No. 8 SMU becomes last Division I team to lose, Temple wins

Coleman scored a career-high 23 points on a ideal 8-for-8 shooting performance in Temple’s 89-80 win against undefeated Southern Methodist, the No. 8 team in the AP Top 25 poll, Sunday at the Liacouras Center.

Temple has held double-figure leads in each of the last four games it played against SMU.

It marked the first time that SMU, which fell to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the AAC, lost since a 60-59 loss to UCLA in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2015.

SMU: Brown returned to Philly for a third time with the Mustangs.

“He was spectacular”, Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “There was nothing cheap about any of the balls that went into the basket”. They were dead in the hoop, each one of them.

However, as the wins piled up the country began to take notice that this team began to embody exactly what we love about college basketball. Without their unquestioned floor general, SMU struggled with continuity on the offensive end, finding it hard to execute plays and get open shots. That’s the important thing. “It was a great team win for us because everybody contributed”. Brown hit three 3-pointers, grabbed five rebounds and had six assists.

So when he pulled up from the top of the arc with a defender in his face, the shot clock winding down and the chance to give Temple an 11-point lead with less than eight minutes to go, it was no surprise that the 3-point attempt swished through the bottom of the net. “I believe in my teammates, and they made big plays today”.

Fans and Players storming the court after defeating SMU. “Oh my God, the fifth-winningest program in America (Temple) is beating this elitist school”. Coleman quickly faked a drive, rose up and fired a three-pointer over Milton’s outstretched hand. The SMU Mustangs are averaging 80 points on 51.4 percent shooting and allowing 61.9 points on 39.3 percent shooting.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Gary Payton II had 22 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals to lead Oregon State.

Coleman was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the half, and it was the Clemson transfer from nearby Friends Central that started the Owls’ 3-point parade.

Tiffany Mitchell scored 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, and the Gamecocks (19-0, 7-0 Southeastern) beat the Bulldogs (17-4, 4-3).

Coleman’s biggest threes were the trio that came during a 21-6 Temple second-half surge that transformed a tight game into a one-sided one.

The Mustangs didn’t help themselves in the first half with eight turnovers over the first 20 minutes, which Temple converted into 12 points. We still have a goal of winning the conference. Last season, opponents scored almost 40 percent of points from three-point land, the highest such mark in the nation.

The Temple Owls look to keep rolling after winning six of their last eight games.

Most people probably expected the Owls to be in trouble without senior forward Jaylen Bond, Temple’s top rebounder who missed the contest with a lower back injury.

Anthony Gill and London Perrantes added 16 points each for the Cavaliers (4-3 ACC, 15-4), who squandered all of a 10-point second-half lead, then rallied behind some clutch shooting and defense.

Brice Johnson scored 19 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

But despite getting outscored in the paint, 48-22, the Owls dominated the perimeter with their smaller lineup.