Temple shuts down DePaul

MIAMI, Fla. -- Temple's defense throttled DePaul from the jump, but the Owls had to survive a late rush to earn a 74-65 victory in the Hoophall Miami Invitational on Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Junior forward Obi Enechionyla and sophomore guard Shizz Alston Jr. led a balanced attack for Temple (7-3) with 15 points apiece.

Freshman guard Quinton Rose delivered 12 points off the bench while senior guard Josh Brown added 11 for the Owls, who led by 19 points with five minutes to play.

Sophomore guard Eli Cain paced DePaul (5-3) with 17 points and seven rebounds, but almost all of that came during the second half when Temple led by 15-plus points until the waning minutes.

Led by senior guard Billy Garrett Jr., who had 15 points in the game, DePaul scored 14 in a row during a four-minute stretch to throw a scare into the Owls.

Temple broke out to a 13-1 lead as DePaul didn't manage its first basket until freshman center Levi Cook's putback 6:12 into the game.

The Owls extended the lead to 40-23 at halftime by making 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range, including two each by Enechionyla and Alston.

Temple limited DePaul to 25 percent shooting from the field, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range. Cain and Garrett, DePaul's two double-figure scorers, combined to hit only 2 of 13 shots from the field.

The Owls gained their biggest lead at 63-38 on sophomore center Ernest Aflakpui's layup with 9:10 to play.