Temple Owls vs Belmont Bruins Match Player Stats On Mar 19, 2019

Kevin McClain scored a game-high 29 points Tuesday night, and center Nick Muszynski added 16 as Belmont put the Ohio Valley Conference's first at-large bid in 32 years to good use, knocking off Temple 81-70 in a battle of East Region No. 11 seeds at the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

The Bruins (27-5) advance to a first-round matchup Thursday in Jacksonville against sixth-seeded Maryland. Making the win even more impressive was that their leading scorer, 6-foot-8 Dylan Windler, hit just 2 of 7 shots and managed just five points, more than 16 under his average.

Shizz Alston tallied 21 points to pace the Owls (23-10), while Nate Pierre-Louis had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Quinton Rose and J.P. Moorman II each added 10 points, but it wasn't enough to keep coach Fran Dunphy on the sideline for one more game. Dunphy, who announced his pending retirement last spring, won 270 games in 13 years at Temple.

Temple ripped off a 21-5 run to grab a 52-47 lead with 11:26 left on a jumper by Pierre-Louis, but Belmont responded with a 16-3 burst. McClain ended it with a 3-pointer at the 6:12 mark to give the Bruins a 63-55 advantage.

It was the first NCAA Tournament win for Belmont in eight tries, as well as the 805th career win in coach Rick Byrd's 33-year career (713 of the victories coming with the Bruins).

The first half set the tone for the night for both teams. Belmont ripped off the first spurt, establishing a 15-8 lead just over five minutes into the contest as McClain drained a 3-pointer.

Trailing 17-12 following a Muszynski layup, Temple rattled off 10 straight points to grab a 22-17 advantage when Moorman sank a trey with 11:29 remaining in the half. But the Owls went cold at that point, managing only two points in the next five-plus minutes.

The Bruins chipped away at the deficit and used another 3-pointer by McClain with 4:46 left to earn a 30-27 edge. McClain finished off a 10-4 run by converting a layup with three seconds on the clock, giving Belmont a 37-31 halftime edge.

--Field Level Media