The aggressive Temple Owls topped ECU in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, out-muscling ECU en-route to a 66-53 victory.

The result was never in question. Temple (19-7, 10-3 AAC), winners of seven straight, led the entire way. The Owls extended their lead to double digits late in the first half and never let ECU (11-14, 4-8 AAC) get within 11 for the rest of the game.

Temple’s junior forward Jaylen Bond laid the framework for a Temple rout on the glass early. Temple out-rebounded ECU, 49-26, and Bond had nine of those in the game’s first nine minutes. He finished with 16 boards and seven points in total.

The Pirates were punished for their inability to match Temple’s strength and intensity on the glass. ECU scored just two second chance points compared to Temple’s 19.

Points in the paint, a consistent problem for ECU this season, plagued the team once again as Temple outscored the Pirates 26-12 in that category.

Redshirt sophomore forward Marshall Guilmette, sophomore forward Michel-Ofik Nzege, and junior forward Michael Zangari were not able to respond to a relentless Temple attack. The Owls seemed to target ECU’s bigs underneath the basket, drawing fouls throughout the second half.

Temple attempted 25 free-throws throughout the game, making 18 of them. ECU shot nine free-throws in the game and sank seven of those.

ECU struggled to shoot the ball all afternoon, with junior guard Terry Whisnant not making a shot until the second half. Whisnant finished with a team-high 13 points for ECU, but shot just 5-for-13 from the field.

On the whole, ECU had a tough time sinking shots. The team shot just 19-for-54 in the game, 7-for-21 from three point range and looked flustered in the face of Temple’s powerful defense.

Sophomore guard Caleb White, one of the Pirates most consistent scorers, found himself with three first half fouls and as a result was unable to play a major role in the second half. He finished the game with just six points, the first time in three games that he has not reached double figures in scoring.

Yet another slow start offensively proved costly for the Pirates. They trailed 34-18 at halftime, and only four Pirates scored points in the half. ECU opened the game by missing their first six field goal attempts.

ECU is set for another major road test against Tulsa (17-7, 10-2 AAC) Wednesday night. It will be the second time these teams have met this season, with Tulsa besting ECU in Greenville, 66-64. 

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