No. 3 Houston denies Temple second upset; beats Owls 81-65

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jarace Walker scored 23points, Marcus Sasser had 13 and No. 3 Houston earned retributionagainst Temple with an 81-65 win on Sunday night.

The Owls failed in their bid for a second upset after theytoppled the Cougars from No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketballpoll with a 56-55 win last month in Houston.

The Cougars (22-2, 10-1 American Athletic Conference) are nowpoised to regain the top spot in the AP poll after a dominantsecond half in Philly. No. 1 Purdue lost to Indiana and No. 2Tennessee lost to Florida, leaving an opening for Houston to ascendto No. 1 on Monday.

Khalif Battle led Temple (14-10, 8-3) with 24 points.

Temple has traditionally struggled to draw a full house atLiacouras Center, even for games that included city rivals or Top25 teams or in seasons full of NCAA Tournament promise. The arenawas packed Sunday, and Owls students swayed behind the basket fromthe opening tip. A T-shirt “white out” put some needed schoolspirit on display.

Temple gave fans plenty of reason to cheer with nine 3-pointersin the first half. Battle hit a 3 for a 26-25 lead, Zach Hicks hitone for a three-point lead and Damian Dunn buried one that sent theOwls into halftime ahead 37-33.

Unlike the first game, the Owls couldn’t take it to thewire.

Playing the biggest home game in coach Aaron McKie’s fourseasons, the Owls wilted offensively and didn’t have the defensivechops to slow Houston. The Cougars burst the game open with a 13-0run to open the second half and never let the Owls make a seriousrun the rest of the way.

Consider, in the first game, Temple did not make a bucket overthe final 7:18 and was 5 of 21 from the field in the second half.Yet the offensive woes were offset by holding Houston to 34%shooting.

When Walker hit a 3 for a 56-48 lead Sunday with 8:47 left, itwas good enough for one more point than Houston scored in the firstgame. They had 25 more in them.

BIG PICTURE

Houston: Now has wiggle room in the AAC.

Temple: Losses to Wagner and Maryland Eastern Shore crippledTemple’s chances for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. Aseason sweep of Houston could created an opening. The Owls willhave to win the AAC tournament for a piece of March Madness.

UP NEXT

Houston hosts Tulsa on Wednesday.

The Owls play Wednesday at SMU.