Temple, still squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble despite leading the American Athletic Conference, had two more regular-season chances to make a statement.
Consider the first of those two statements made.
And consider the top seed in the conference tournament locked up.
Paced by forward Jaylen Bond’s double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, Temple used a balanced offensive attack to hold off Memphis, 72-62, on Thursday at the Liacouras Center and lock up the ever-important top seed in next week’s AAC tournament in Orlando, Florida.
Despite foul trouble, leading scorer Quenton DeCosey still dropped 13 points for the Owls. Fellow guards Josh Brown and Devin Coleman each poured in 12 points. Obi Enechionyia had 10 points to give the Owls five double-digit scorers.
Guard Ricky Tarrant, Jr. led Memphis with 18 points. Big man Shaq Goodwin added 16 points of his own.
With the win, Temple moved to 19-10 overall and 13-4 in the AAC. Memphis fell to 16-14 and 7-10 in the AAC.
Turning point
Midway through the first half, the Owls ripped off a 12-4 run that was keyed by six points courtesy of Brown. That run put the Owls up 26-14 and put them in the driver’s seat the rest of the evening.
Memphis would go on an 18-8 run to cut the lead to three at 60-57 with 3:51 left, but that was as close as the Tigers would get the rest of the evening.
Senior night
Thursday was senior night at the Liacouras Center.
DeCosey, Bond, Coleman and Devontae Watson were each honored prior to their final home game in an Owls uniform.
Thinking of Lowe
The Owls gave their own personal shoutout to freshman guard Trey Lowe, who will miss the rest of the season with injuries suffered in a single-car accident this past weekend, by wearing cherry warm-up shirts with Lowe’s name and No. 11 on the back.
Hinkie in the house
Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie took in Thursday night’s action from press row.
Starters
For Temple: DeCosey, Coleman and Brown in the backcourt with Bond and Watson in the frontcourt.
For Memphis: Kendren Johnson and Tarrant, Jr. in the backcourt with Trahson Burrell, Dedric Lawson and Goodwin in the frontcourt.
Up next
The Owls close out their regular-season slate with a trip to AAC-worst Tulane this Sunday.
After that, it’s off to Orlando for next week’s conference tournament.