Temple Holds Off UConn 57-53 In Overtime
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Jesse Morgan scored 17 points and Temple held off UConn 57-53 in overtime Monday to win the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Quenton DeCosey added 11 points for the Owls (10-4) who have now won four straight.
Amida Brimah had 12 points to lead UConn (6-5) and Daniel Hamilton added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Temple led 55-53 after a pair of DeCosey free throws with 2:48 left in overtime. The score was the same when Hamilton was fouled by DeCosey on a 3-point shot with less than 3 seconds remaining. But Hamilton missed the first two and was called for a lane violation after intentionally missing the third.
Will Cummings made two foul shots on the other end to seal the win.
UConn's star guard Ryan Boatright left the game after suffering a bruised left thigh late in the first half. He tried to start the second, but hobbled off the court after the first Temple possession.
The Owls came in ranked third in the American Athletic Conference schools in scoring defense, giving up just 61.5 points a game.
They held UConn to 39 percent shooting, but hit just 31.6 percent of their own shots.
Both teams made just one shot in overtime.
Temple led most of the way, but never by more than six points in the second half.
A pair of free throws from Hamilton cut the deficit to 51-49 with 47 seconds left in the game, and the Huskies tied it on a breakaway dunk by Rodney Purvis with 12 seconds left after Daniel Dingle missed an open 3-pointer.
Dingle missed a layup just before the buzzer that would have given the Owls the win in regulation.
The Owls quickly took the lead back and were up 47-41 with just four minutes to play after a jumper by Cummings.
Temple led by four points at halftime, despite shooting just 27 percent from the floor.
UConn hit just one of its first eight shots and the Owls led just 6-2 five minutes into the game. A layup by Jaylen Bond gave Temple a 21-13 lead, but the Huskies began driving to the basket and got back into the game.
A spinning layup by Boatright cut that to 21-19, and a Daniel Hamilton bucket tied it. But Boatright came out of the game hobbling a short time later and the Owls went into halftime leading 25-21.
Temple has already surpassed its win total from last season, when the Owls went 9-22.
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