Basketball journalist Hannah Robbins covers the men’s basketball team’s win against Temple where the group came together after an up-and-down few weeks.
Tulsa rebounded from their loss against Wichita State to beat the Temple Owls after a strong second half. Five Tulsa players scored in double digits with Sterling Taplin recording a game-high 14 points, fellow starters DaQuan Jeffries and Martins Igbanu putting up 13 and 12 points, respectively and Darien Jackson and Jeriah Horne rounding out the group with 10 each.
Tulsa started the morning with a jumper from Curran Scott. After a slow few minutes, Temple returned the favor with a jumper by Shizz Alston Jr., tying up the game early on. Lawson Korita hit a nice two-pointer, but Alston Jr. hit one of his three three-pointers to give Temple one of their few leads of the game.
Tulsa later took back the lead with a three-pointer by Horne, followed by another by Jeffries to bring the Golden Hurricane five points ahead of the Owls. Tulsa and Temple remained close, with the Golden Hurricane surging to a five-point lead off Jackson’s layup eight minutes in. But Tulsa struggled to capitalize on their early lead.
Temple started to make up ground, responding to layups by Jackson and Horne with three-pointers by Alston Jr. and Alani Moore II. After a few missed shots, however, it became evident that Temple would have major work to do to catch up to Tulsa.
As the half continued, Tulsa gained momentum. At the half, the Golden Hurricane was led by Horne’s 10 points and Igbanu’s eight. Alston Jr.’s 11 points failed to make a dent as Temple struggled as a team from deep and went just 10 for 26 from the field.
The Owls started to stagnate as they entered the second half. Led by Taplin and Jeffries, Tulsa extended their eight-point lead as they continued to outshoot Temple, shooting 50 percent overall and 43 percent for three-pointers. Nate Pierre-Louis scored the highest for the Owls this half, but his nine points could not make a dent in the widening gap that Tulsa had created.
By the end of the game, the small, one-point lead from the first half became an 18 point lead as Tulsa rebounded from its touch-and-go week. Despite Tulsa’s success, however, there was one place they struggled: going six for 12 at the line, a rather low percentage for something so easily practiced. Tulsa ended up on top, beating Temple 76-58.
