Temple’s Will Cummings got things started for the Owls as he scored the first basket of the game with a layup to make it 2-0 Owls. Daiquan Walker answered right back for the Knights with a triple to put UCF in the lead 3-2 with 18:24 left to play in the 1st period.
After the Knights brief lead, the Owls went on a 10-2 scoring run to make it 12-5 with 12:24 left to play in the 1st half. UCF looked to claw their way back into this one and keep it close going on a 7-2 scoring run of their own to cut the lead to just 3, making it 15-12 with 9:07 left in the half.
The Knights attempt to keep this one close in the 1st was to no avail, as a quick 10-2 run by the Owls quickly made it a double-digit lead making it 25-14 with 5:59 left in the half. Temple closed out the 2nd half with a 12-4 run, as the score was 37-18 as the teams went into the locker-room at the half.
The Knights shot just 29.2% from the field and just 1-of-10 from behind the arc in the 1st half. Staphon Blair led the Knights in scoring with 6 points and in rebounds with 5.
Daiquan Walker got things started early for the Knights in the second half, connecting on a triple to cut the Owls lead to make it 37-21. That was the most excitement the Knights would have in the 2nd and it would be the closest the Knights would get to Temple the rest of the night, as the Owls went on an 11-0 run to make it 48-21 with 16:06 left to play in the game.
At the 8-minute mark the Owls had opened up a 33-point lead on UCF with the score 68-35 with only 7:56 left on the clock.
The Knights took ahold of some momentum, going on a 9-2 run to make it 72-47 with just 4:44 to play in the game. That momentum didn’t last long, as the Owls took a timeout to regroup and then got a quick tip-in basket and 3 pointer to extend the lead back to 30 a lead the Knights were unable to come back from.
Jesse Morgan was the Temple leading scorer with 15 points on the night, while Donvontae Watson led the Owls with 9 rebounds.
UCF look to bring their 4-game losing skid to a halt this weekend when they head to Dallas, TX to face the SMU Mustangs on Saturday with a 8pm ET scheduled tipoff on ESPNU.