Philadelphia, PA.- Tonight (January 16), the #18 Memphis Tigers traveled to face the Temple Owls in a Thursday night AAC matchup.
Memphis entered tonight atop the American Conference, standing at 13-3 (3-0 AAC), while Temple currently stands 10-6 (2-1 AAC). The Tigers took an early 7-4 lead over the Owls, as Jourdain Nicholas scored an early 5 on two tough layups compensated by an and-one foul. PJ Hagerty came in with another easy fade away jumper. (15:28 1).
Temple immediately clapped back and tied things, as Steve Settle knocked down a deep three. The Owls would go onto claim a lead as Jamal Mashburn and Elijah Gray secured two points of their own. (11-7, 13:58 1). Memphis would go onto claw their way back into things, as Dain Danjia secured a tough layup, and Tyreese Hunter capitalized on a +1 play. Hunter would then bang a deep three to regain the Tiger lead (15-14, 11:56 1).
As time ticked away in the first half, the Owls’ three ball began to fly. The Temple Triple’s began to rain, as Mashburn launched a deep three, while Shane DeZonie took two of his own in a 45 second span. The Liacouras Center began to explode, as you could hear the student section on the TV. Memphis found a three of their own, as Colby Rogers found his first points from behind the arc. As Jamal Mashburn walked down two free’s, Temple found themselves with a 8 point lead over the ranked Tigers.
Right before halftime, bigs from both squads found their way into the bucket as Dain Danjia and Moussa Cisse both secured Memphis points, and Temple’s Settle retaliated with a layup of their own, bringing things to a 36-30 halftime lead.
20 Down, 20 To Go…#Team129 pic.twitter.com/Ocd7Y8Qil7
— Temple Men's Basketball (@TUMBBHoops) January 17, 2025
Temple got the half rocking right away, as Quante Berry took a deep three 15 seconds into the period. Jourdain Nicholas found points of his own, threw down a monster dunk. Berry and Nicholas came away with two more points of their own, in a nice little back and forth between the squads. Following another Steve Settle three, Temple took an 11 point lead over Memphis (48-37, 16:14 2).
Moments later, down twelve, Memphis needed a spark. Hunter and Haggerty began to heat up, firing from all cylinders on every aspect of the floor. The Tigers began to chip away at the lead, as two PJ Haggerty free throws brought things inside single digits with 11 minutes remaining (58-49). Memphis continued to chip away at the Owl lead from the free throw line, as Hagerty and Cisse both knocked down two easy frees. (62-56, 9:09 2).
With six and a half minutes remaining, it was all PJ Haggerty. Haggerty, the reigning College Basketball Freshman of the Year, showed off his flashy athleticism and shot creation, hitting clutch buckets and dishing to open teammates. With just three minutes left, Haggerty’s two frees cuts the Temple lead to 3 (74-71).
Temple kept applying pressure, as Quante Berry launched the best pass seen by the Owls’ fanbase all year to Zion Stanford, who threw down a must hit dunk, extending the lead back to a 78-72 score. As time ticked just under 1:20 to go, Quante Berry ran a beautiful backdoor cut which led to a crucial and-one lay. While Berry didn’t hit the shot, Shane DeZonie immediately found himself back at the line, shooting 1-2 on the play.
With a minute left, Temple held a 81-75 lead over Memphis, and the Liacouras Center began ROCKING. Steve Settle knocked down a clutch free throw, before a Dain Danjia dunk sent us to under :30 remaining. (85-79). As the final buzzer sounded, Temple emerged victorious 88-81, and the Owls’ faithful stormed the court, celebrating with their team and coaches.
With their win tonight, Temple secures their first Top 25 ranked win since the 2022-23 season (#1 Houston).
Cover Photo Credits: Memphis Athletics
