Houston tops Temple 66-61 in Philly

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POSTED: January 3, 2022 -- 12:05 p.m. CT

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- (The Liacouras Center)

The short-handed Houston Cougars topped the short-handed Temple Owls 66-61 Sunday evening in Philadelphia. Houston (12-2, 1-0 in The American) led by as much as 16 (36-20) in the game and led 40-29 at halftime.

Houston was without three guards: Marcus Sasser, surgery to repair hairline fracture of fifth metatarsal in left foot; Tramon Mark, surgery to repair torn labrum in left shoulder; and Kyler Edwards, Grade-2 ankle sprain.

Temple scored the first six points of the second half. The Owls extended the run to 12-2 to cut Houston's lead to 42-41 before Houston's only healthy point guard, Jamal Shead, scored in the paint then dished to teammate Josh Carlton for a three-point play to boost Houston's lead to 47-41.

Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson described the win as the "Best win of the year."

Because of the effort the 7 Houston players who played gave throughout the game, Coach Sampson added, "Every win that this team gets will be a beautiful, great win."

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Point guard Jamal Shead played the entire game. Shead got fatigued in the second half which caused a few of his turnovers; but, he was in the right spot defensively to get a charging call on Temple to erase a game-tying three-pointer in the closing minutes of the game.

Shead finished the game with 14 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 turnovers.

Fabian White scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in 38 minutes.

After the game, despite the injuries in the backcourt, White said, "We got people that can score. That ain't the problem. We just gotta figure it out.

"It's our first game without Marc(us) for real. T-Mark. He's been in and out; so, we just got to figure it out. Same Houston culture."

Freshman guard Ramon Walker scored 13 points in 37 minutes. Walker made 3 of Houston's 4 three-point baskets -- including a clutch 3 to put Houston up (62-57) in the closing minutes.

In his first game back in about 2 weeks (COVID), Taze Moore scored 10 points in 38 minutes.

Houston's next game is Wednesday, January 5, in Tampa, FL, versus South Florida. Tip is set for 6 p.m. Central Time. ESPN+ will stream the game.

CLICK HERE for The HRR's write-ups of Coogs' men's hoops games.