Buzzer-Beater Lifts Temple Over S. Florida 66-65
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Quenton DeCosey hit a one-handed runner as time expired, lifting Temple to a 66-65 victory against South Florida on Saturday.
South Florida led by 18 midway through the second half and seemed destined to avoid its eighth consecutive loss. Instead, the Bulls finished the regular season at the bottom of the American Athletic Conference standings.
Dalton Pepper scored 15 of his game-high 20 points for Temple (9-21, 4-14) in the second half. DeCosey finished with 18 and Will Cummings had 14 for the Owls.
Corey Allen Jr. led South Florida (12-19, 3-15) with 18 points. Martino Brock scored 16 and Victor Rudd, the only other senior, had 13 in their final home game for USF. Rudd hit only 5 of 19 shots to fall one point shy of moving into the top 10 in career scoring at the school.
USF missed eight of its first nine shots in the game, but collected seven steals and outscored Temple 12-0 off turnovers in the first half. Allen Jr. had seven points during a 12-0 run that put the Bulls up by 11. They led 33-26 at the break.
Temple did not score again until Cummings broke through five and a half minutes in. The Owls were down by 18 midway through the second half before Pepper led the rally.
The Owls will enter the inaugural league tournament with back-to-back victories after losing eight of nine. As the No. 8 seed, Temple will face Central Florida, and South Florida will take on Rutgers in the opening round Wednesday night in Memphis.
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