Central Florida Knights vs Temple Owls Match Player Stats On Mar 09, 2019

Guard Quinton Rose scored nine of his 11 points over the last nine minutes of the game to spark Temple to a 67-62 victory over No. 25 UCF Saturday afternoon in a key American Athletic Conference game in Philadelphia.

Guard Shizz Alston Jr. scored 21 points to lead the Owls (23-8, 13-5 AAC), who moved into a tie for third place with the Knights (23-7, 13-5) and kept alive their hopes for a No. 3 seed in next week's league tournament in Memphis.

Rose's late heroics and Alston's steady play overcame a huge game from UCF junior guard Aubrey Dawkins, the son of Knights coach Johnny Dawkins who was a game-time decision to play after hurting his back two nights earlier.

Dawkins scored a career-high 36 points, making back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds to keep the Knights alive by closing an eight-point deficit to three.

Guard B.J. Taylor hit three free throws with 12.1 seconds left to get the Knights to within 64-62, but Alston clinched the victory for Temple with two free throws with 11.7 seconds remaining. Guard Nate Pierre-Louis hit one of two free throws with 4.1 seconds left for the final margin.

UCF trailed only 35-34 at the half despite going through a field-goal drought of just over six minutes midway through the period.

After jumping in front 8-0 and then taking a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes, the Knights managed only two free throws by Dawkins at the 10:17 mark, missing five consecutive shots until Dawkins ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 9:21 left in the period.

The Owls, meanwhile, rode a 12-0 run to take a 19-15 lead while UCF's Tacko Fall was on the bench with two fouls. The 7-foot-6 senior center picked up his fourth personal and left the game again with 7:55 left in a tie game (48-48).

Turnovers plagued the Knights early. They matched their season average with 11 in the first half alone and ended the game with 18 to Temple's 11.

--Field Level Media