(PHILADELPHIA, PA) In a game that looked like it ended after the first half, the Houston Cougars defeated the Temple Owls 76-50.
The Cougars had a fantastic all around scoring game, with four players scoring 13 or more points. Quentin Grimes led them with 22, shooting an efficient 50% from the field. Following him was forward Justin Gorham with 14, and Reggie Chaney with 13. Junior guard, Quentin Grimes is really starting to make a name for himself on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 20+ points over each of the past three games.
Along with their impressive all around scoring, holding Temple to just 50 points in the game was the reason they won. In their first six games, Houston has outscored their opponents on average roughly 23 points per game. This was a tough challenge for Temple, and having one player put up more than 10 points was not going to help.
Although it was a rough shooting game for the Owls, shooting only 30.8%, J.P. Moorman showed why he is one of the leaders of the team. Shooting 50% and leading his team with 12 points, the Seniors efforts just weren’t enough to come out with a win. With forwards Moorman and Perry being the only seniors in the starting five, they need to help develop these freshman guards quickly.
One of the bigger Temple additions this offseason was bringing in Brendan Berry from Dartmouth to come off the bench. When asking Coach Mckie what Berry brought to this team, he stated, “I like his way, I like his poise and he certainly has a common effect on our guys.” With having two younger guys starting ahead of him, his leadership and IQ of the game will prepare freshman Damian Dunn and Jeremiah Williams for bigger roles on the court.
Houston got off to a hot 24-10 start within the first 12 minutes of the game, which seemed to be a trend for the rest of the game. Cutting it to a 10 point game at half, the deficit seemed to be too much for the Owls to overcome. Out-rebounding the Owls 43-26, along with scoring five more three pointers throughout the game aided them in getting their sixth win.
Sitting at 1-1, the Owls are looking to get their second win, Wednesday, December 30th against the 5-0 SMU Mustangs. They will have a lot to look back at with receiving their first loss of the season, especially going up against another undefeated team.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
