 in a 71-63 win over Canisius Nov. 23 in Orlando. Memphis finished 1-for-23 from the arc Thursday.
Tyler Harris set a career-high with five steals.
Tigers signee James Wiseman was named to the McDonald's All-American Team on Thursday.