SAN JUAN – In a game marred by 50 fouls and 60 free throw attempts, Purdue outlasted Temple, 85-77, in the semifinals of the 5-Hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off Friday afternoon at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. The Owls fall to 2-1 on the season and will play Sunday at 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2/1210 AM WPHT) against Wichita State, which fell to #15/16 Alabama in the other semifinal. The Boilermakers (4-0) advance to the championship game.
“It was a hard fought game. I thought both teams played pretty hard and I’m proud of our guys,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to rebound and play well on Sunday because we know that we will have a tough match-up with either Alabama or Wichita State.”
Senior Ramone Moore paced Temple with a game-high 27 points, while senior guard Juan Fernandez and junior guard Khalif Wyatt each added 12. Senior guard Lewis Jackson countered that with 26 points, scoring 22 of them in the second half to keep the Owls at bay. All-America candidate Robbie Hummel added 20 points while D.J. Byrd (12 points) and Ryne Smith (10) also tallied double figures.
Graduate student forward Michael Eric, who had a game-high eight rebounds, picked up two early fouls and played just 14 minutes in the contest before fouling out with with just under three minutes to play. Wyatt also was limited to 27 minutes due to foul trouble. Fernandez and DiLeo also fouled out late in the second half, with Fernandez’ fifth foul coming on a double technical with 5:42 to play.
The Owls trailed by nine, 67-58, when Fernandez was ejected, but quickly tied the score with a 9-0 run. Moore, who made 10 of 15 second half foul shots, tallied the final seven in the run with DiLeo (7 pts, 3 asts) starting if off with a jumper.
Jackson then made a nice move to the basket for a bucket and was fouled on the drive. He converted the free throw with Eric being called for his fifth foul on a box out. Hummel then made the two free throws to make it a five-point play and gave Purdue a 72-67 advantage.
Following a Moore basket, Hummel drained a jumper and then Kelsey Barlow stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a dunk to extend the lead to 76-69 with 1:12 remaining.
Purdue made nine-of-10 from the line over the final 60 seconds with Jackson converting seven of eight from the charity stripe.
Temple shot a season-high 51.9% from the field, including 14-of-23 (60.9%) in the second half. It marked the first time Temple lost a game when shooting better than its opponent since the start of the 2009-10 season. The Owls had been 48-0 since that time when having a better field goal percentage than their foe.
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