Men's Basketball Sports

UH-Temple rundown: Cougars seek sixth straight win

Houston guard DeJon Jarreau (3) drives towards the basket in a game against Tulsa on Jan. 20 in the Fertitta Center. UH and Temple will meet Saturday after the Cougars' game against Cincinnati was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Bearcats' program. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar

Houston guard DeJon Jarreau (3) drives towards the basket in a game against Tulsa on Jan. 20 in the Fertitta Center. UH and Temple will meet Saturday after the Cougars’ game against Cincinnati was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Bearcats’ program. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar

The Houston men’s basketball team is in Philadelphia to take on Temple for the second time this season on Saturday inside of the Liacouras Center.

The Cougars (12-1, 7-1 American Athletic Conference) enter the contest on a five-game winning streak, with the last three matchups ending in double-digit wins. UH’s last win came in a rout against Tulsa, who is the only team to beat them this season.

In the game, sophomore guard Marcus Sasser starred with 26 points, which included six 3-pointers.

Junior guard Quentin Grimes, who added 18 points against the Golden Hurricane, leads the Cougars in scoring with 17.8 points per game. Senior forward Justin Gorham leads the team with 9.3 rebounds. Gorham had 11 boards against Tulsa.

UH and Temple first met on Dec. 22. The Cougars, who were only two days removed from their first game after a 15-day pause due to COVID-19 issues, won the game 76-50. Grimes led the team with 22 points and seven rebounds. Gorham also had a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double.

A look at the Owls

Temple (3-3, 2-3 AAC) last played on Jan. 16 against Tulane. The Owls won the game 65-57 and have won two straight contests.

Freshman guard Damian Dunn leads the Owls with 16.2 points per contest. Senior forward J.P. Moorman II is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game.

“They’re playing so much better now,” UH head coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters in a Zoom meeting on Thursday. “They are night and day better than (the first meeting). I was really impressed with their execution.”

Against the Green Wave last Saturday, Dunn led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward Jake Forrester had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.

“They know who they are offensively,” Sampson said. “They got a go-to guy in Dunn. Got an elite 3-point shooter in (Brendan) Barry.”

Barry, a senior guard, has made 18 of his 33 3-point attempts this season.

Network details

The game between UH and Temple will tipoff at 11 a.m. on Saturday and be shown on CBS. The contest will also be able to be heard on KPRC 950 AM.

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