By RICH FOGEL
Philahoops Staff
Temple came into the Charleston Classic looking to break a two-game losing streak. After leading as many as 12 in the first half, the Owls fell to Clemson, 72-58, on Thursday night.
Will Cummings led all scorers with 22 points, adding four rebounds, and three assists. K.J. McDaniels led Clemson with 20 points and registered seven blocks for the second consecutive game.
The Owls fall to the loser’s bracket and will play Georgia at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN3).
Temple was leading 34-31 at halftime with a lead as many as 12. Dalton Pepper and Quenton DeCosey had a three each and Anthony Lee was contributing on the glass with 6 rebounds. Temple was pushing the tempo and was playing at the pace where they excel the most.
As the second half started, Clemson began to seize the momentum. Temple’s offense was slowing down, and the play of the freshman sensation McDaniels was picking up.
The biggest sequence in the game came with 11 minutes left in the game. McDaniels went coast-to-coast and had an impressive dunk over the Temple defense. Temple’s next trip down the floor, McDaniels came away with two blocks at the rim, Clemson recovered the rebound and Rod Hall scored on the other end. Clemson had the small crowd at Charleston University roaring with approval.
Clemson, in front of some of their fans that made the 20-mile trip, is now 4-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 season. McDaniels was in double figures along with point guard Rod Hall with 13 and Landry Nnoko with 10. The Tigers outrebounded Temple by nine and had eleven blocks compared to Temple’s 5.
Temple falls to 1-3 on the year, marking its worst start since the 2007-08 campaign. They have been troubled on offense in the second half of games and are looking for the scorer that will step up in the guts of the game.
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