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Temple MBB Looks to Bounce Back with a Rod Trip to the Big Easy to Battle Tulane

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Basketball

Temple (13-8, 6-4 AAC) will look to bounce back from a 52-49 loss at South Florida when the Owls travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane (11-10, 7-5 AAC) Saturday (2 pm/ESPN+/1210 AM WPHT).

The Owls, who have won six of their last eight games, are one of only four American Athletic Conference teams with winning road records.  Temple is 4-3 on its opponent's floor this season with AAC leader #6 Houston (5-2) and second place SMU (5-3) with more wins and Cincinnati (4-3) sporting the same road mark.

Tulane, which is tied with Temple and Cincinnati for fourth place in the AAC standings, has lost two of its last three, including a game at third place Memphis, 80-69, on Wednesday 

Temple owns a 12-5 series record with Tulane and has won seven straight meetings with the Green Wave in New Orleans.  The Owls are 7-2 overall on Tulane's court with their last loss there being on Jan. 20, 1996. 

SCOUTING TEMPLE
• Temple has won six of its last eight games with its two losses coming on the road to SMU and South Florida.
• Damian Dunn leads the Owls in scoring (15.5 ppg/7th AAC) and free throw percentage (95-112, .848/3rd AAC) while ranking second in assists (44) and third in steals (19).
• Jeremiah Williams, who left the USF game with a right shoulder injury, is second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and runs the show offensively. He leads the Owls in assists (4.4 apg, 5th AAC), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.00/4th AAC), and steals (29).
• Nick Jourdain (7.2 ppg), who scored a new career-high in the win at Tulsa (23), has averaged 11.4 ppg since Jan. 1. He leads TU in blocks (1.6 bpg/2nd AAC), and offensive rebounding (2.7 pg/2nd AAC) while ranking second in overall rebounding (5.3 rpg).
• Another recent starter making noise is Jahlil White (6.2 ppg). White, who posted his first career double-double (11 pts, 10 rebs) at Tulsa, is averaging 9.4 ppg and 7.4 rpg since Jan. 1.  He leads the team in rebounding (5.6 ppg) and has grabbed 10 or more boards in three of the last seven games.
• Zach Hicks (6.6 ppg), who set a school record with 10 threes vs. Delaware State, leads the Owls with 36 three-pointers. He has been red-hot of late from deep, making 30 of his treys over the last 10 games.

SCOUTING TULANE
• The Green Wave will be looking to get their eighth conference win of the season, their most conference wins since joining the American Athletic Conference at the start of the 2014-15 campaign.
• Tulane is 5-1 at home in conference play, their best home record since joining the AAC.
• Freshman Jalen Cook leads the team with 18.9 points per game, ranking second in the conference. 
• Preseason All-AAC honoree Jaylen Forbes (16.9 ppg) also averages double figures as does sophomore forward Kevin Cross (13.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg).
• Tulane leads the conference in three-point accuracy (.371) and ranks fourth in three-pointers per game (8.3).

SERIES HISTORY 
• This is the 18th meeting between the teams with Temple holding a 12-5 advantage.
• The Owls have won eight of the last 11 meetings, but the teams have split the series in each of the last two seasons with each team winning on the opponents' court.
• Temple is 7-2 against Tulane in the New Orleans, winning the last seven meetings on the Green Wave's court.  
• The Owls last lost at Tulane on Jan. 20, 1996.