Jamal Mashburn Jr leads Temple to Win over Wichita State to start Conference Play

Philadelphia: There is a certain feel when Conference play in College Basketball gets going. That is what we saw on Friday night as the Temple Owls battled the Wichita State Shockers from the Liacouras Center. Temple came in with an 8-5 mark and off a win over Buffalo while the Shockers made their way to Philly at 10-3 on the season & off a win over Friends Falcons.

There will be some news from Temple before the game:

Lynn Greer III is in sweats and sitting next to Jameel Brown during warmups. Unless something changes, it doesn’t look like he’s playing tonight against Wichita State.

— John DiCarlo (@jdicarlo) January 3, 2025

Before the game, Temple would hold a moment of silence for what happened in New Orleans on New Year’s Day

Before tonight #Temple game

A moment of silence was held for the victims of the tragedy that happened in #NewOrleans pic.twitter.com/Fm31dnT6rZ

— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) January 3, 2025

Lineup:

Starting 🖐️ for the @American_Conf opener!

Lynn Greer III & Jameel Brown will not play due to personal reasons.#Team129 | @templerotc pic.twitter.com/3dUaTq1dwW

— Temple Men's Basketball (@TUMBBHoops) January 3, 2025

How the game went:
The Shockers got the scoring started with 3 pointer, Temple got on the board with a basket from Jamll Mashburn Jr, The Shockers got out to a  9-2 lead early on, The Owls had their chances to score but could not finish, and Jamal Mashburn Jr would have the Owls first 5 points. The Owls would take their first lead of game at 12-11 & for the rest of the half, both teams would attempt to break the game open but it could not happen, Wichita State would get the game tied at 33 & the Shockers would take a39-37 lead into halftime

Going into the second, What can Temple do to stop whatever momentum the Shockers were doing?  The Owls went on 5-0 run for 47-43 lead & then one of the big plays of the night happened, The first was by Wichita State Quincy Ballard would have a Sportscenter Top 10 play from this sick dunk

HOLY QUINCY BALLARD 😱#SCTop10 | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/HgQ3hMNpL3

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) January 4, 2025

The other big play came from Temple Jamal Mashburn Jr. With this drive & the crowd inside Liacouras Center loved everything they saw.

BURNING HOT🔥🔥#Team129 pic.twitter.com/Fg2vs35sti

— Temple Men's Basketball (@TUMBBHoops) January 4, 2025

Later on, the Owls would have some big shots down the stretch & to quote announcer Mike Breen “BANG” three-pointers that would start to put the game on Ice as the lead got up to 10  with 3:34 left, the Shockers would attempt to one more late run but the defense for the Owls would come up with the stops.

The Owls had a 21-7 run to close out the game & started American Athletic Conference play with a 91-85 win. This was a type of game that the Owls needed to start conference play & at the same time defend the home court. Jamal Mashburn Jr led the Owls with 24 points & good to see others step up like Steve Settle with 14 points & Quante Berry who had early foul trouble finished with 14.

Postgame:

Temple Coach Adam Fisher:

Temple Jamal Mashburn Jr:

What I asked to #Temple Jamal Mashburn Jr on win over Wichita State pic.twitter.com/aJkHNuWmga

— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) January 4, 2025

Wichita State Coach Paul Mills:

Wichita State Xavier Bell:

🎥I asked Wichita State’s Xavier Bell about being back in Philly and whether he keeps up with former Drexel teammates and staff. pic.twitter.com/0v4Yc45tVD

— Aaron Bracy (@Aaron_Bracy) January 4, 2025

Final Numbers:

What is next:
With the win, Temple is now 9-5 & will now get ready for East Carolina on Jan 8 while Wichita State falls to 10-4 & will attempt to get a win on Jan 6 against South Florida