PHILA – Penn. --

The Temple University Owls held off the University of South Florida Bulls in overtime on Saturday, 82-80. The Bulls came back from a 14 point halftime deficit to take the lead several times before tying the game at 68 and forcing overtime.

IT WAS OVER WHEN

The Bull trailed by two with 1.6 seconds remaining in overtime. An obvious foul attempt was not called by the officials, allowing the clock to hit zero, giving the Owls their 13th win of the season.

THE STAR OF THE GAME

USF’s Alexis Yetna led all scorers in the game with 24 points, but it was fellow Bull, LaQuincy Rideau who had the most impact. Rideau finished with 18 points, 10 assists, and 10 steals, making him just the sixth NCAA player in the past 20 years to have a triple-double in those three categories.

STATISCALLY SPEAKING

As a team, the Bulls made just 40% of their free throws, going 10-25. While that’s not good, it was a problem made worse by Temple, who hit 23-28, with two players making 100% of their shots from the line. Nate Pierre-Louis was 8-8 and Quinton Rose was 5-5. Shiz Alston just missed perfection, hitting 8-9.

WHAT A PLAY

After Rose made the last two of those free throws to put Temple up 82-77, Xavier Castaneda hit a timely three with just 1.6 seconds remaining in overtime. It wasn’t enough to win the game, but it gave USF a chance.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Bulls drop to 12-4 (2-2) on the season, but made a statement in the process. They are a team who will not be taken lightly during conference play and they will make their presence known, even against some of the best teams in the league. They will need to shake off the loss quickly for another matchup with one of the better teams in conference, Cincinnati, on Tuesday, January 15th.