City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Quenton DeCosey played hero for Temple at the Liacouras Center on Saturday, knocking down a 17-footer with three seconds left to lift the Owls to a 63-61 win over Central Florida.

At First…
Despite only shooting 35 percent from the floor in the first half (12-of-34), Temple took a 31-29 lead into halftime thanks to grabbing seven offensive rebounds. A 3-point happy Central Florida squad took 20 triples in the opening 20 minutes and connected on six of them, while Temple was 4-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first half of play.

Central Florida came out of the half holding Temple to two points in the opening four minutes, during which the Knights took a 36-33 lead. The Owls used the 3-point shot to get back in front, getting a triple from Daniel Dingle and then back-to-back long balls by Devin Coleman, the last of which gave Temple its biggest lead of the game, 44-39 with 13:43 left.

The Owls’ lead wavered between one and six points for the next seven minutes, with Coleman hitting another key triple that made it 55-51 with 6:45 left; Obi Enechionyia’s 3-pointer with 5:30 remaining made it a six-point game.

Turning Point…
Philadelphia native Daiquan Walker was sent to the line for Central Florida with a minute left, and tied it with two of his three foul shots. DeCosey was unable to connect on a long 2-pointer, but the rebound went off UCF and Temple retained possession with two on the shot clock. Josh Brown found DeCosey for an open 3-pointer from the corner, but again the senior wing's shot was off--this time, however, it hit iron and ended up back in Brown's hands. A TU timeout with 20 seconds left gave the Owls one last chance, and this time DeCosey connected, getting his defender up in the air and knocking down a leaner from just past the foul line for the game-winning shot.

Standout Stars…
Central Florida freshman Tacko Fall is easy to spot, with his 7-foot-6, 300-pound frame giving him an advantage inside most teams can’t match. And though he’s somewhat limited in his mobility, Fall is still a force to be reckoned with, as he showed with a 13-point, 14-rebound, 5-block performance.

Philadelphia native Daiquan Walker, a UCF senior, led the Knights with 21 points in his final collegiate game in his hometown.

For Temple, Enechionyia continued his strong play the second half of the season with his sixth-straight double-digit effort, going for 18 points, while DeCosey added 16.

Noteworthy Numbers…
8: The minimum height advantage, in inches, that Fall had on every member of the Temple rotation. The post is one of two tallest players currently in NCAA basketball (UC Irvine’s Mamadou N’Diaye is also 7-6), and has proven to be a defensive force in his first year of college basketball. The American Athletic Conference’s blocks leader (56) entering play on Saturday, Fall rejected five shots.

31: UCF’s 3-pointers attempted were a new season high for the Knights, outdoing the old mark of 27.

Up Next…
Temple (18-10, 15-4 American) vs. Memphis (March 3, 7 PM)
Central Florida (11-16, 5-11 American) vs. Tulane (March 2, 7 PM)