Memphis

Moore, No. 21 SMU Rally to Snap Temple's Win Streak, 67-58

Nic Moore scored 18 points, and No. 21 SMU rallied from 10 points down in the second half to beat Temple 67-58 Thursday night, snapping the Owls' seven-game winning streak.

Ryan Manuel hit a tying 3-pointer and added another to cap a 7-0 run that broke a 52-52 tie and sent the American Athletic Conference-leading Mustangs (22-5, 13-2 AAC) to their 20th win in 22 games. The Mustangs outscored the Owls 15-6 in the final four minutes.

Will Cummings had 14 points to lead Temple (19-8, 10-4), which was trying to answer a home loss to SMU last month but instead shot 29 percent after halftime to lose its lead.

With most of the crowd missing because of an early start at normally raucous Moody Coliseum, the Mustangs trailed by as many as nine points in the first half. They were down 39-29 in the second half when the Mustangs got the late-arriving fans going.

Moore hit a jumper and stole the ball from Jesse Morgan near midcourt, feeding Sterling Brown to get the Mustangs within 39-36.

After Moore's free throw pulled SMU even, the junior guard ended up with the ball at 3-point line after a near-turnover deflected off the hands of Temple's Josh Brown. Moore hit the shot for SMU's first lead at 46-43.

Cannen Cunningham put the Mustangs ahead for good at 54-52 with a basket inside, and Moore made a driving layup to push the lead to four. Manuel's second 3-pointer from the right corner made it 59-52.

Not long after, a student section that was half-empty when the game started was chanting "Moody Madness" with the outcome settled in the final minute.

Cunningham finished with 10 points, while Ben Moore, Sterling Moore and Markus Kennedy joined Manuel with eight points apiece.

Jesse Morgan, who had a long 3-pointer that pulled Temple even late in the second half, finished with nine points. Jaylen Bond was one of three Temple players with eight points, and he had a game-high 11 rebounds.

TIP-INS

Temple: Cummings led the Owls in scoring after getting just one point while dealing with a leg injury in the home loss to SMU. ... It was the first loss for Temple since falling by 31 to Cincinnati on the road on Jan. 17.

SMU: Moore, Kennedy, Cunningham and Yanick Moreira had two blocks apiece for the Mustangs. ... SMU was 4 of 7 on 3-pointers in the second half after going 1 for 4 before halftime.

UP NEXT

Temple: at Tulsa on Sunday.

SMU: at Memphis next Thursday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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