The Temple Owls(9-5, 1-0) began AAC play on Friday night as they hosted the Wichita State Shockers(10-4, 0-1).
Temple, without Lynn Greer III(personal) and Jameel Brown(personal), was led by its leading scorer, Jamal Mashburn Jr., who had 24 points. The Owls remained undefeated at The Liacouras Center (6-0) and win their second straight after defeating the Shockers 91-85.
Elijah Gray added 15 points off the bench. The Owls had five players in double figures on Friday night.
For Wichita State, Justin Hill had a game-high 25 points.
Temple trailed 39-37 at halftime, and with just under seven minutes to go in regulation, Temple trailed 69-68. However, Quante Berry, who had 14 points, hit a three on Temple’s next possession, and Steve Settle III, who also had 14 points, made a three. This was part of a 15-2 run that gave Temple its largest lead of the game at 83-71.
Wichita State would get as close as five points, but Temple got the job done at the free-throw line and put the game away.
After the win, Temple head coach Adam Fisher talked about the importance of winning at home.
“Really proud of these guys,” Fisher said. “We talked about it all season; we want to protect home court.”
Mashburn Jr. echoed Fisher’s sentiments about protecting home court.
“We just wanted to come out and protect home court,” he said. “Regardless of the opponent, this is our place; this is our home. Nobody is going to come into our home and punk us or bully us around. We made that a point of emphasis.”
The Owls now head on the road for two straight, starting with East Carolina on Wednesday night.
Good teams consistently win at home and win enough on the road, and Temple now has to continue winning at home and enough on the road if it wants to make some noise in the AAC.
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