City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)

Temple’s quest to get to the title game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off fell short Friday afternoon as the Owls fell to No. 22 Butler, 74-69, in San Juan.

Fran Dunphy’s team hung with the Bulldogs for most of the game, however Butler pulled away late. The Owls, who beat Minnesota on Thursday, still have a chance to leave Puerto Rico with two solid wins. They will face either No. 16 Utah or Miami in Sunday’s third-place game.

At first…
Temple jumped out to a great start less than 24 hours after downing the Gophers in Coliseo Roberto Clemente. The Owls scored the game’s first six points and eventually built a 21-9 lead. Jaylen Bond helped lead the way by hitting his first four field goal attempts, and the Owls were making life difficult for Butler, which shot at least 60 percent in its first two games. The Bulldogs did turn the tide in the first half’s last 10 minutes, and went in the locker room with a 35-31 lead thanks to a 26-10 run.

Turning point…
Temple kept the game competitive for most of the second half, but when Tyler Lewis hit a 3-pointer with about seven minutes left, it put Butler up 58-50. It gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game and the shot also capped a quick 8-2 spurt that separated things after Temple narrowed the lead to two points.

Shining stars…
Quenton DeCosey led all scorers with 24 points. Sixteen of them came in the second half, and he had a double-double with 10 boards. Bond also had a double-double for the Owls with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Butler, like Temple, had four starters in double figures, and Kellen Dunham and Lewis both had 16 points.

Noteworthy numbers…
Temple shot just nine free throws to Butler’s 25, and the Bulldogs had a 13-point advantage at the foul line… The Owls got at least 10 points from four starters, but barely any production from their bench. Temple’s reserves combined for just five points (Trey Lowe had three; Mark Williams with two) on 2-of-12 shooting.

Up next…
Temple (1-2) vs. No. 16 Utah or Miami, (11/22, 4:30 p.m.)
No. 22 Butler (4-0) vs. No. 16 Utah or Miami (11/22, 7:30 p.m.)