Temple falls to Butler in Puerto-Rico Tip-Off

Following Butler’s run, DeCosey tied the game at 31 on a driving layup with 57 seconds until halftime.

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“Everyone did a great job of trying to find me, and when I took a bad shot, no one was upset because I think I shot the ball pretty well tonight”, York said after the game. “When you have guys like Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham and Tyler’s learning this… and they respond with the kind of leadership and grit and toughness that you need, that’s the makings of a good team”.

“It’s a really small sample size”, Holtmann said.

His team got that test Friday afternoon against the Owls, and passed it with a combination of hitting the boards, getting to the line and scrapping it out on the defensive end.

In his first career start, the 6-foot-11 Konate had 11 points, four rebounds and a block for the Gophers.

“The kids are down … but we’ve got to keep rolling up our sleeves and working”, USF coach Orlando Antigua said.

“For us to be where we want to be in this season”, he said, “our defense has to improve”.

Nate Mason led the Gophers (2-1) with a team-high 20 points and five assists.

Temple struggled with shooting after halftime (34 percent) as Butler slowly asserted control.

King also knew he had to play better in the first half than he did Thursday, when he went scoreless in a disappointing loss to Temple. Add in Trier scoring 11 of his 13 in the second half, and Arizona had enough production to hold off Boise State’s two-headed front court monster of James Webb III (27 points, nine rebounds) and Nick Duncan (21 points).

Carlos Morris also provided the bulk of Minnesota’s rebounds with 7, in addition to landing 12 points. Both of Temple’s losses have come against ranked opponents, starting with No. 1 North Carolina in last week’s season opener. The Canes couldn’t necessarily slow down the Utes’ 3-point barrage, but they won a ton of extra possessions by forcing 16 turnovers and grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. Just a couple of odd turnovers. “They made the right pass most of the time”. “That’s a real evolution for him as a player”. The Hurricanes made 28 of 38 free throws.

Missouri State’s duo of big men, or at least the closest thing they have to big men, showed improvement, but ultimately couldn’t overcome excellent perimeter shooting from Minnesota. The win moves Miami into the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship game against Butler on Sunday.