Temple erases double-digit deficit to beat Louisiana Tech, 82-75

AT THE CONCLUSION of last season, in his end-of-the-year meeting with Temple coach Fran Dunphy, Josh Brown set forth his plan.

Brown, a reserve guard, told his coach he didn't want to head home to Newark, N.J. He wanted to stay at school for the summer before his sophomore year and work on his game. And so that's what he did, spending "countless hours in the gym" honing his shot and ballhandling.

"I wanted to help the team this year," Brown said. "I felt like I didn't really help the team last year."

Last night, Brown helped his team, coming off the bench to score a career-high 17 points while bringing down seven rebounds. The 6-3 sophomore was a crucial cog - and the most unexpected one - in a three-guard attack that helped fuel Temple to an 82-75 win over Louisiana Tech and a 2-0 record on the young season.

Quenton DeCosey, Will Cummings and Brown combined for 57 points. Cummings, who scored 13 of his 20 points from the free-throw line, added a career-high nine rebounds. DeCosey played all 40 minutes.

Temple shot 43.1 percent from the field and made 34 of a whopping 49 free-throw attempts. Louisiana Tech (1-1), which won 29 games last season and entered this season as the preseason favorite to win Conference USA, used a 13-0 run to build a 12-point lead midway through the first half before Temple cut it to four by halftime.

The Owls' 10-0 run to start the second half set the tone for the rest of the game.

"We kind of just locked in," Cummings said. "We huddled up as a group and we just decided that we needed to get stops. All the defense that we worked on this past offseason, we just decided we needed to use it and come out and get stops. They're a great team. We tried to limit them to what they could do and it worked."

Brown was a key part of that, scoring 13 of his points in the second half. His five consecutive points gave Temple a 49-40 lead with 14:19 to play. His three-point play with 11 minutes, 23 seconds to go pushed the Owls' lead to 10. Before the final buzzer, they would lead by as many as 12.

"I think if you were saying who made the biggest strides from one year to the next," Dunphy said, "I think Josh Brown was it."

Louisiana Tech, which received preseason votes in the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today coaches poll, was led by Raheem Appleby, who scored a game-high 26 points (on 22 field goal attempts). Erik McCree scored 14 for the Bulldogs.

Temple forward Jaylen Bond, the Texas transfer who sat out last season due to NCAA rules, once again did not play because of an a right ankle injury sustained in practice Nov. 5. His status is considered day to day. Dunphy said after last night's game that Bond was not yet feeling ready to play and "hopefully he'll be able to go on Friday."

Friday will be a big night for the Owls as they play No. 4 Duke (2-0) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Tip-off is approximated for 9:30 p.m.

"We know what we're in for," Dunphy said. "We know how good they are. It's a wonderful challenge and that's what we'll think about as we go about [preparing for] it."