Alston, Pierre-Louis lead Temple to win
PHILADELPHIA >> A fast start helped Temple rout UConn.
Shizz Alston Jr. had 18 points and Nate Pierre-Louis scored 12 of his 17 points in Temple’s dominating first half to lead the Owls to an
81-63 victory over UConn on Wednesday.
Justyn Hamilton added
13 points for the Owls (17-6,
7-3 American Athletic Conference).
Temple made its first six shots and just kept on hitting. The Owls sank 10 of 11 to take a 25-10 lead, 13 of 16 to go in front 33-14 and entered the break ahead 4620, setting a season-high for points in the first half.
“The hoop was looking real big for us early,” Alston said. “A lot of different guys were scoring.”
Temple made 18 of 29 field goals and 5 of 11 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
“It looks like you know what you’re doing when you make shots,” Owls coach Fran Dunphy said. “Everybody participated. It looked like it was our night.”
The Huskies never got close in the second half, and the most excitement came with 16:20 remaining when Pierre-Louis finished a breakaway with a windmill dunk.
Josh Carlton and Christian Vital had 18 points apiece to pace UConn (1310, 4-6).
Huskies coach Danny Hurley bemoaned his team’s play at the outset.
“We just were not ready to go,” Hurley said. “They were able to get comfortable and confident.”
“If we were a really good team, we’d get off to better starts,” Hurley added. “But we’re not a really good team. We got our butts kicked by a team that outclassed us today.”
BIG PICTURE
TEMPLE >> With eight regular-season games remaining, the Owls are on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament in Dunphy’s final season at the helm. They will have to avoid hiccups in conference play, with a season-ending home game against Central Florida on March 9 looming as a potentially important contest should Temple continue winning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
TEMPLE >> The Owls played without leading rebounder Ernest Aflakpui, who sat as a precaution because of a left knee injury. A 6-foot-10 senior, Aflakpui started every game this season entering Wednesday and is averaging 6.4 points and 7.0 rebounds. Dunphy said afterward that Aflakpui could have played if needed.
UP NEXT
TEMPLE >> At Tulsa Saturday.