The defending national champions are 6-5. Temple knocked off UConn in overtime, 57-53, on Wednesday afternoon in Storrs. It’s Temple’s second big win of the last two weeks after upsetting Kansas at home on Dec. 22.
Temple drops UConn in overtime to continue surprising start
The Owls are now 10-4.
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
UConn trailed by four with under a minute left but forced overtime with a fast break dunk by Rodney Purvis. The Huskies’ offense then went cold in the extra period. UConn only scored two points, and blew a chance to win the game in the final seconds when freshman wing Daniel Hamilton missed three straight free throws (the last one on purpose) with his team trailing by two.
Temple was whistled for a foul on Hamilton at the end game on this play, which led to the free throws he couldn’t convert.
Hamilton still played well for stretches (10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists) for a UConn team that lost star senior guard Ryan Boatright to a thigh injury 30 seconds into the second half. Amida Brimah led UConn in defeat with 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
It wasn’t a pretty win for Temple, but the Owls (now 10-4) will take it either way. Temple shot only 31.6 percent from the floor, but its defense was good enough to key the win. Jesse Morgan led the way with 17 points and six rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting. Quenton DeCosey had 11 points on 1-for-9 shooting.
It’s the fourth straight win for the Owls. With UConn struggling and Louisville now in the ACC, Temple may have a decent shot in the American. It is looking like a down year for the league after sending four teams to the NCAA Tournament and housing the national champ, but that shouldn’t diminish from Temple’s surprising start to the year.
Here’s a look at the American right now:
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